I just finished watching the Arizona mile AFT race. I had hopes that the home town crew was on an upward vector so far as being competitive but, sadly, of the the three factory H-D's that made it to the final, only one of them was able to finish. The other two failed during the later stages of the race. The one running H-D finished 5th ... not too bad but Indians were 1, 2 and 3 with a Kawasaki in 4th. Speed wise the H-D's appeared to be semi competitive but, darn it anyway, if ya can't keep the bikes running for 20 laps whatever speed you have really doesn't matter. Of course no info is available with respect to what failed on the bikes. Maybe we'll find that out at a later date. In any case, to me, the results are really disappointing.

I sure hope H-D gets this figured out and does whatever it takes to field a competitive machine. It's one thing to race, put on a good showing and come up short but to have two of your three factory machines fail in what amounts to a sprint race does not put a good face on your product. So if anyone sees it differently or I've got the wrong slant on the event outcome, chime in.

 

Were they "sumping"?

 

I too am really disappointed in Moco and their lousy attempt of trying to make the new 750 competitive. Indian put a race bike out the first year that had a engine and chassis that took them to the number one plate and this year is no different.I thought Harley was going to dump Vance & Hines and bring everything in house for this year with all new changes to motor and chassis.Now,I guess the only thing Harley dirt track fans can hope for is Polaris to dump the Indian brand like they did Victory.

 

My only real tie to HD over the last 40 years was American Flat Track. Bought two Harleys in 1979 they were junk, bought a new M8. It's clear HD hasn't learned much to say the least. But I've always been a HD flat track fan. It truly is our original extreme sport. Harley has a history of crying when they get there *** handed to them on the track. There like Ferrari in F1. Do it our way or we will cry and maybe quit. And they are starting the cry again to AMA and other bodys just like they did when the TZ750 made them look like fools,,, Honda took a run at them and HD cried and now polaris built a race bike by the current rules and HD is crying about that. It's not V&H fault HD gave them a horrible engine to start with that is designed to compete with a Royal Enfield built in India. There new expanding market. LMAO ,,, Once again HD's lack of engineering and massive marketing is biting them in the ***. So much scar tissue and nerve damage down there they don't even feel it anymore. And now Hill Climbing is a focal point for the 115th anniversary? Does HD have a competitive Hill Climb team? Does anybody actually climb with a HD now days? Or is HD struggling to find something to celebrate and has to go back to pre WWII days for success. I saw were HD was the main sponsor on a extreme Ice/snow hill climb event but never saw a HD powered macine make a climb.

 

I'm just spitballing, but here's an idea. Call up Porsche (you know, the racing legend) and jointly develop a DOHC, high revving, reliable engine capable of putting out some serious horsepower and lasting more than 20 laps.

Oh, wait...

 

I know Vance and Hines can build an engine. I also believe the XG engine is just a pig. Why not let Vance and Hines see what they can do with the XR. Can't hurt. Sammy Halbert and Jarod Vanderkooi have got to be frustrated. Vanderkooi's bike has failed the last two races, and Mees would have lapped Halbert last night if Halbert's bike hadn't died on him! That's SAMMY HALBERT!! Don't know if you know who Sammy Halbert is, but I've never seen Halbert even come close to getting lapped. He's usually battling for the lead. I was in the Lima, Ohio pits last year when Kenny Coolbeth came in after finishing 11th or so in his heat, and he threw that factory XG down, said some choice words, and walked away. He's on an Indian this year. Sad, sad situation in the HD camp right now.

 

At the race at Texas Motor Speedway a few weeks ago, Indians took 3 of the top 5 spots, including the winners circle.

Psyshack abso frigging lutley hit the nail on the head. I'm not talking just flat track racing, I'm talking overall. Yes the revived Indian brand is owned by Polaris, that's pretty much all the typical Poindexter Harley rider can scream in his defense. In reality, Harley is getting their asses handed to them on a regular basis. The Indians look good, and they run even better. Hell, I looked a certain Victory motorcycle over, and there's only one thing I would have changed. It's a damn good bike, as is most of the Indian lineup. I have no plans on getting one, but I chuckle when some guy on here says something good about em and the Poindexter's scream bloody murder. Fact is, that bike most likely could kick your bikes *** in more ways than one...

 

Yeah, they already tried that.

 

Indians are like the homely fat girl at closing time, she'll willingly get the job done and probably do it damn well but nobody wants to be seen riding her.

 

So I don't follow AFT, but lately hearing about Indian absolutely destroying the competition with their Scout based bike I did some light digging.

I did not know this, but turns out, laughably I might add, that HD's using the Street 750 as their AFT bike???

No wonder Indian is mopping the floor with them. At first I was surprised they weren't still using the XR750, but this may have been a step backwards.