Nobody saw this coming. In a sport defined by lightweight, aerodynamically sophisticated prototype machines screaming to 350 kilometres per hour, the idea of modified Harley-Davidson touring bikes racing at Mugello, Assen, and Silverstone sounds like the punchline to a paddock joke. But the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup is entirely real, entirely serious, and when those Road Glide machines line up at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, motorcycle racing will be genuinely, wonderfully different.
What Exactly Is a Bagger?
The term bagger refers to a large displacement touring motorcycle, the kind of machine most people associate with long distance highway cruising rather than circuit racing. Harley-Davidson’s Road Glide, the championship’s designated machinery, is built around a Milwaukee Eight V-twin engine in road specification. But the Bagger World Cup version is anything but standard. Race prepared machines produce over 200 horsepower and reach speeds approaching 300 kilometres per hour, performance figures that would have seemed impossible on this category of motorcycle just a few years ago.
The engineering challenge of making a large, heavy touring bike handle the demands of MotoGP calibre circuits is considerable. These are not nimble, corner speed machines. They are powerful, characterful, and deeply physical to ride demanding a completely different skillset from the riders who campaign them.
A Genuinely International Grid
What makes the inaugural Bagger World Cup entry list particularly compelling is its geographic diversity. Four teams representing Australia, the United States, Italy, and Indonesia will field nine riders from four different continents when the season opens at COTA. This is not a domestic American series that has decided to call itself a world championship. It is a genuinely global competition from its very first race.
Joe Rascal Racing from Australia brings Eric Granado, one of Brazil’s most accomplished international riders with MotoE World Cup and Moto2 experience alongside Archie McDonald and Cody Wyman. Indonesia’s Niti Racing fields former World Supersport 300 champion Oscar Gutierrez alongside Dimas Ekky Pratama, one of Asia’s most experienced international competitors. Italy’s ParkinGO Team, a former World Supersport championship winning organisation, adds genuine European pedigree to the field.
American representation comes through Saddlemen Racing, who field three riders including Jake Lewis, a MotoAmerica Stock 1000 champion alongside Travis Wyman and 2024 MotoAmerica Super Hooligan champion Cory West.
Six Circuits, Six Iconic Venues
The 2026 calendar makes an immediate and emphatic statement about the championship’s ambitions. Austin, Mugello, Assen, Silverstone, Aragon, and the Red Bull Ring., six venues that collectively represent some of the most famous and demanding circuits in world motorsport. Racing baggers around Mugello’s flowing Tuscan hillside layout or through Assen’s legendary sweepers will create images unlike anything motorcycle racing has previously produced.
The pre-season test at COTA on March 21 and 22 will provide the first real indication of what this championship looks like in motion. Early footage from development testing has already generated significant social media attention, people who would never ordinarily watch motorcycle racing have been genuinely captivated by the spectacle of touring bikes being thrown around racing circuits at extraordinary speeds.
Why This Matters
The Bagger World Cup arrives at a moment when motorcycle racing’s global governing bodies and commercial rights holders are actively seeking new audiences. MotoGP under Liberty Media is expanding aggressively into new markets. The Bagger series targets a completely different demographic, Harley-Davidson’s enormous global fanbase, which has historically had limited connection to circuit racing at the world championship level.
If the racing delivers the drama its concept promises, the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup could become one of motorcycle racing’s most talked about new properties. The ingredients are all present. The circuits are iconic. The machinery is spectacular. The riders are genuinely talented.
Sometimes the most unexpected ideas produce the most extraordinary results
