So far, the story of the confrontation between AMA Pro Racing and the monster it fuels – the powerful Indian FTR750- has been widely reported, including in the three part “Current Status of Flat Races in the United States” series published in Cycle News magazine before the 2022 season.
In short, in the mid-2010s, as the XR750, long dominated by Harley Davidson, was about to retire, the series planned a production based future for its top Mission AFT super twin cylinder group.
However, the temptation of reigniting this long-standing competition with the new factory team is too strong. The Indian racing team is welcomed to compete as a purebred race car, but the prerequisite is that it can only compete for three seasons (2017-2019), after which it needs to prepare its own production platform.
But in 2020, the motorcycle market underwent changes and there were no suitable models launched. At the same time, FTR750 completely dominated the entire series during the trial period, both in terms of performance and quantity. It became sturdy, with three-quarters of the power grid equipped with Native Americans. It was actually impossible to forcefully withdraw at that time.
In the end, AMA Pro Racing achieved fair competition through a series of rule changes, providing a glimmer of hope for mass-produced racing cars. This in turn has led to the influx of various types of machinery, making the long-standing vision of full mass production a reality by 2025.
Although the Indian version of FTR750 proves the spiritual successor of XR750 in terms of overall success, this comes at the cost of sacrificing Harley’s new car, which aims to take over the baton of the iconic predecessor.
With the XG750R, Harley Davidson is fully committed to the mass production future proposed by the Progressive American Flat Track. In 2017, H-D partnered with Vance&Hines to form a star studded three person factory team, centered around the platform to compete with Indian’s newly launched three person superstar lineup.
But Harley, like everyone else, was caught off guard by the Indian athlete’s immediate and overwhelming success. In the following eight seasons, the FTR750 has been proven to be one of the best flat track racing cars of all time. At the end of the 2024 season, they won all eight matches in the national championship, winning 104 out of 138 matches and reaching 291 podium finishes.
It is not surprising that XG750R performs poorly compared to this. Although the XR750, which only participated in competitions, has won an almost unimaginable 502 victories and 37 major national championships over the course of fifty years, its direct replacement model did not win any victories during the dominance of Indian drivers, only winning eight podiums.
Despite investing huge funds and a lot of development, H-D closed its factory project after the 2020 season, and the XG750R maintained a faint presence in the championship, largely thanks to Latus Motors.
Terry Vance, co-founder of Vance&Hines and project leader of SuperTwins at H-D, discussed the project in a retrospective manner in 2022. At the time, he admitted, ‘We tried all possible ways to make motorcycles competitive at the top level, but you know, we never solved the mystery. Indian is just a well-designed and well-balanced motorcycle.’.
When you think about what we experienced at XG, we made our own cylinder heads. We make the camshaft ourselves. We manufacture cranks, connecting rods, and pistons ourselves. We spent a lot of money trying to compete in the project, and I am very proud of the achievements we have made with this car. I am also proud that we were able to achieve results in the few times we got on the car. ”
This could have been the finish line. Storytelling. The dust of history has settled.
But as you know, this history is now actively being rewritten.
As demonstrated by the 2025 Progressive American Flatland Race season, the XG750R is not actually a mistake or a fire, but rather a motorcycle that surpasses its time.
Although there have been some adjustments in deciding to exclude FTR and other game only platforms from the 2025 season, this turmoil is far from complete. Thanks to the multi-stage efforts made in previous years to enhance the competitiveness of mass-produced cars, many teams and drivers have turned to the mature Yamaha MT-07, the powerful and stylish KTM 790 Duke, and the ready to wear Kawasaki Ninja 650, which competed fiercely with XR750 before the launch of FTR.
However, two of the three major stars in the series participated as free agents in the Super Twins competition.
After Meese’s retirement, Brandon Robinson became the leading former Indian driver on the field, having just finished his runner up season. Also looking for a new car is Blair Bauman, who previously won two major national championships in Indian before transferring to KTM in 2023. However, despite leading KTM to their first top-level Gemini victory (and adding three more with three wins), Bauman has yet to find direction at Duke and is very willing to accept adjustments before the 2025 season.
Their decision is destined to have a profound impact.
Although theoretically removing Mis and Native Americans created an open competitive environment, the reality is far from that.
In the past few seasons, Estensen Yamaha has put in tremendous effort to build its Yamaha MT-07 DT into a race car capable of defeating the FTR750 and partnering it with one of the most promising young talents in decades, Dallas Daniels.
And Daniels is in a critical position to finally achieve this goal by 2024. However, the last best opportunity was cruelly stifled by a training accident.
Although most people believe that a future based on mass production will be a net profit for the series in the long run, there is widespread concern that with the absence of Mis and Indian drivers, Daniels and Yamaha will recklessly crush their competitors in 2025, while other teams will find it difficult to catch up.
Robinson said, ‘Once it is announced that the Indian team will be banned from participating in 2025, we immediately begin to develop a competition plan. We already have several KTMs, but personally, I don’t have much confidence in them.’. So I thought, ‘Let’s try a few different brands.’.
So, we rode several different bicycles during the test, with Indians present for comparison. After riding XG for less than 10 laps, I knew this was the bike I was going to ride.
As soon as I rode on it, it felt like I had gone homeAgain.
Considering Robinson’s history with the vehicle, the fact that the Mission Roof Systems fleet chose to use the Harley Davidson XG750R built by Vance&Hines is both shocking and evident.
The Indian team brought in 2016 champion Brian Smith and runner up Jared Meese to form the team’s first full season three man factory team lineup in 2017. Harley formed a team of three, led by Robinson, who ranked third in 2016. He drove the XR750 to victory in Lima that season.
Although Mees and Smith achieved 1 win and 2 losses in their first season, laying the foundation for winning the Indian championship for eight consecutive years, Robinson struggled during his more than two years with XG. He ranked seventh and fourteenth on the points table in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and entered the top ten three times as many times as he entered the top five.
Subsequently, Robinson regained his confidence in the Indian driver’s setbacks and won the FTR750 in just his second attempt in 2019. Since then, he has been steadily walking on the path to the Hall of Fame.
Despite experiencing a bumpy past, Robinson still has confidence that returning to the racing car he was involved in developing was the right choice.
When we tested this car back then, XG always felt great and could meet all our needs. But later on, we went to a competition where there was a group of Indians, and we were beaten to death.
But I always knew in my heart that when the rules shifted to mass production and we canceled the specially designed flat bottomed tracker, this car would become a weapon
In fact, there is ample evidence to support this belief. XG has previously performed well in more rigorous competitions, winning 22 victories and 62 podium finishes, winning two AFT production double car championships.
Respecting Robinson, XG750R won even greater rewards by signing the super talented Bauman. Unlike Robinson, Bauman has almost no experience with Harley Davidson bodywork. Entering the 2025 season, Bauman has won the main tournament of the Grand National Championship but has never won an H-D championship in his career, ranking second only to Kenny Roberts.
Despite Bauman being at the forefront, he has been searching for answers. He will reunite with Dave Zanotti and Michelle Desalvo in 2025, but is not entirely satisfied with the KTM cars he drives, which will be supervised by Zanotti in 2023 or Kenny Kurbes in 2024. He is open to suggestions.
Robinson’s team owner Jerry Stinchfield put forward a suggestion.
Bauman said, ‘Around this time last year, I talked to Jerry and he said,’ If you want to try XG, Brandon might participate in the first game. ‘. We want to give it a try. If you want to see the effect, welcome over. ”
Bauman test drove Robinson’s XG750R for three laps, using only Zanotti’s KTM for A/B testing. This was enough to motivate me to spend a whole day exploring Harley.
We just want to figure out what the best opportunity is for the car to compete with Dallas and Estensen. Everyone is nervous. It’s like, ‘Oh my god, they’re probably going to win every game.’ We try to pick the best combat materials. After a day, we think, ‘I think this is it,’ and that’s how it starts
Overall, the opening matches of the Daytona Sprint I and II seasons can be considered a success.
Of course, Rick Ware Racing’s Bauman unfolded faster than expected, finishing second with two finishes in this double opening battle, despite Daniels – as feared – dominating the race.
For Robinson and the Mission Roof Systems team, the situation was not as smooth, but fifth and sixth place were far from a disaster.
But it wasn’t until the next stop in Senova, Georgia, Yamaha’s home ground, that the Harley Davidson XG750R officially announced itself as the real threat for the 2025 season.
Robinson, with a touch of black humor, echoed Harley Davidson’s words during the team launch in 2017. When Mission Roof Systems was released in 2025, he reiterated his goal of becoming the first driver to win the XG750R race, nearly a decade after his initial victory.
Moreover, for a period of time, he seemed very suitable for resolving this unfinished matter in the Senova Sprint. Robinson competed with Daniels and Rackley Racing’s KTM car Davis Fisher for the lead in the first half of the race, and then took control of the race and pulled the lead.
The thought flashed through my mind. Oh my god, I might really do this! “Robinson said. But I had a strange feeling. I was trapped in the team and didn’t know what the others behind me were doing. But I was very committed to it. It was a matter of life and death at that time
Despite his concerns, this route was sufficient to withstand the attacks of Daniels and Fisher. However, Bauman only finished fifth in the preliminaries, finishing as low as eighth in the early stages of the main race. However, he quickly caught up with Robinson’s rear wheel and completed the attack with less than two laps left in the race.
When Blair approached me, I didn’t have much time to work, study, or see what he was doing. All of this was very unreal
Bauman and Robinson brought a brilliant 1-2 sweep to this once criticized machine, laying the foundation for the upcoming matches.
Bauman said, “To be honest, I feel sorry for Brandon because he’s mine. However, I’m also a bit like a dog. I want to win first. So, this feeling is really great.
Brandon is very cool afterwards. I know it’s easy to become bitter. I believe it’s a bit bitter for him, but he’s a good person; the atmosphere of that 1-2 game was great
Although he appeared strong on the surface, Robinson later admitted, “I was like a bag of complex emotions. I mean, I wanted to be the first to win. I’ve been saying this since day one. I almost missed it
Bauman’s second and third victories came immediately, and he continued to accumulate victories from then on. In the tenth game, he achieved six victories, three runner up finishes, and a lead in the standings.
At the same time, Robinson realized that his time was tight and there was not much time left. Although he reached the podium four times in the first 10 races of the season, four of the remaining six races that year were not suitable for his skills (Sturgis and Peoria TT races), or the car characteristics were not suitable (Springfield one mile and two mile races), which made the chances of winning the race extremely low.
Robinson finally completed this task in the Jack Pine Gypsy Sprint II, which is best known for the intense collision and crash between Bauman and Daniels. Robinson avoided controversy by taking the lead and snatched it from Daniels early on, then maintained the lead before and after the Red Flag and every lap thereafter.
That game also gave Bauman an an 11 point lead over Daniels, and he remained in the lead until his championship dream suffered a disastrous and controversial double blow in Springfield, leaving him sidelined on Saturday and sidelined by the Black Flag on Sunday.
Despite this, Bauman rebounded strongly and ended the season with an overwhelming victory in the final of the Ozark Lake Sprint, leading Robinson to once again dominate the top two of the Harley Davidson XG750R.
In the end, Bauman led all drivers with 8 wins, and together with Robinson, they won over half of the races (9 out of 16). The two also won 19 podiums, only one less than the 20 contributed by five different Yamaha drivers.
Although unable to achieve his goal of winning a third national championship, this season may be Bauman’s most impressive career to date, including two championship journeys where he defeated Mies with equal equipment at his peak.
There are many things to be proud of, “Bauman said. We don’t know what Harley has, but we know Dallas and Yamaha will be great.
This could be very bitter. I did have a few days like this: to be honest. But now we’re just cherishing the present. Looking back now, it’s easy to say, ‘Wow, what a cool season.’
Think about it, 2025 will be the first year of the new era of XG750R.
Robinson believes that there will be more exciting performances in the future. The bicycle itself is very good. Apart from Miles, most of the time I think it’s the most suitable car. We are searching almost everywhere.
We now have a direction for next season and plans to narrow down the areas where we are struggling.
Bauman added, “I’ve been saying all year that this is a cool opportunity because it’s a car where I can truly express myself. You can ride high or low. This car is cool; you can use it to showcase your own style. I missed several years. It’s great to be able to do it again and rediscover yourself. It’s a solid foundation for the current state of this sport.
In addition, an additional benefit is the reawakening of the die hard Harley Davidson flatland racing fans who have been longing for success since the golden age of the XR750.
Black orange – that’s definitely real, “Robinson said. It’s been a while now. Even if you’ve been on Indian bikes for so many years, you can’t feel the feeling of riding a Harley. It’s great to have those fans come back and see that excitement and enthusiasm.
Bauman said, ‘We won our first victory, which drove everything. Facebook messages, Instagram messages, and fan activities.’. They started hosting H.O.G. member experiences at the event venue, and this activity continued to accumulate.
Harley Davidson has long been an important part of American flat racing. Ultimately, I just want to help drive the development of this sport. I think Brandon and I have done a great job as spokespersons for our team and the entire race, thanks to our success. We hope to get more people involved again. It feels like we have brought some excitement to those who love this brand. That’s really great
Stepping out of the shadows, no longer weak. The Harley Davidson XG750R is no longer an outdated motorcycle, nor is it outdated anymore.
