Straightline speed is rarely a consideration when you look at American-made touring bikes. Sure, the likes of the Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST promise spicy performance, but still, they are focused on comfort at heart. So an American-made bagger setting a serious speed record is a rare occurrence. 2025 brings one such instance, as Indian Motorcycles’ race-spec bagger just went close to 200 miles per hour!
Tyler O’Hara Breaches 195 Miles Per Hour On The Indian Challenger Race Bike
Indian Motorcycles has a storied history of setting speed records. Most notably, a certain Burt Munro rode an Indian Scout to over 180 miles per hour way back in 1963 at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Channeling the same idea, Tyler O’Hara and his King Of The Baggers factory team took their race-spec Challenger to the holy Salt Flats. With support from Indian and S&S, the two-time KOTB champion reached an astonishing 196.576 miles per hour. It is a scarcely believable number, considering most of your 200-horsepower superbikes max out at about 190 miles per hour (V-BOX tested).
Gary Gray, Vice President of Product Technology, Racing, and Service for Indian Motorcycle, said:
“Bonneville is hallowed ground — not just for Indian Motorcycle, but for all of motorsports. Our engineers and partners at S&S have spent decades chasing speed on the salt flats, and we’ve long talked about seeing what our King of the Baggers Indian Challenger could do there. While we’re proud to have broken a record, this effort was about more than setting a land speed mark — it was about honoring the legends who came before us and pushing ourselves to go as fast as we could.”
The Indian Challenger Race Bike Boasts A Mighty V-Twin Engine
So what enables this Challenger to go such serious speeds? Well, there’s a lot, but the driving force–pun intended–is the bespoke powerhouse. It’s a near-2,000cc V-twin with special internals from S&S Cycles. These include race camshafts, two-into-two exhaust, ported cylinder heads, and bigger throttle bodies, among other things.
We believe the output is over 150 horsepower and 150 pound-feet at the rear wheel, although Indian doesn’t specify this. Other than this, you get race-spec underpinnings, too. We’re talking about 43 mm Öhlins FGR250 forks and an Öhlins TTX monoshock, top-spec Brembo brakes, and forged wheels. Oh, and all the bodywork you see here is carbon fiber. Yes, even the saddlebags.
Indian Challenger Race Bike Key Highlights
- Ohlins suspension
- Forged wheels
- Carbon fiber bodywork
- Brembo racing brake setup
- S&S V-twin engine with race-spec internals
- > 150 horsepower
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