Harley-Davidson Fires Back With Factory Flat Track Racing Team Announcement At X Games

After the American Flat Track season finale in Santa Rosa it was announced at the banquet that that Indian Motorcycle had swooped up the podium – Bryan Smith, Jared Mees and Brad Baker. It was a drop the mike moment. Shortly after, was the follow up question: What was Harley-Davidson going to do? Well nearly four months later, the folks in Milwaukee saved that answer for the spotlight of ESPN's X Game Aspen on ABC to present its counter to Indian's Wrecking Crew – Kenny Coolbeth Jr., Jake Johnson and Brandon Robinson.

Harley’s response, at a casual glance, might appear subtle after Indian’s big splash when they jumped back into the series after a 50-year absence and fired the first shot by signing arguably the best three riders in the sport. But make no mistake Harley’s come back swinging and upping their game in an attempt to hold on to their reign in a sport they never left.

And while the reigning Grand National Champion Smith, three-time Grand National Champion Mees and 2013 Grand National Champion Baker are a star-studded crew with 5 Grand National Championships to their collective, Coolbeth Jr., Johnson and Robinson are no slouches.

The veteran of the bunch, Coolbeth Jr. has three GNC titles to his resume and a host of wins. Coolbeth Jr. has also long been a threat for the crown in recent years and is able to pull off an upset, like last year when he busted Smith’s win streak at the Springfield Mile II. It’s also not Coolbeth’s first rodeo with the factory Harley-Davidson team and he’s quite happy with the reunion.

“I’m super excited to reunite with the Harley-Davidson Factory Team,” Coolbeth Jr. said. “It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be an awesome season for the team. We all get along well and we have good members of the team working on our bikes, so it should be good.”

Also a former Grand National Champion, Johnson has a pair of GNC titles to his credit and has been a challenger over the years as well. Unfortunately for Johnson he’s lacked the consistency of a steady team, including being on the sidelines for part of 2015 without a Twins ride. Now that he has a solid home with the Harley-Davidson squad, we could see the Pennsylvania native back to his prime.

“I'm really excited to be a part of the Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track Team,” Johnson said.” It's always been a dream of mine to ride for the ‘Factory,’ and I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter of H-D racing with the new XG750R. With Harley-Davidson motorcycles and the extra performance and knowledge of Vance & Hines, we look forward to making a serious run at race wins and championship.”

Completing the team’s three-pronged effort is Robinson. Although he has yet to clinch a title, Robinson has long been looked at as one of the sports up-in-coming riders and a potential threat. Robinson finished third in the championship last year, behind Smith and Mees, and scored a win last season at the Lima Half-Mile. The youngest of the bunch, Robinson is also excited for 2017 and is hungry to make history with the first XG750R win.

“I’m excited to be one of the riders helping to push the XG750R to the front of the field,” said Robinson. “I’m sure I’ll be battling with Kenny and Jake to see who can make history and score the first win aboard the new bike. I’ve learned a lot racing against them. Now we’re working together to bring home a championship for Harley-Davidson.”

In addition to stepping up their factory effort to three-riders, Harley-Davidson is breaking out a new tool in their shed – the liquid-cooled, fuel-injected XG750R – and sending the beloved air-cooled XR750 out to pasture. After 44 years of service and 37 Grand National Championships with the XR, Harley is looking to the future with its production based flat tracker. The XG750R has a custom chassis purpose built for racing and is powered by a race-modified 750cc Revolution X V-Twin engine originally engineered for Harley-Davidson's Street 750. The XG750R got a shakedown last season and was developed in collaboration with Vance & Hines Motorsports.

Although the factory squad will run the XG, there will be some privateers breaking out the old XRs at tracks where they are still considered to be a formidable weapon, like the Half-Miles. Harley-Davidson has also made the XG’s 750cc XG Revolution X V-Twin engine is available for purchase at dealers for privateers that want to give the liquid-cooled Harley a go.