Harley-Davidson set to go racing with MotoGP

Harley-Davidson is set to join MotoGP, but don’t expect Marquez to be lining up on a Milwaukee-built superbike anytime soon. 

Instead, the Motor Company is launching its own global championship series that will take place alongside six rounds of the MotoGP World Championship. 

The new yet-to-be-named series will feature purpose-built Harley-Davidson bagger motorcycles that weigh approximately 280 kilograms, produce 200hp and 245Nm, and reach speeds north of 300km/h.

According to Harley-Davidson, the new global bagger series is part of the brand’s “global racing ambitions”. 

“Harley-Davidson has been pioneering performance on and off the road since our beginnings over 120 years ago,” said outgoing H-D CEO, Jochen Zeitz. “With this new series, we’re excited to bring a new form of racing to the world stage.” 

The new series follows the success of the MotoAmerica King of the Baggers series which started another chapter of the iconic rivalry between Harley and Indian. King of the Baggers was showcased at the Texas MotoGP round last year in what now appears to have been a dress rehearsal.

Harley has capitalised on the success of King of the Baggers with performance orientated products like the CVO Road Glide ST and the extremely limited and high-end CVO RR (which sadly isn’t available in Australia). 

Beginning in 2026, the new global bagger series will exclusively feature identical Harley bagger motorcycles engineered by the brand’s Factory Racing arm. There will likely be six to eight teams of two riders, with 12 rounds across six MotoGP race weekends in Europe and North America. 

More details are expected to be revealed in the coming months.