Indian Challenger motorcycle sets speed record

The Bonneville Salt Flats have once again rewritten motorsport history. This time, the spotlight was on Indian Motorcycle's Challenger, which proved that heavy touring motorcycles are capable of record speeds.

At the wheel was two-time King of the Baggers champion Tyler O'Hara, and the attempt itself was a tribute to the legendary Burt Monroe. O'Hara first accelerated to 308.99 km/h, then improved on that result, reaching 316.358 km/h. The average speed over two runs was 312.83 km/h, setting a new record.

The previous American Motorcycle Association record in this class was 273.311 km/h, which had stood since 1972. For the run, Indian Motorcycle assembled a special version of the Challenger based on a racing bike. All of the fairings, including the panniers, are made of carbon fiber.

Interestingly, the Challenger even surpassed Burt Monroe's iconic result (307.3 km/h), achieved on a homemade Scout in 1967. For a modern heavy motorcycle weighing about 270 kilograms, such a record can be considered a sensation, because many sports bikes with a 200 hp engine rarely exceed 305.7 km/h.