Harley-Davidson’s participation in the “King of the Baggers” motorcycle race series has proven so popular that the Milwaukee-based “MoCo” will now sell a limited-edition, $110,000 (R2 million) race-replica motorcycle — the highest price Harley has ever charged for a bike.
The 2025 CVO Road Glide RR is also the most powerful motorcycle Harley has sold for the street.
Built on its touring platform, a souped-up 131 cubic-inch (2.15-litre) motor produces 153 horsepower (114kW) and 150 lb-ft (203Nm) of torque.
Only 131 units will be produced, said Harley’s director of racing, Jason Kehl, at a press event in Austin, Texas.
“A bike like this, a project like this, an exclusive motorcycle, hand-built, 131 units only, wouldn’t be possible without the full support of the company,” Kehl said, surrounded by Harley’s heads of marketing, design and engineering, as well as racers Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli.
“This is a ‘factory motorcycle.’ Harley Davidson used that word, related to racing, for the first time in 1914.”
Mission King of the Baggers pits Harley’s heaviest bikes — complete with full fairings and hard-mounted saddlebags — against those of its only American rival, Polaris-owned Indian Motorcycle.
The race series started by Krave Group’s MotoAmerica in 2020 began as a one-off invitational at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and has now grown to a seven-round, 14-race event with exhibitions in Europe and Asia.
Harley is aiming to cash in on the series’ popularity with the new CVO RR.
The bike showcases the factory race team’s tech, with a swingarm and triple tree milled out of 7075 aluminum — a step above your run-of-the-mill 6061 aircraft-grade stuff in terms of strength and corrosion resistance.
They also lean on a Nascar supplier to produce an ultra-light, high-strength fairing, bodywork and bags out of carbon-fiber with a Kevlar weave.
Other suppliers include Brembo (of course) for race-derived braking components and Öhlins Racing for slightly longer custom FGR253 forks.
But the most visible accessory, and the one that will save the most weight, is the 2-into-1 titanium exhaust made by Akrapovic in Slovenia.
Those pipes save a full 50 lbs. (23kg) over the stock Road Glide headers and can.
“With this limited series of motorcycles, we’ve taken all the lessons from the track and created the pinnacle of street-legal bagger performance,” Harley-Davidson Chief Executive Officer Jochen Zeitz said in a statement.
Street-legal may be the key phrase in that statement.
Indian put out its own race replica called the Challenger RR in 2023, but that bike was intended only for the track and sales faltered.
With 29 units initially priced at $92,229 (R1.7 million), the Challenger RR is still available from multiple dealers for less than that.
You can pick one up at Cosmo’s Indian Motorcycle in Trevose, Pennsylvania, for instance, for $84,995 (R1.55 million).
Shares of Harley-Davidson have fallen 32% in the past 12 months after motorcycle sales fell for the third year in a row, as higher prices and interest rates discouraged buyers.
Shares in Polaris are down 54% in the same period.
Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide RR
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