The fact that Kyle Wyman, the undisputed King of the Baggers, is pretty fast around Laguna Seca on his racing Road Glide is absolutely no surprise. Those who’ve watched any of the KotB series already know this. However, the series does raise one important question, and it’s one that Wyman thought he’d answer with a little demonstration in this video: Just how capable is a stock Road Glide if you take it to the track?
In this case, Wyman brought out his personal 2021 Harley-Davidson Road Glide 131, which means it has the 131 crate motor upgrade. It’s also got a Screamin’ Eagle Öhlins suspension upgrade, but that’s it. Stock tires, stock everything else—so, how does it fare at one of America’s most legendary motorcycle tracks?
To the surprise of some, it’s pretty darn quick! Obviously, ground clearance isn’t going to be the same between the race-prepped bike and Wyman’s stock Road Glide. There’s going to be some scraping if you take it too far, but that’s part of the reason that a lot of people find bagger racing so entertaining. These aren’t the bikes you’re looking for, as far as racing goes—except when they are.
It takes a moment for Wyman and the street Road Glide to acclimate to the track, of course. Once they get into a groove, though, what he and the bike can do together is fairly impressive. They hit a top speed of 117 miles per hour at one point, and spend most of the time cranking through second, third, and fourth gears around the track. Overall, it handles and performs better than even Wyman himself expected.
Still, of course, it’s no match for his race-prepped KotB bike. In terms of a hot lap time around Laguna Seca, the race bike hits it at 1:29.4. Meanwhile, the street Road Glide 131 comes in at 1:58.0, which is considerably slower.
However, it looks and feels great out there giving its all on the track, according to both what Wyman says, and the way everything looks in the onboard video he’s shared. In the end, he says he thinks more people should bring their Road Glides to the track and give them a try, and it’s hard to disagree. Who doesn’t want to have more fun on their bike, whatever they ride?
