Sad. That’s how I feel. Sad. Sad because the GP at Phillip Island has been part of Aussie motorcycle life since 1989. It might be the same guys on the same bikes over in Adelaide, but it won’t be the same.
Some are saying it’ll be “bigger, better, brighter” but they haven’t camped out trackside in a plastic bag. The Island holds memories and while Adelaide’s a beaut city as far as cities go, racing bikes in the heart of a city just ain’t the same thing. I’ll watch that on telly.
As soon as I find the button. I mean this bloody bike has got everything else so I figure there must be a pop-out TV screen here somewhere. Navigating the controls on an Indian Dark Horse is about as far away from the advance lever on our old 1942 Indian as Houston is to the Moon. Actually, I don’t think the astronauts got heated seats, did they? Oh, that’s the windscreen
wind-up button…
Sheesh. At least it’s making me smile. When my mate Dave asked if I’d like to ride the new Indian Pursuit Dark Horse – better reduce that to IPDH or Editor Greg will know I’m cheating on the word count – I had to have a go. Yes, I know it’s about as far from high-performance racing machines as…
Hang on, it’s not though, is it? I mean in the world of Bagger Racing – an all-American class dedicated to keeping ‘metrics’ out – the Indian PDH has actually been cleaning up. When I heard about Bagger Racing, I figured someone had dropped LSD in the water cooler again but apparently it’s pretty serious scrumpy. Pretty exciting too, in much the same way truck racing is. It’s hard to think of a sane reason why people would want to modify touring rigs for racing – but then sane people voted for a melon to run the US of A, so maybe it’s more than just a trophy for the locals.
Personally, I’ll just give that a miss and wait for them to bring out school bus racing.
But the big Injun? Hell, it’s loads of fun. Loads and loads. Just on weight alone it’s about a wife more than Harley’s Ultra Classic. And a whole lot more than Honda’s six-cylinder Gold Wing too.
Strangely, I found it handles surprisingly well. In fact, all sense of extreme mass dissipates the moment I let the clutch out. A massive motor making big lumps of smooth power and suspension so sophisticated you can dick around with it on screen – apparently, I couldn’t find that button – all combined with brakes so strong it stops when and where you want.
I’ve never owned anything bigger than an old Harley Road King in the touring stakes and even that got all the glitzy bits stripped off. I know there’s a whole bunch of riders who figure the more car-like a bike is the better it is to tour on. Life would be incredibly boring if we all thought the same, but the back seat of this thing is like half a business class cabin on its own.
What I’m wondering is, when is enough enough? No, I’m not. I’m wondering whether Jimmy Barnes will guzzle a bottle of vodka and tell the assembled multitudes down at the last Island GP to go f#ck the management. But Jimmy doesn’t drink anymore, the Moto is going to Adelaide in ’27 and I’m riding around on the bike that won the 2024 King of the Baggers title. Nuts, absolutely nuts.
Maybe they should keep the MotoGP and the Superbikes at Phillip Island and get the Baggers to run down in Adelaide next year. I mean, the average stoned gonad slumped on the fence down in Radelaide would be over the moon with a bunch of grumbling heavyweights scraping around the City of Churches. That way they could leave the sport to us blokes who appreciate it. Maybe even have a school bus race and a couple of rounds of truck drags too. Gee, with that sort of action going on, I reckon the organisers will be able to get the Kardashians along to do, err, whatever it is they do.
Maybe that’s what this Indian PDH back seat was built for? A great big Kardashian cushion. I’m riding Poland with Nevermind at the moment but I’ll be back in time for the last Island GP. Wouldn’t miss that for the world!
