Performance Bagger Gets Carbon Fiber Design

Forefront Glide

Building hot machines from touring bikes were once relegated to a niche subculture among Harley-Davidson enthusiasts. Skip back a decade or so and Roland Sands Design was at the forefront of that trend. At the top of their game, the RSD crew is again pushing the Performance Bagger envelope with a road-legal, all-carbon-fiber, track-style Street Glide.

Photos courtesy of RSD.

Wild Opposite

Still, in the works, RSD's Carbon Bagger promises to ride as good as it looks. Not that long ago, the custom touring bike trend was massive front wheels, loud stereos, and aftermarket bodies with wild paint jobs. More suited to crawling the streets of Daytona Beach, Big Wheel Baggers are pretty much the diametric opposite of performance.

Propelled Popularity

While this over-the-top bagger trend grew, RSD went a different route by choosing to increase functionality. So much so, that they are credited as one of the first shops to push high performance, eventually building a brand out of the concept. The recent Moto America’s King of the Baggers racing series has since propelled that same concept to widespread popularity.

Stock Swapped

In a nutshell, Performance Baggers are streetable, high horsepower, track-style bikes. One of the key considerations for any wannabe race machine is weight. To address this, RSD chose carbon fiber to lighten up their almost 900lbs donor touring machine. Retaining their stock appearance, the bags, faring, fenders, and side covers were swapped out for ones made of the lightweight resin composite.

Composite Surge

Most will remember the surge of carbon fiber parts for the leisure and racing world in the early 1990s. Sometimes called graphite fiber, the material is nothing new, having been developed in 1958. The steel-strength material was initially difficult to produce and remained an industry-specific item until better manufacturing made the lightweight composite accessible and easy to produce.

Straight Point

The Carbon Bagger started life as a crashed Street Glide. Keen eyes will note that the signature Batwing was swapped for a Road Glide-style fixed fairing. RSD stated that the donor chassis “didn’t start off clean, or straight.” A trip to Dr. John's Motorcycle Frame Straightening in Anaheim, California solved that issue, resulting in an arrow-like starting point.

Horsepower Level

The next step was to deliver the motor to Bennett's Performance in Signal Hill, California. RSD did not provide any details of the engine build, but noted that it was fitted with the “necessary S&S items to boost the torque and horsepower numbers to a sufficient level.” Feeding the modified mill is a Horsepower Inc. throttle body, attached to an RSD Sector air cleaner.

Street Potential

The rolling stock got an upgrade in the form of RSD Traction wheels, wrapped in Dunlop Sportmax tires. Front brakes were swapped to Brembo calipers with Kraus mounts. Öhlins rear shocks were a must, while the front got Alloy Art fork lowers, nitride tubes, and GP valved suspension. Carbon Bagger will soon be the best of both worlds, track-ready, while still holding down exciting street potential.

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