Sportster S Comes out Ahead in Endurance Test

Racer Honor

Harley-Davidson's Sportster S shook things up when it was first released, but the radical cruiser is now proving itself. On February 5, 2022, five riders set an endurance record in Jaipur, India, covering 3,141 kilometers (1952 miles) in 24 hours. Team member and national motorsports racer, Anushriya Gulati had the honor of completing the last leg of the grueling test.

Photos courtesy of Hindustan Times.

Team Sections

The experienced riders each handled sections lasting just over 600 kilometers (972 miles). The team was comprised of Malo Le Masson, Head of Strategy and Global Product Planning at Hero MotoCorp, Vijay Thomas, Lead Brand Marketing and Customer Experience with the Harley-Davidson Business Unit, Shubhabrata Marmar, Editor at Powerdrift, Vijay Singh, founder of Rajputana Customs and, of course, Anushriya Gulati.

Sales Partnership

The event took place on the mile-long oval at Hero’s Global Centre for Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur. Hero MotoCorp Limited is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. It is also the sole distributor of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and products in India—a partnership agreement reached in 2020 after the Motor Company discontinued all its sales and manufacturing in the country.

Strong Quality

The endurance record comes on the heels of another Hero MotorCorp x Harley-Davidson escapade. Ravi Avalur, Head of Harley-Davidson Business at Hero, elaborated, “We recently took the Pan America to the highest unpaved motorable road in the world and that inspired us to do something uniquely different with the Sportster S.” Avalur also noted that the record is a strong testament to Harley-Davidson quality.

Accelerated Cost

Hero's Head of Chassis Functional Development, David Lopez, and Head of Vehicle Validation, Alex Busquets, led the five rider team. At first, the idea was to attempt the record on public roads. Deemed too risky, the team switched to the CIT track in Jaipur. That too came at a cost, with the loop's abrasive tarmac consuming tires at an accelerated rate.

Pit Problems

Organization was key to the record attempt. With an average speed of 130 km/hr (81 mph), each rider completed six 100-kilometer (62-mile) runs. Over the 24-hour period, thirty-one pit stops were made that included a fuel refill and rider change. Tire swaps occurred every 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). As day turned to night, a problem with the Sportster S began to emerge.

Ingenious Time

Even though the diagnostics came back clear, the bike was stuttering under acceleration. With Shubhabrata Marmar at the bars, the issue seemed to initially fix itself, but then returned. Lopez, an experienced endurance racer had a rather ingenious backup plan. To save time, the team just swapped major components instead of trying to diagnose and fix individual parts.

Untested Worth

The plan worked. A tense twenty-eight minutes later the bike was back out and the stutter resolved. It may explain why the Sportster S is fitted with a black tank in the final celebration images. Like all endurance racing, the winning strategy is to conserve both rider and machine. In this case, it was an untested motorcycle, but one that ultimately proved its worth.

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