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Learn all about Harley-Davidson racer Megan Anderson in this exclusive interview. We cover how she got into bagger racing and what the future holds for her in this popular form of motorcycle racing.

Megan Anderson cut her teeth in the sport bike world long before she owned her first Harley. Now she’s the flag-bearer for women riders in Drag Specialties Bagger Racing League. Anderson competes for the 604 Harley Racing team aboard her FrankenHarley,” a 2002 Sportster with a Buell 1203 engine, in the ICON Lite Weight Twins race class. In the first round of the 2023 BRL season at Pittsburgh, Anderson earned a fortuitous podium position and looks to carry that momentum to Blackhawk Farms Raceway as the paddock heads to South Beloit, Illinois, for the next round of races. Before then, though, we caught up with BRL’s lone female racer to learn how a sport bike rider from Southern California ended up racing Big Twins.

Bagger Racing League: How’d you get into motorcycling?

Megan Anderson: I was at a coffee shop and a guy offered to take me for a ride. Within a couple of months, I bought my own bike, and they all taught me how to ride and it took off from there. My first bike was a 1991 Kawasaki EX500. Mine was very Miami Vice. It was black with neon pink.

I’ve only been racing one full season. I come from the sport bike world, so I started out on the Kawi and then I jumped to a 929. Then I had a Gixxer 1000. I had it for 10 years, but I missed canyon riding, so I swapped down to a Gixxer 600. I got into canyon riding again, and some friends convinced me to go out to Chuckwalla. That was at the end of 2013. So I did my first track day and just cruised around on a 600, but never really had any interest in racing.

It wasn’t until three years ago that some of the female racers who I’d become close friends with convinced me to try a Yamaha R3. Once I jumped on the R3, I got that competitive vibe. Roughly about the same time I bought my very first Harley. I had never even ridden a Harley before, but I got a 2019 Iron 1200.

I was friends with everybody at the racetrack and primarily did SoCal Track Days which tends to be reserved for the racing crowd. I was close with them so I asked if I could bring my Harley out here because obviously, I’m not going to be close to an appropriate pace, but they said “Yeah, bring it on out.”

So, I’d still ride my R3. But at the end of the day, so I wouldn’t be in everybody’s way, I’d take the Harley out and do a few laps. It was such a different ride; it was so much fun. At that point, that’s when I started thinking this could be rad to race. And I found out that the V-Twin track days were coming up shortly after that at Chuckwalla.

BRL: How’d you become a Big Twin racer?

MA: After getting my racing license, I raced the R3 the last few rounds of the 2021-2022 season. But after riding my Sportster around Chuckwalla, I started thinking, what can I do to get on a Harley because I don’t want to race mine?

I had a frame, then acquired a front end from a Suzuki Gixxer 600. It took a while to get all the parts together, but I was finally able to compete on my current race Harley, which is an ’02 Sportster with a Buell 1203 in it. We coined her the “FrankenHarley.”

I was at the very first V-Twin track day, which is when BRL was announced. So I rode that day. They announced the Utah races, and I had a friend who had come out for the weekend, and she was like “We gotta go.”

I also went to the second V-Twin track day they did and that’s when Patricia Fernandez rode a Harley for the first time. So I rode with her at the second one and pretty much have been to every BRL event since. We drove out to Utah, and went to Sonoma, Milwaukee. Didn’t go to Daytona, it was a little far!

I raced the first and second rounds in Pittsburg. A couple of the guys in front of me had unfortunate outcomes, but I got lucky because it put me on the podium in the Light Twins Class.

BRL: What are the biggest differences between racing a sport bike and a Big Twin?

MA: It’s very different. It’s kind of a terrifying thing for me. The R3 is meant to do it. All my sport bikes are meant to do this. The guys at the track always giving me a hard time about it, “There’s so many bikes that are meant to do this, why are you trying to do it on a Harley?”

And it’s so hard to explain if you’ve never done it yourself. It’s just a different ride. It’s just fun. You get to push your limits in a different way. Like, I know what I’m capable of, but let’s see what this bike is capable of.

BRL: What are the major challenges of being a female in a male-dominated sport?

MA: I will say over the last decade, women have been much more welcome into the sport. When I first started riding my senior year in high school though, I wasn’t welcome. I was just viewed as this little girl who didn’t belong, and I got a lot of pushback when I’d show up on rides and things like that.

I have noticed at the racetrack that everyone, regardless of being male or female, has always been very welcoming, very open to helping each other out and giving each other pointers. I would say, it is still a struggle though because I hate being the only female. All eyes are on you. There’s kind of an unspoken expectation of a female in a male-dominated sport in the sense that they either expect you to be really, good, because how else would you have gotten here, or they’re expecting you to be really, really slow and you suck, because otherwise there would be more of us here. And you’re going to meet one-half of the expectations (laughs). It creates a lot of anxiety on my end because I know that everyone’s going to be like, oh, and there’s the girl. Whether I’m fast or slow, which is to be determined, all eyes are on you. And I don’t want to come in last. I want to be seen as competitive. I don’t want people to be like, it’s because she’s a girl. I want to be a racer. I wonder if there are going to be other girls at the next race and hope there are.

BRL: What do you think the future holds for Bagger Racing League?

MA: I believe it will keep growing. I do see a lot more people getting excited about it. My “FrankenHarley” of a bike, since I’ve been racing, a lot more people ask me about it. I’ve had people hit me up on social media, what front end do you have, how did you do that, I want to do that. So, I do see it growing. It’s obviously going to have its growing pains, but I look to race in the foreseeable future on the Harley. I hope to see even more people coming on board.

Megan has made a name for herself in the Bagger Racing League. Through hard work and determination, she has risen to be the only female racer competing. As a result, she was able to make a podium finish in the very first round of racing in Pittsburgh. Now that Anderson is one of the top racers in her class, all eyes are on her as the paddock heads to South Beloit, Illinois for the next round of races at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. With her determination and aura of strength, there’s no telling what kind of magic she can bring to this racetrack. Want to see more of Megan? Be sure to check out BaggerRacingLeague.com for all her news, updates, and results at Drag Specialties Battle of the Baggers Blackhawk on July 15th and 16th