Story and photos from baggerracingleague.com

The Bagger Racing League team looks to carry momentum from Pittsburgh to Blackhawk as the paddock prepares for Round Two.

Lloyd’z Garage Racing (LGR) headed to Pittsburgh International Raceway with a right-left combo ready to punch a ticket to the top step of the podium. Lloyd’z’ owners Tim Sutherland and Lloyd Greer prepared the team to battle it out with a bevy of bagger heavyweights in the opening round of the 2023 Bagger Racing League (BRL) season May 6­-7, 2023. They would contest the lauded Namz Cycle Products Bagger GP class with a 2022 LGR Indian Challenger piloted by Hawk Mazzota and a 2022 Indian FTR1200 ridden by Josh Baird.

The line of motorcycles waiting to get into Drag Specialties Battle of the Baggers Pittsburgh stretched as far as the eye could see. A record-breaking crowd turned out to watch Mazzota and Baird duke it out with heavy hitters from Trask Performance, Alloy Arts, Feuling Parts, and others. According to Sutherland, getting to Pittsburg took some last-minute scrambling but the stars aligned and with support from local dealers and supporters, they got the bikes prepped and ready in time.

“The good thing about BRL is there’s more on-track time for the bike. We were able to get up there the day before the race and do a track day at Pittsburg and worked to get the bike dialed in,” said Sutherland. Come race day, the team was feeling good about the bike. Mazzota muscled his way around the track masterfully, keeping the pressure on race leader Shane Narbonne and the Trask Harley Road Glide. The big Harley flexed its muscles in the straights, while the nimbler Challenger was able to chase it down in the corners. The resulting duel had the crowd cheering every attack and counterattack. In the end, the Trask Harley powered its way to the win.

“We were running with them,” said Sutherland. “We thought we might have had something for them. But that bike is a monster, there’s no other way around it. When that bike is on, it’s difficult to beat, and Shane does a great job as a rider.”

The next day, the team headed to the track eager to build on Race One’s podium finish. To counteract Trask’s power advantage, the newfound strategy hinged on getting a good launch, grabbing the hole shot, and using the Challenger’s prowess in the turns to open an early gap. Then the rain came.

“We elected to go out on rain tires, and by the time the race rolled around, the track had dried up. The Suburban Harley-Davidson guys had decided to go out on slicks, and they made the right decision. We did not,” opined Sutherland.

Suburban Harley’s Benny Carlson would run away with the win. Despite tire issues, Mazzota was still able to grab the last spot on the podium. “We feel we can win some races this year with Hawk and the bike,” said Sutherland post-race.

Lloyd’z Garage Racing’s second rider, Josh Baird, pushed the 2022 Indian FTR1200 to a second-place spot on the podium in the first race of the Andrews Products American Twins Unlimited class. The Unlimited class is a fun one to watch because it allows motorcycles from all BRL classes to compete, except for the Bagger GP bikes. It also includes custom frame builds, and wouldn’t it be great to see someone bring one of the new Super Buell Cruisers to a future competition? Baird also competed in the DP Brakes F/S Cup consisting of water-cooled American Twins, finishing second to Alloy Art’s Cory Cowan.

Though things came together somewhat last-minute in Pittsburg, Lloyd’z announced it is going all-in for the full season and will be ready for the next race at Blackhawk Farms Raceway with a three-prong attack. They’re in the process of building a 2022 Indian which Mazzota will ride in the Big Twins class.

“We’re definitely looking for some podiums at Blackhawk and hopefully are standing on top of one,” said Sutherland. Until then, they’ll keep pushing for more power to narrow the gap on its competitors.

“If we want more power, we can’t just go buy more power, we must develop more power. So, it’s a little more difficult for the Indian teams than it is for the Harley guy because there’s a lot of Harley performance parts already out there,” said Sutherland.

Luckily, Lloyd’z embraces the challenge of making its own parts and loves helping to push the Indian performance envelope fast forward. With help from their friends at S&S Cycle, they’re making gains with each race.  “The Indian Challenger is a great base platform. The handling is awesome, the balance of the bike is awesome, and overall, it is a great motorcycle,” said Sutherland. Validating that statement is the fact that Lloyd’z took basically a bone stock Challenger to the track last year with Cory West riding and the bike was still competitive.

“It’s a quick motorcycle and a great platform to start on, there are just not a lot of aftermarket power items available for it. But we are developing more of those all the time, so it’s getting faster and faster every time we show up with it.

“We do use what we learn at the racetrack and carry it over to our performance company for street applications. So, the cams that we run in these bikes in most cases are the ones that we’re either selling to or developing for the public,” said Sutherland. And giving the everyday rider a chance to get the most out of their motorcycle is at the heart of the BRL.

The bagger paddock is preparing to take South Beloit, Illinois, by storm July 15-16 for Round Two of the Bagger Racing League season. The Lloyd’z Garage Racing team is looking to take the lessons learned in Pittsburg and make the leap to the top spot on the podium. But it’s not going to be easy as troublesome Trask and a posse of motorcycle industry power punchers will be eager to launch their own assault on Blackhawk Farms Raceway.