Story and photos from baggerracingleague.com

As the season finale approaches, all eyes are on Trask Performance and rider Shane Narbonne. See if they can make history by winning a third consecutive title in the NAMZ Bagger GP bracket!

Winning three consecutive titles in any sport is a monumental feat. Trask Performance Racing teeters on the precipice of that lofty achievement as the Bagger Racing League paddock heads to the season finale in Willow Springs, California. In the NAMZ Bagger GP bracket, Trask rider Shane Narbonne holds a slim five-point advantage over Suburban Harley-Davidson racer Benny Carlson.

“Narbonne is a weapon on the motorcycle,” said Trask Performance Racing founder, Nick Trask. “But Benny’s no joke.”

Trask’s second rider, Gunnar Ouellette, leads the Metzeler Pro Stock Bagger series by eight points over Rundlett Racing’s Clayton Braun. Oullette has won every race except Round 2 in Pittsburgh when Braun powered his way on the track and finished in the first position. While Trask has been a powerhouse since it came onboard BRL, Suburban Harley, Rundlett Racing, and a bevy of other hungry competitors will be eager to dethrone the reigning champs in the final two races on November 18-19.

The Trask Performance Racing team will undoubtedly have its 2017-18 Road Glides honed to a razor’s edge come race day. Both Narbonne and Oullette compete on Harley Road Glides outfitted with custom Trask turbo kits.

“They’re built for abuse,” Trask said. “The rules are, if you’re running a 107-stock displacement motor, you can run a turbocharger. If you want to run a big motor, you cannot run a turbocharger, so it keeps it fair between the teams.”

In addition to a Trask turbocharger, the bikes are equipped with many other parts Trask manufactures and offers for everyday riders. This includes the swingarm, a Checkmate engine breather valve which was developed and prototyped on their race bike, a billet tail section, custom rear clips, and a primary cover.

“The primary cover is custom billet, built for more ground clearance, and it’s tucked in tighter,” Trask said. “These are parts any rider could put on their motorcycle through us or Drag.”

The list of top-shelf components on the Trask Road Glides includes FLY handlebars, Kraus adjustable triple trees, Beringer brakes, Öhlins suspension, Marchesini wheels, and Saddleman seats. Trask said they have never raced at Willow Springs and hope to get in some test time before the finale.

“Hopefully, there are some good straightaways we can use our power on, but our bike is set up for the tight twisties, too,” Trask said.

Trask Performance is one of the proud founding teams of BRL. When asked how their involvement came about, here’s what Nick had to say.

“The Bagger Racing concept was Rob Buydos’ idea from the start. He approached me at one of the Drag Specialties NVP shows, and approached me first, wanting me to commit. We had talked about it in Sturgis a few years before that, the concept of road racing baggers, and right from the beginning, I was all about it. It’d give me an opportunity to showcase what we do and prove that our performance products are dependable.”

“I jumped on board. I said, yeah, dude, let’s do it. That was the NVP show. So Rob started asking the other guys. He picked out roughly 10 or 12 guys. Rob went around and started asking, hey you in, this guy’s in, this guy’s in. By the end of the weekend, we had 12 guys committed. Actually, more than that because a couple fell off.

“In a nutshell, that’s how it started. Our first race was Laguna. It was during COVID-19, so we thought it would be a flop because it was at Laguna, and MotoAmerica was doing it at that point. Rob took his idea and presented it to them, and he brought us along. We raced Laguna Seca, and its stream dwarfed the sportbikes. Rob and MotoAmerica couldn’t put a deal together, so Rob went down the road and started up again with the BRL. We’re loyal to Rob, so we went with him. It was myself, Fueling, Alloy Art, Dave from Saddleman, and a couple of other guys, we committed to Rob. We’ve raced for a couple of years; this is our third season. We’re number one all three years.”

True to its name, Trask Performance has been pushing the envelope on what a Harley-Davidson motorcycle can do since it was established in 2000. The company started by performing performance upgrades, building engines, and tuning dyno. It didn’t take long for turbocharged Harleys to become its specialty.

“Back in 2003, I had a couple of turbocharged bikes. I had one, my Softail that I was working on for myself, and I wasn’t planning on going into production. I had bought a kit from somebody else, and the kit was terrible. It was way too big for my motor. It came on like a two-stroke. Even with my limited capabilities at the time, I realized I could do better than that. I’d grown up in New Zealand and done my apprenticeship in New Zealand with some masters who knew how to turbocharge small engines.

“The first bike we turbocharged was when the 2002-2003 V-Rod first came out. Fuel injection on Harleys was coming out, making it so much better for turbochargers. We used to do carbureted bikes, put turbo systems on carbureted bikes, but they suck. When fuel injection came out, it was a new game for us. We jumped in on the ground floor and built turbo charge kits, and over the years, we just refined them and made them better and better and better. And now our kits are dialed and deadly. We manufacture everything in-house so we can control the quality and the turnaround time. And we’re still just as passionate about it now as we ever were. There’s no compromise for quality.”

Nick attributes much of his passion and drive to his upbringing. His dad got him into motorcycles in New Zealand, and he’s ridden them for as long as he can remember.

“I lived in New Zealand, a little country, right, and you couldn’t get anything. If you wanted something, it took us a lot of work to get it, and you had to make it work when you did get it. So the mentality, the mindset is a lot different because you’re used to struggling to make things work. Because you can’t skate over to the store and get a new one. You want a gasket, you want a bolt, it was so difficult to get, you had to improvise, and think.”

Growing up in New Zealand taught Trask resourcefulness because making do with what was available was a way of life. The past struggles make the current successes that much sweeter.

“I’ve got a passion to be the best at anything we do, right? I love what I do. I wake up, and what drives me, what fuels me, is excitement. It’s one of those things: be open-minded, spot opportunities, and move forward.”

And Trask is indeed moving forward, both in racing and innovation. The company just released its Tornado Turbo Kit, a bolt-on Harley-Davidson M8 turbo built exclusively for Drag Specialties. The Tornado Turbo Kit fits Milwaukee-Eight engines from sizes 107 to 117. It’s bolt-on, fully stainless, with pre-bent housings.

“It’s complete, ready to bolt on, and you can buy it from a distributor. It’s the first kit ever to be distributed through a distributor. They’re flying off the shelf, our most exciting part right now. Find it at any Drag dealer,” added Trask.

Tornado Turbos aren’t the only things flying around the Trask Performance camp. Its turbo-powered Harley Road Glides will soon be flying around the super-fast 2.5-mile, nine-turn road racing circuit known as Willow Springs International Raceway as they try for a three-peat. Be sure to grab tickets for the Bagger Racing League’s championship round in Rosamond, California, on November 18-19, and enjoy a weekend full of fun and festivities.