Although reduced to two rounds this year, the 2020 AMA Pro Hillclimb Series begins this month. The opening round is on September 12 at the White Rose Motorcycle Club in Spring Grove, Penn. The final round is at Devil’s Staircase in Oregonia, Ohio, on October 11, 2020. It is the 71st annual hillclimb at the Dayton Motorcycle Club’s venue.
Although 2020 has been an unpredictable year for all racing, Indian Motorcycle is spicing things up in the AMA Pro Hillclimb Series. There will be an Indian FTR750-based hillclimber piloted by 10-time AMA Pro Hillclimb Champion John “Flying” Koester.
“When we created the new Twins class, our intention was to attract leading OEMs like Indian Motorcycle to return to this uniquely challenging and exciting form of racing, and we couldn’t be more excited to now welcome Indian Motorcycle back to the hill for the first time in more than 80 years,” said Director of AMA Pro Hillclimb Rob Redmann. “There is nothing like Hillclimb racing—fast, quick, and exciting. We believe brands such as Indian Motorcycle will dramatically impact our ability to draw more fans and help grow this incredible sport.”
Koester’s effort is a family affair, as his FTR750 was built with the help of his father and crew chief, Gordy Koester. To turn the flat tracker into a hillclimber, the Koesters extended the swingarm, installed a Rekluse clutch, pumped up the power with a one-off S&S exhaust system, and slapped on a pair of knobbies.
“It’s an absolute honor to represent Indian Motorcycle as it makes its dramatic return to hillclimb racing on the same machine that literally changed the game for flat-track racing over the past four years,” said Flying Koester. “We’re excited to unleash the FTR750 on the hill, with our minds firmly fixed on the ultimate goal of capturing a championship.”
Vice President Racing, Service and Technology for Indian Motorcycle Gary Gray added, “We are always looking for exciting and unique opportunities not only to compete, but to also demonstrate the prowess of our engineering and design teams and the capabilities of the incredible motorcycles we develop. We’re not only fans of hillclimb racing, but with our brand’s history in the sport, it was a no-brainer that we’d make our return after all these years.”
2020 AMA Pro Hillclimb Series Schedule
- September 12: Spring Grove, Pennsylvania
- October 11: Oregonia, Ohio
Dates subject to change (especially this year!)