Protolabs powers Harley-Davidson Factory Racing

Since 2021, Harley-Davidson Factory Racing has relied on Protolabs, a digital manufacturing service provider, to produce racing parts. Harley-Davidson racing engineers depend on the company’s quick turnaround times and advanced capabilities throughout the season.

The Harley-Davidson team competes in the King of the Baggers series, a one-of-a-kind motorcycle competition bringing together the best riders in the world to race large Harley-Davidson Road Glide motorcycles at speeds exceeding 180 mph. The racing team’s dedication to constant iteration has produced faster, nimbler bikes capable of setting course records at each stop throughout the race season. A new video series highlights Harley-Davidson’s success and its critical manufacturing partnership with Protolabs.

“For us to be successful in the King of the Baggers series, we need to respond rapidly to what we are learning on the racetrack, and to do that we require a partner that is able to bring these ideas to life,” said Jason Kehl, Team Principal at Harley-Davidson Factory Racing. “As a digital manufacturer, Protolabs allows us to make those weekly incremental improvements that lead to season-long success.”

The production Harley-Davidson Road Glide weighs up to 960 lbs., while King of the Baggers bikes race at 620 lbs. The team relies on a variety of Protolabs’ manufacturing processes to implement new part designs – changes that increase speed and performance-critical lean angle while maintaining race weight. Since the race series began in 2021, Protolabs has produced injection molded, machined, sheet metal, and 3D printed parts from its four manufacturing services. Harley-Davidson Factory Racing has not only leveraged Protolabs for quick-turn parts but also its global network of manufacturing partners for larger, complex parts.

Combining Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s engineering team with Protolabs’ digital manufacturing expertise has allowed the team to take lessons learned from a Sunday race and translate that knowledge into a new part design. During the ensuing week, the team can prototype, test, learn, iterate, and order the final part using a race-ready lightweight material – all before the race begins the following weekend. The result has been significant year-over-year improvements in race times – producing podium finishes for riders Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli.

The Protolabs and Harley-Davidson Factory Racing partnership is detailed in a multimedia campaign that reveals how the team’s engineering expertise is leading the evolution in the King of the Baggers series. The three-part video series includes The Race for Record-Breaking Iteration; Edging Out the Competition with a 3D Printed Exhaust; and Quick-Turn Machining to the Rescue in Rain-Soaked Race.