We Are The Champions: Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Troy Herfoss
By Paul Carruthers/MotoAmerica.com
It’s a well-known fact that you win championships on your bad days, not your good ones. For Troy Herfoss there were two bad days in his 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers Championship run, and they came in succession in race two at Brainerd International Raceway and in race one at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Herfoss crashed in both, remounted in both, and scored nine points and five points, respectively, in the two races, points that would prove to be valuable at season’s end.
It wasn’t quite rock bottom, but it was vastly different from how his season began with nine consecutive podium finishes (four wins, four seconds and a third) in the first nine races on his S&S/Indian Motorcycle Challenger. He’d started like Superman but was suddenly Clark Kent. Still, the unflappable Aussie didn’t panic. He just went home to Australia’s Gold Coast to get his mojo back.
“I was in terrible physical shape, so I knew that I wasn’t getting the most out of the bike because I had been sick and then a little bit injured,” Herfoss said. “Things weren’t going great for me. At that point, I just kept showing up and putting my best foot forward and riding the wave. You’ve got ups and downs in this sport and what goes up must come down. I knew I wasn’t going to be down forever. I just needed to get through those few rounds as good as I could and ride the wave. That’s what I did. I got home and got healthy, and that showed when I got back to Mid-Ohio.”
With three straight Australian Superbike titles, an AMA Supermoto title and an Australian flat track championship, Herfoss is no stranger to racing success. Did winning the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship have the same feel or was it different?
“They’re all the same in that moment when you cross the line, I guess,” Herfoss said. “That feeling, especially in a championship as close as the one this year, the surprise I guess and the anticipation, buildup and everything. The excitement is always the same. Once you reflect on it all, I guess some mean more than others. It’s all about the hard work you put in. For me, it’s about doing something that, when the odds are against you, it makes it more exciting. That was probably the thing that separated this championship from others – being in there with the odds sort of against me a little bit. Trying to learn a new series and new bike, new tires and tracks and everything. So that made it more exciting.”
Herfoss made his MotoAmerica debut at Daytona International Speedway of all places. He admitted at the time that those first laps around the high banks of one of the most famous racetracks in the world scared him.
“It was really daunting,” Herfoss said. “It was super scary for me to go around the banking in the first set of practice knowing that I had 20 minutes to learn the track and then go into qualifying. You definitely skip a few levels. When I go to a new track, it’s always nice to have a day of testing and you can work out the runoff areas on the track and where you can push and can’t push safely. To go to Daytona and not have any practice really, just straight into it, I just rode the track for what it was. It wasn’t until after the session when I think I spoke to you on camera briefly and I’m like, ‘Shit, that was dangerous.’ You’re doing such high speeds, and I didn’t pay any thought to anything except going as fast as I could. It makes it exciting, but at my age it’s about keeping the brain active and interested in the sport and going to new tracks. So that one definitely gave me huge motivation and then satisfaction to be competitive.”
Competitive he was and he won his first MotoAmerica race in his first go, taking the first of two Mission Super Hooligan National Championship races on Friday and a fighting fifth on Sunday. And in the big show – the Mission King Of The Baggers races – Herfoss was second in both behind the man he would fight for the championship all season long, Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman.
Was it important for Herfoss to start fast to let the competition know he was for real?
“At my age, and at the level I think I can ride a bike at, it was important,” Herfoss said of his fast start. “Not a lot of guys can do that, can go and race in a new championship and win straightaway. So, I knew if I could do that, that would create some interest. It was a special feeling to be able to be competitive right away. It was a lot of fun, to be honest. I always pride myself on being well-prepared and always putting a big effort in. It’s taken me a lot of years to get out of Australia to do a bit of riding internationally and show what I’ve got, but it was really exciting and nerve-racking for me to get through Daytona. There was always that little bit of doubt in your mind of whether you are actually good enough or not. So, I backed myself at the end of 2023 and it all paid off. It was exciting to go to Daytona and almost win in my debut (on the Bagger), but not quite good enough.”
Fast forward to the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park. It was another new track for Herfoss to learn, but it didn’t faze him. He had an air of confidence that went against the grain of the challenges he was facing. He was seven points behind Wyman heading into the two races in Jersey.
In race one, Herfoss came out second best in a battle with RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s impressive class rookie Rocco Landers (with Wyman third), In race two, Herfoss went out and won the race with Wyman third. And just like that, he was the 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers Champion.
“I really had no reason not to be confident,” Herfoss said of his mental state heading to the series finale. “Just because I knew by the time we got to the last round that I could adapt to tracks really quickly. I knew there had been a surface change there at the track, so it wasn’t going to be exactly the same for everybody else. The weather did put some doubts in my mind. I definitely was very nervous when I rode out to the start of the first race, having it be my first actual dry laps on the track. But I feel like I just enjoy the big game days. It’s really the main reason I go racing is for that really competitive feeling and that high-pressure moment when something is going to happen. It’s interesting to see how people react in situations, and I sort of have made my career on winning those close battles. I was definitely confident I was going to be able to do it, but the weather did throw a curveball at me. The way it all turned out; I definitely feel like I executed the plan with the confidence I came in with.”
With three Aussie Superbike titles under his belt, it’s obvious that Herfoss is a Superbike racer. Coming here to race the Baggers was a massive challenge, but one that he enjoyed. He also got the chance to throw his leg over Cameron Beaubier’s Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR Superbike at Brainerd while Beaubier was recovering from injury. Riding a Superbike in addition to his Bagger commitments was a big ask, especially at a difficult racetrack like Brainerd International Raceway.
“I don’t regret it,” Herfoss said of taking the option to ride the BMW. “I want to ride Superbikes. I love racing Superbikes. I know I’m competitive on a Superbike and I just finished out the year in Australia with a win in the final (Superbike) race of the year. I bit off a lot going to Brainerd, and at the time I didn’t know the track was as quirky as it was, and the grip level was so quirky. It was a lot. You’re walking into one of the, if not the best bikes on the grid, replacing the best rider on the grid. Here’s the bike, here’s the track, and good luck. It was just a lot. I’m 100 percent certain if there had been a Thursday test, or I got to ride the bike at any other track, my results would have been a lot better (he was eighth and seventh in the two races). A few things happened. It was a deal where I thought I was going to be on the bike for two rounds, for sure, possibly three rounds. So, it was just let’s just work into it. The way the weekend started with that crash on the Bagger, I had to be a little bit careful. Then after the weekend obviously Cam (Beaubier) made a comeback, which I was happy to see. I didn’t want him to be off the grid any longer than he had to be, but that meant that I couldn’t get another weekend on the bike. I didn’t get to show anywhere near my potential on a Superbike, but I don’t regret doing it. It was a lot of fun to work with a new team and ride a bike like that. But I didn’t get to put my best foot forward. That’s for sure.”
Although nothing has been finalized, it’s likely that Herfoss will be back in the MotoAmerica paddock in 2025 racing for the same S&S/Indian Motorcycle team with which he won the title. He will be back with his wife, his two little girls, traveling the country with his fifth-wheel trailer.
“I think I’ll fly in and fly out for the races like I did this year and travel with the camper,” Herfoss said. “It’s just easier to do that when testing comes up or when we’ve got to stay a bit longer. It’s a much more affordable way to do it. It was kind of fun to travel around the States a bit. There was a lot going on this year trying to set it all up. Obviously, I’ve got a plan to be in America for a couple of years and hopefully seeing my years out racing in MotoAmerica would be nice. So, it was important to get set up early and really commit to it. I think if you don’t commit to something, you leave too many excuses not to get the result you’re after. I was all-in. Get the camper set up, get the family over here. All-in, all the time.”
When asked if there was a particular race that he was most proud of, Herfoss paused briefly.
“There were a lot of moments that I was really proud of and happy about, but no real win sort of stands out,” he said. “They’re all so fun and intense. I guess the last race of the year, really, is probably my proudest moment just because there were two guys going for a championship. I holeshotted the race and I was able to pass Kyle (Wyman) and make a gap and ride a flawless few laps, no mistakes, on his home track. It was sort of a weird feeling, to be honest, riding around the track with so little time. It just felt like I was so comfortable and so at home doing it. It was a lot of fun.”
As far as the training goes, road racing is not motocross, it’s not Supermoto and It’s not Supercross. But the mental side is difficult, and, in turn, it makes a high level of physical fitness a must.
My question on the subject went like this: I don’t know if you’re the fittest guy in the paddock, but you’ve got to be one of them. Does it bring confidence to you when you’re racing with somebody and you’re in a battle and you can think, “I know I’ve done more than this guy and I know I’m in better shape?” Or is that not important?
Uh, oh. I should have known better.
“It’s important,” Herfoss said, before taking a jab. “It’s funny, you don’t know whether I’m the fittest guy in the paddock. I’d be 99 percent sure I am. That makes a huge difference. Everyone is struggling at the end of the race no matter how hard you’re pushing. Knowing when that guy looks across at me with two laps to go and he’s already hurting and he knows the level of fitness I’m at, not only is my fitness going to get me to the line but my opponent knowing how fit I am is going to help me, as well.
“I’ve always made sure I’m at a high aerobic level. Unlike motocross, we don’t need to be super strong and super fit to go fast on a road bike, but you need to be able to make decisions at 300k an hour and hit the same few feet of tarmac from 200 or 300 meters of braking every lap. When your heart rate is 20 or 30 beats lower, it’s a lot easier to do that. For that reason, you do still need to be in really good physical shape. That’s why, for me a huge aerobic fitness is so important. Probably more so than the strength of riding a Superbike. There’s a lot of really fit guys out there. I think all motorsports are very underrated. I bet if you tested the top 10 Superbike guys in MotoAmerica versus some of the best football players in the country in an all-around fitness test, you’d be surprised how strong and fit a Superbike rider is.”
Winning the Mission King Of The Baggers title brought a lot of attention to Herfoss and to MotoAmerica and its Bagger class. Not just in Australia, but internationally, as well. Herfoss was surprised at the amount of attention people were paying to the series and the class.
“Yeah, it really surprised me,” he said. “It’s been such a pleasure to be a part of it. Internationally I’m sort of, I wouldn’t say a nobody, but I’m a lesser-known international rider. So, to come in and start racing in that championship and get the response I did, it was super refreshing. Even coming back to Australia, I’d say a lot more people recognize me than ever, even in Australia, just because the Baggers is such a cool series. I guess there’s the surprise factor of winning in my first year. I just find the King Of The Baggers fans are really old-school fans and they get right in amongst it there at the track. They’re passionate. The rivalry was like none other to me. The Harley fans, they almost wanted to hate the Indian and the Australian guy, but that was my job to be as good an opponent as I could to make sure they can’t hate me. So, it was sort of a fun dynamic, really. You’re trying to have a rivalry but you’re also there having fun racing bikes. It’s funny. We’re all at the track together and there was a big rivalry, but I can tell that every guy that rides a Bagger, whether it’s an Indian Challenger or the Harley, they all want to hang out really at the end of the day. So, it was a really fun atmosphere. One of the most enjoyable years I’ve had with spectators and fans.”
Herfoss checked another box in 2024 when he competed in the Melbourne Marathon and completed it in under three hours – two hours and 53 minutes. Photo courtesy of Herfoss
In 2021, Herfoss suffered a crash that nearly ended his career. His right humerus (upper arm) was broken, his right hip was smashed, and his right tibia (lower leg) was also fractured. He underwent six hours of surgery and spent the next month in a wheelchair. Herfoss was able to come back from that to win the 2023 Australian Superbike title.
Yeah, but could he run a marathon?
The answer is a resounding yes, and the marathon box was checked shortly after he won the 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers Championship. 1.3 million people run a marathon every year, which is just 0.17 percent of the population. Just a tick over four percent of those who do manage to finish the 26.2-mile marathon complete the race in under three hours. Herfoss did it in 2 hours and 53 minutes. That’s a 6:35 average mile time for 26.2 miles, and it placed him 307th out of the nearly 9000 runners who started the race.
“Like a lot of people that have bad injuries, you get sort of the thought that you won’t be able to do a few things that you used to be able to do and one of those things was running,” Herfoss said. “It was going to be maybe hard for me. About 18 months ago, I started doing a few 20- to 30-minute walk/runs to try and see if my body would hold up. One thing led to another, and I was running further and further and faster and faster. I wanted to tick the marathon off the list, and I wanted to do it before my injury, as well. Before my injury, I sort of joked that it would be easy to do a sub-three-hour marathon. But it definitely wasn’t easy. I’m glad I was able to do it in the end. It was a lot of fun.”
