Herfoss on the hunt for a second Baggers title

Now deep into his third season as a Mission King of the Baggers frontrunner, Troy Herfoss has his sights set squarely on a second title. The 39-year-old Australian has won an army of fans Stateside thanks not only to the way he hustles the 619 lb Vance & Hines Factory Indian Challenger RR around the tracks of North America like a toy, but also because of his professional and entertaining presence off the bike. We’re proud to say that it’s also his third season with KYT Americas.

‘Herf’ is no stranger to the US racing scene. Coming out of his home country’s famed flat track racing system, he spent a good chunk of his early career in AMA Supermoto, winning the championship in 2008, at the age of 21. The break into road racing came a year later in the Australian Supersport Championship. He was fifth in the standings in his first season and went on to take the title in 2010. The inevitable move into the liter class followed, with Troy winning the ultra-competitive Australia Superbike Championship in 2016, 2018 and 2023 for Penrite Honda. In fact, that last title revealed more about his depth of character than anything else, as it came after a horror crash in 2021 that should have ended his career.

Leaping from superbikes to baggers, Herfoss made a spectacular return to the US in 2024. In the season opener, riding the Indian Challenger for the first time, and at Daytona Speedway for the first time, he qualified on pole and narrowly missed out on a Race 1 win. He went on to take the championship, was third in 2025 and now, in the business end of the 2026 season, he’s eyeing up a second title.

“From here down to the last race of the season, I know exactly what I need to do,” he told us in a recent interview. “Every point counts, and I’m in the best physical and mental shape to pull it off.”

Fitness is as much philosophy as habit to Troy Herfoss. “My job is racing baggers, and a key part of that is making sure I’m physically up to the job, pure and simple.”

Commenting on the way lap times have tumbled in the class since the early days of the
championship, he said, “The bikes are braced much stiffer these days, so it’s extra grip that’s making the difference. They used to say you get a 30-second warning on a bagger before a highside, but now it’s totally changed. You need to ride with a lot more precision and the risks of being spat off are a lot higher.

“The series puts on a great show thanks to the intensity of the rivalry between the two
manufacturers and of course between the riders.”

Troy’s striking KYT helmet tells a story too. The steel gray in the design came from an idea while he was recovering from his 2021 crash. “I had so much steel in the right side of my body that people joked I was like a terminator, so the concept kind of stuck. “The quality and aerodynamics of the KYT are what really matter, though. When it rains, I just
change to a clear visor. There’s no fiddling around with breath guards and the like to avoid
steaming. When you’re racing, the last thing you want is to be distracted by little things like
that. Another thing that makes it stand out is that when you’re leaning off the bike at high
speeds, there’s no resistance with the KYT. With other brands you feel like your head’s being forced up straight by the airflow, which means extra physical effort.”

You can follow Troy Herfoss here at KYT Americas, on his Instagram, @troyherfoss17