The bagger, which is a stripped and slammed version of a full dresser, is a purely American phenomenon, and there are two ways to look at it: It’s either the devolution of the dresser, sacrificing touring practicality for a streamlined silhouette, or it’s the evolution of the cruiser, adding saddlebags and a fairing to a low-slung, foot-forward machine.
The three main American bike makers – Harley-Davidson, Indian and Victory – all produce different variations of these streamlined touring cruisers, and in fact, the segment is important enough that Honda stripped the Gold Wing to produce the F6B. Even BMW has teamed up with American custom bike guru Roland Sands to build an experimental bagger based on the K1600GT, called the Concept 101. The traditional bagger, however, is American made, so…
