Mission King Of The Baggers rider James Rispoli has stepped up to the Harley-Davidson Factory Racing team for 2024 after racing last year for Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. The former Supersport rider, British Superbike competitor, and American Flat Track racer is having a career resurgence now that he’s racing in MotoAmerica’s uniquely American Harley-Davidson versus Indian Motorcycle race series. Rispoli (AKA, “Hogspoli”) was one of five King Of The Baggers riders who participated in Thursday’s pre-event press conference leading into their race weekend at Circuit of The Americas alongside MotoGP. Here’s what he had to say:
Q:
James Rispoli, who last year was on a privateer team, the team that won the national championship, and now full-blown factory Harley-Davidson. You had your go. Full-factory team at Daytona. How are you feeling now about the move, about the bike, and about this weekend?
Rispoli:
First off, I’m super grateful to get the factory seat and to be able to get promoted up. It’s a dream of mine, so just taking it all in from there. Daytona was really good for us. We came away with two podiums, two third places and sitting third in the championship. As you alluded to, 18 races in this season. It’s the longest we’ve been. It’s a really long season for us and for everybody to make sure that we finish every single race is pretty crucial. So, I’m feeling really good. I’m very excited. If anybody watched the races last year, they were quite exciting. The racing is so raw in this class still, that I think it creates a lot of close racing and a lot of great racing. So, I’m excited to be here. Excited to be along MotoGP. It’s really, really cool. I’m excited to get to FP1.
Q:
You had a couple of big spins, big slides at Daytona. Some of the things that you’ve learned from there that you’re going to take to COTA?
Rispoli:
Yeah, just settle down a little bit. I think new season, new bike, new team. You get a little aggressive. I’m a little bit more the wild one out there, I think. I ride a little bit more seat-of-the-pants. Maybe settle down a little bit, but it’s good for the cameras. It’s good for everything. As long as we can kind of harness that energy, we should be good here. Just excited to get two races this weekend. It’s something a little different, riding race one and race two in the same day. We don’t normally do that, so it will be a quick turnaround there. It’s a little shortened schedule for us. Everything is packed in. So, we’ve got to be on our A game and come away with some good points.
Q:
Can you describe the difference between the experience that you had last year on the Vance & Hines bike and now with the factory squad?
Rispoli:
Last year, I rode for Vance & Hines. They know how to build speed and how to build a great program. Terry Vance back in the day had one of the most successful programs you could have in AMA. So, they know what they’re doing. Moving to the factory team, you’ve got a little bit more flair, I would say. everything is new and pristine. Having that and then having the ability to be the development house for the class, per se, and then kind of following suit with Kyle of what he’s developed, and to kind of take a little bit of my style and be able to put into the motorcycle. But the differences in bikes are not too crazy. They both do their different power trains, which are different and they feel different. Vance & Hines produced their own swing arm, so there’s little differences between the bikes, but it’s not a crazy amount. I think it’s more just team-based and how the morale is and we’re able to achieve the same goal. I think both teams are really good. Both bikes have better and weaker spots. I think it’s an interesting question.
