in Arms

Steward and Grant Baylor dominate the AMA National Enduro series

— and show no sign of slowing down proud to be a third-generation racer, and riding and racing has always been a big part of our family. My grandpa raced, my dad raced, and I started riding at age 3.”

“My first race was when I was just 4,” he continued. “They had a Jr. Enduro at the 1998 Sumter National Enduro, and I raced that. But it snowed, and I swore I never wanted to do that again.”

“The first time I rode a dirt bike,” Grant added, “was when I was about three-and-a-half years old. My brother and I both started racing young, and that got our dad back into racing, too.”

The brothers started racing locally in the South Carolina area, getting started in enduro. Later, they tried qualifying at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, then got involved in AMA Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) racing while competing in hare scrambles here and there.

“Finally, I was the age I could start running in National enduros, and switched over to that in 2012,” Steward told us.

“I think we did a few races in 2011,” Grant added, “But we dove into enduro full time in 2012. Steward went to the first round and won the Pro class in South Carolina, and we were all so excited about that, we decided to all follow the series the rest of the year.”

Surprisingly, during that first year the Baylors raced the entire series, Steward won his first AMA Enduro National Championship.

“It was kinda a shock that in my first year running I won seven of the nine rounds I entered,” Steward said. “I won multiple races, even after breaking my wrist. I shocked a lot of people — myself and the industry — and we accomplished all that with no factory support. Fans, local people and friends helped us get to some of the races, and that first championship in 2012 really sparked my professional career at the top level.”

While Steward won the AMA National Enduro Championship that first year, Grant also did well, winning the championship in the 250 class.

For Steward, enduro was the type of racing he enjoyed more than anything else. But that wasn’t the only thing that drove him to focus his attention on enduro.

“I’d had some significant injuries in 2011 and then in 2012 that made it nearly impossible to do hare scrambles for hours,” Steward said. “Enduros allowed me to take a break and ice down my joints, nursing myself through the event.”

While he scored his first AMA National Enduro championship in 2012, he also broke his foot, and clavicle, and had a major wrist injury that led to five surgeries; the bone ended up dying, and eventually had to be removed.

“I just can’t hold on for very long with that wrist,” Steward continued. “But if I can stop and ice it, I’m able to go on for another section.”

“Steward’s pain tolerance has to be out of this world!” Grant exclaimed. “He broke his collarbone and rode with it broken to the point it nearly rubbed a hole through his skin. Another time he crashed and the handlebars took a big piece out of his lower back. It was really bad — the sight of it nearly made me faint — but he finished the race.”

Despite all the injuries they’ve both sustained over the years, the brothers continue to be each other’s most formidable opponent in the series.

“Grant is absolutely my biggest competition,” Steward said. “He’s been my longest and most consistent competitor. We talk a little smack after every test, and I kinda think he wants to take me down more than I want to beat him. Championships aside, he wants to beat me at those races.”

“At enduros,” Grant added, “we’re not head-to-head. We take off on a different minute. At the end of the day, one of us is going to come away frustrated. But if anyone’s going to beat me, I’d rather it be him. My brother’s one to rub it in a little, and while we have a good relationship, I do feel great when I can beat him!”

In 2022, it was Grant who pulled off the championship win — his second, and the first-ever enduro championship for GASGAS USA while Steward cheered him on, electing to have surgery near the end of the season after an injury.

“Grant started clicking off wins at the end of the season,” Steward said, “and I knew he was going to do it. I was happy the championship went to another Baylor. Seven out of the last 10 years for our family is pretty strong. In most sports, there are seldom times where two brothers share championships, and we share several. We’ve stood on the podium as first and second more than 10 times and had a very decorated career for brothers, so I was just happy a Baylor got it done.”

For Grant, that second championship has been a confidence booster, but he also knows that if his brother wouldn’t have missed a few rounds due to injuries, things could have been a lot different.

“If Steward hadn’t been hurt,” Grant mentioned, “he’d have been really close at the end of the year, and we really haven’t had a year where both of us have been healthy. Currently, we’re the only two guys running who have championships under our belts, but racers like Josh Toth, Ryder Lafferty and Ricky Russell are all stepping it up.”

“For 2023,” Grant continued, “I’m hoping Steward and I both have a healthy season so we can really go head-to-head. After winning in 2022, I want to see what’ll happen when we’re both healthy. I’ll also be riding a Kawasaki in 2023, a big change for me after riding mostly Austrian-made bikes for most of my career.”

For Steward, there’s always another goal to chase.

“Every year my goals change,” he said. “I wanted to get five championships like Russell Bobbit had, and I did that. Now I want to get seven championships, although my brother sure makes all that a bit more difficult [laughs]. Winning a championship is great! But that feeling of accomplishment doesn’t last very long. It’s always on to the next goal!” AMA

Sportster

After 65 years, Harley-Davidson’s Sportster has spawned some remarkable derivatives

BY JOHN L. STEIN PHOTOS COURTESY OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON

Need a high-quality trivia question for your next Jeopardy watch party? What’s the longest-running “automotive” nameplate in continuous production? Shocker, it’s not Corvette, which debuted in 1953 and continues 70 years later in 2023 — except that there was no 1983 Corvette model, thanks to delays for the new 1984 platform. This makes the Harley-Davidson Sportster, which debuted in 1957, literally America’s most historic vehicle. In honor of this now 65-years-long achievement, American Motorcyclist wanted to use the introduction of the latest Sportster derivative, the new Revolution Max-powered Nightster, as a launch-point for celebrating a half-dozen other memorable takeoffs for the Sportster platform. Starting, naturally, with the original. You’ll read about the new Nightster at the end of the piece, but first, here are our favorites.

1957 Sportster

The GOAT Debuts

Just a decade after World War II, both the Baby Boom and America’s recreational boom were going full throttle. Freedom, prosperity, leisure time and the great outdoors called, and a sporty new Harley-Davidson model, the Sportster, answered. Officially known as the XL Sportster, it was based on the 1951 “K” model, Harley’s first big engineering advancement after the hostilities ended. The Sportster displaced 883cc, featured overhead valves and foot shifting, and was credited with making 40 hp. It cost $1,103. From there, competition models such as the XLCH scrambler and KRTT road racer followed. While racing certainly helped build the Sportster’s reputation, the essential goodness of the model — and its absolute “rightness” for the U.S. market — really carried it forward.