Former IDM Superbike rider Andreas Schäfer had some Bagger fun at the Nürburgring

The sixth round of the Euro Moto season saw the debut of the official Bagger Racing European Cup – officially known as the Bagger Racing League – which was initiated and led by the former Spanish Grand Prix and Superbike World Championship rider Ruben Xaus, as part of both the Euro Moto and the IDM. An initial guest appearance planned for 2025 did not go ahead. Andreas Schäfer was the only German right in the thick of the action.

He explained to SPEEDWEEK.com what makes racing on a cumbersome motorbike – a far cry from a sleek sports machine – so appealing. The master painter from Frankenthal said: “The special thing about riding a bagger is simply riding a bagger. It’s something nobody else rides, and that’s what makes it so appealing. The tricky bit is riding such a heavy machine. It weighs 280 kilos when ready to race. Originally, this Harley weighed 385 kilos, which means over 100 kilos have already been shed to make it race-ready. On the flip side, you have to make do with around 165 PS from a 2.2-litre engine. I reckon it’s a real eye-catcher on the racetrack. It’s like painting a house wall in all sorts of colours. In a way, we’re the outlaws and the crowd-puller. We’ve noticed that here in lots of conversations.”

A year in the IDM Superbike

The name Andreas Schäfer makes you sit up and take notice. The name of the now 60-year-old still rang a bell with one or two long-serving IDM reporters. He got his start in motorbike racing in 1993 at the 1,000-kilometre race at Hockenheim. After that, he spent years racing in production-based series. From the 2000s onwards, his IDM career included a few occasional guest appearances in the IDM Superbike series and a full season in 2009. “I wanted to have a go at a full season in IDM Superbike. I didn’t score any points, mind you, but it was quite an experience for me to take part, learn a bit and have some fun. I just wanted to be there and race alongside the big boys. During one of my earlier guest appearances – I think it was in 2008 – I battled it out with Michael Schumacher lap after lap at Hockenheim. That was a brilliant experience.”

He then continued racing in production-based series up to and including 2012, before ending his career at the end of that year. In 2022, he made a comeback at the IDM finale in Hockenheim and, without scoring any points as a guest driver, finished 9th and 11th in the Pro Superstock 1000. “That’s when I realised I was still reasonably up to it, so I signed up for the Speer Cup. I won the second race at the Nürburgring and then retired from racing again.”

Age-appropriate racing

But that wasn’t the end of it either. “Yes, that’s right. Now I ride an excavator, because at my age, the slower speed means I’m much more aware of everything going on around me. I can assess the situation much better with the excavator than with a really fast motorbike. I can’t really see the marshals properly when they’re signalling. That’s when I realised I was a danger to others and, of course, to myself as well. As you get older, you really have to admit to yourself that you can’t do everything anymore. Safety comes first.”

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The move to the Bagger Racing League 2025 wasn’t a coincidence, as he’d always ridden a Harley in his private life as well. “At the end of 2024, my dealer asked me if I’d be interested in riding a Bagger like that on the racetrack on a permanent basis? So last year we took part in the Bagger Cup Europe. I came third in the very first race in Cremona. From the second race in Rijeka onwards, we had technical problems that we couldn’t sort out. So I didn’t ride in any further races in 2025. This January, my dealer went into administration. By then, the motorbike and the parts I’d bought were gone, and that was the end of it for me. Here at the Nürburgring, I was offered a guest bike.”

His Euro-Moto weekend was marred by a serious technical problem and limited to just a few laps. In the first race, he had to restart from the pit lane and only managed four laps. The remaining field of nine riders, led by winner Ruben Xaus, completed the scheduled distance of eight laps. In the second race, the ‘Bagger’ boss – now from Andorra – narrowly edged out the equally powered Italian Andrea Tomio on his Ducati Diavel. Andreas Schäfer watched from the sidelines this time.