The time Harley Davidson won MotoGP
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- In the 1960s Harley Davidson took stock in Italian motorcycle manufacturer Aermacchi. Together the companies would develop small grand prix racebikes and ultimately win multiple titles at the highest level. This is the story of how it happened.
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Sorry for my terrible pronunciation of Aermacchi. My bad
Would be fun to know which incorrect pronunciations were most prevalent back in the 70's.
I don't think people here would mind too much, since they probably have no idea themselves how it is supposed to be pronounced. Just listen to all "Guzzi" related contents. Guzzi is said "Good-Z".
Interesting documentary, by the way ch in italian must be pronounced like a K so Aremacchi sounds like Aermakki like bruschetta sounds brusketta :)
I'am so glad you mentioned the MZ motorcycle factory and Walter Kaaden their technician. They where very important for the development of the 2 stroke technology. Greetings from Holland.
Those Aermacchis were works of art. The art deco styling looks great.
In my one and only sanctioned motorcycle drag race I was matched against an Aermacchi. It beat the stuffing's out of me. At the end of the quarter he was at least three bike lengths ahead of me. I went back to scrambles after that!
Don't forget Danny Eslick, Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR/GEICO Powersports made history by clinching the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Eslick's own and Buell Motorcycle Company’s first professional AMA road racing championship. That Buell actually did work! Of course, that was the year that Harley pulled the plug on Buell.
Sounds about right they finnaly find a bike that can win just to end it however the newest buels are built off that one and well have power and lightweight they just need better breaks and they could compete again
@@bob-g2hthe ZTL braking system did just fine in AMA Superbike and world superbike competition using largely street based parts
From what I have read, Buells were very competitive in Twin Cylinder racing classes.
they won one sport bike championship in ama , in 2009
...but they sounded good at all RPMs!
@@HisAssholiness Then Harley Davidson spent $115 Million to shut down the New Buell Factory
Bart, you are becoming a really good motorcycle historian. Thanks for all you do, and keep it coming!
Thanks!!
I’m so happy to hear of Harley Davidson doing something right. I’ve never owned one of their products,and I’m not brand loyal. You have given us more to the story of this company. So I respect them just a smidge Thanks again for creating content that is well thought out.
This is one of the most stupid asinine comment I’ve ever read 😂
They did have a super rich and successful history in racing during the early part of their existence. The kind of bikes they make just gravitated away from the competitive racing scene, nothing wrong with that.
@@raoul1650 Well, to be fair they kind of just kept competing in flat track with outdated equipment. Racing doesn't have to echo their street bikes.
@@TravisTerrell that is true, but that's because they had a winning formula. When they tried to change it things actually got worse for them. I wouldn't be surprised if Harley was influencing the rules in flat track racing honestly to stay ahead, but I just don't really see why going racing is what every company has to be known for. Harley purposefully sticks to highly antiquated air cooled engines with pushrods that can't rev past 6500rpm without blowing up. We know for a fact that they can make better engines, because they have with their revolution max engine, sure it's still down on power compared to an ultra high revving inline 4, but the Revolution Max has all sorts of technology, with overhead valves they can rev higher, there's variable valve timing, it's powerful no ifs ands or buts about it. But they're still not taking it racing. That's because that's not the market they're trying to appeal to, they're trying to appeal to people who are comfortable buying 700-900lb air cooled cruisers that are designed to go cross country. Some of them are "hot rodded" but they're hot rodded in comparison to other Harleys. That's what Harley riders really want, and they're appealing to a separate market with the Nightster and Pan America and Sportster S. If the pan America isn't an example of doing something right, I don't know what is. They made their very first adventure bike, loaded with a ton of technology, a very powerful engine which is just a tiny bit slower than the R1250 GS, electronically adjustable suspension, all the rider comfort you would really need, just less refined than the top company in the space which has been in that space for decades. Harley aren't a company of screw ups, they have been complacent in the past and they are charging a premium price, but Harleys really are like nothing else out there in terms of the fit and finish, plus they're at least assembled in the US which adds considerable cost. They could manufacture bikes sold in America in Indonesia and pay the workers $5/hr with no benefits, (they might in other countries but that's a whole different story) but in the US the markup isn't as bad as most people think when you take manufacturing and materials into account.
@Scott Lowe - what the commentator meant was that in order to win races and get into the European small-bike market, H-D purchased Aermacci (an Italian bike manufacturer) and slapped their name on the side. Eventually, H-D managed to F::k Aermacci up the same way they f::k everything up and still produce bikes that even the Americans are buying in smaller and smaller numbers. Keep your money and buy a decent bike.
Awesome story! Exactly the content I'm craving. Thanks!
Aermacchi was amazing and Harley bought into it, so good on them. Just never forget that really it was really the Italian engineering that won the championship but also needed american funding to be able to do it.
My first motorcycle, in December 1970, was a Harley Davidson 125 cc Rapido. It was a piece of junk, but it was my first love. I’ll always love it.
Thank you for the video!
In the beginning the Motor Company wanted nothing to do with racing. But in the late teens and '20's they were very successful at board track and dirt track racing. Called "The Wrecking Crew" . I know a lot of people call AMF a bad time for Harley but without them there would be no Harley Davidson as we know it today. Great content, Bart!
yes they could stand a lot of help now
I love history, so good. When I was little, there was a Harley dealer across the street from my house. I use to look thru the window at the little mini bike Harley and dream big dreams. I think the year was '72.
Just a little hint: The Italian alphabet has no 'K' (neither does it have J, W, X or Y) so to make that sound Italian adds an 'h' after c.
So whenever you see 'ch' you know it is a k sound and there are no exceptions.
If any of you are interested in seeing some on board race videos of an Aermacchi, I have a lot of videos on the 250 and 350 four strokes from the 60s and 70s. Bart is completely right about them being fragile, you get a good 30 laps out of them before they need to be rebuilt.
You never even mentioned the race series "King of the Baggers" at Moto America events across the US, even though you showed videos of these very races. The King of the Baggers Series races big 750 lb. touring motorcycles with full body work including saddlebags; motorcycles known as "Baggers". At first the attitude of race fans was; "Race Baggers? Ya gotta be shittin' me?"
Initially these big motorcycles would break down all over the place, and races were short for this reason. However the racing proved entertaining and exciting, with Factory Sponsorship and top motorcycle racers riding in this series. The races have gotten better really quickly and offer the fans real, legitimate competition!
Motorcycle racing has always enhanced the engineering and technology of road going motorcycles for sale in dealerships and Baggers are no exception. In building big touring motorcycles that can lap a race track at 100+ mph and stay together, the engineering, technology and lessons learned filtered down to improvements on baggers for sale on the showroom floors. As a result Bagger motorcycles are becoming; more durable, more powerful, better handling, with improved suspensions, better brakes(especially), better tires, more aerodynamic, etc.
Baggers are becoming MUCH better performing street motorcycles as a result of the racing in King of the Baggers Series. Virtually all the big motorcycle companies make these heavyweight touring motorcycles and most motorcycle marques are now racing in this series.
Anyway, my point is; the engineering required in racing improves the technology found on street motorcycles. This has always been the case. A VERY large portion of Harley Davidson business is selling these big, heavyweight touring motorcycles, i.e. "Baggers" (also called "Dressers").
Baggers can sell for $30k +; with a few exceptions this type of motorcycle is the most expensive. The King of the Baggers races have helped Harley improve their big touring motorcycles and to sell more of these bikes. Frankly, this genre of motorcycles are normally sold on the virtue of styling, heritage, and looks, but were ripe for some extensive technological improvement, IMO.
FYI, Harley Davidson is now struggling to build smaller “starter” motorcycles to attract younger riders and foster brand loyalty. In the 1970s Aermacchi provided these smaller motorcycles in the Harley Davidson line up.
Aermacchi motorcycles are sought after today and many of the 4 stroke singles sold in the US in the ‘70s are being purchased and shipped back over to Europe for use in Vintage racing. Aermacchi was a quality motorcycle company with a racing heritage before its merge with Harley Davidson. Aermacchi filed an important niche in that Company which is missing today.
A pity that you butchered Aermacchi's name for the complete video...
Excellent GREAT Job.. Information IN The Video was so right on. Thanks i learn and enjoyed every minute of it . 🐕🍵🍵🍩
I once owned a 350 single amf harley, it was fun! But took a while to get used to,if it kicked back, it hurt!
Another outstanding vid 🙂 Thank you
Amazing the two stroke era for all motorcycling. Wish two strokes were still made new for the road.
Miguel Duhamel loved the handling of the HD AMA Superbike, but it was down on power and not too reliable and another concern of his was the inexperienced pit crew he had. But he rode the wheels off it when things were right with it.
Hey,
Say what you will, but the second generation Buell was an amazingly good bike!
I never raced it as it was just not financially viable, but my 05 Lightning was a dream to ride on the track.
An interesting video about a time of which I knew very little. Amongst Paul Brodie's many UA-cam videos there are some concerning his Aermacchi racing machine that are worth a look if you are keen to know more of Aermacchi bikes of this period.
Something else that might be relevant to the H/D Aermacchi relationship. Like the big twin (but not the sportster) the sprint 4 strokes had the valves intake above exhaust but the cam ran in plane with the crankshaft so the pushrods did a 90* twist. Of course this was all inside the cylinder casting of the Italian unlike the exposed pushrod tubes that give the big twins the pipe organ look. I had a ‘67 250 which had another unique quirk, impossible hot starts. The side draft carburetor was directly above the hot cylinder so the float bowl would percolate and flood the engine. Years later I was comparing notes with another ex-sprint owner who rode his to night school math class 3 nights a week. In order to be able to restart it after class he’d park it, remove the spark plug and put it in his pocket. He went on to say that he still couldn’t do algebra unless he spilled hot coffee on his pant leg.
Lucifers hammer in statesville NC built by don tilley is another great story! My father was really close with don, as don sponsored my dad when he drag races pro fuel.
I remember and always knew about the Italian Harleys in the 70s, but had no idea there was so much other history with Aermacchi. Good one.👍
If it’s Italian it’s not a Harley!
@@billbrown6487 Those wonderful AMF years! Now they're talking about 2 Chinese market HDs!!
@@PineyRider the words, Harley, Wonderful and AMF do not mix! While they did make some cool bikes and some outside of the box ideas the reason Harleys are known as leaky, unreliable bikes is because of the AMF years. It still haunts Harley to this day. I should also note that I am in no way a Harley hater, I own two Harleys at this time among other bikes and love them both!
@@jonnymac8925 Right? 1970s was not their finest hour!
Speaking racing a Harley. l remember a Lance Weil racing a Harley in the mid sixties in UK... saw him a couple of times at Brands Hatch race track. Regarding Aermacchi, l always thought it a shame that Harley Davidson became involved with them mainly because the Italian motorcycle company had little in common with Harley motorcycles, design wise...l loved that horizontal single cylinder engine. Most Italian bikes of that time, Aermacchi, Moto Guzzi, Bianchi, Capriolo, even the diminutive Itom and of course Ducati had that Racer look about them.... about as far away from Harley Davidson as one could get.....
I have here in the Philippines a 1969 SS350 Aermacchi/HD that I bought from Lance Weil in 1990. BTW in his UK races, Weil had is HD engine in a Norton frame.
In the 70's riding an iron barrelled 750cc H.D. V twin was the late great Cal Raybourn killed racing in N.Z. He certainly surprised some of the top British riders in the easter match races.
Aermacchi bikes were "Harley" in name only. At least Buell made a go of it with real Harley engines, so they had more "Harley cred". Too bad Eric Buell sold out to Harley. Those were some seriously cool bikes. I wonder what he could build with the PanAmera/Sportster S motor!
Great video Bro! As usual!
Good job on this one, Bart, but you missed that Harley should be developing a new flat track bike to compete with Indian, not just count on choking Indian’s intakes to keep them competitive!
Agreed! I've made an entire video on this subject
Come to think of it I have seen it and enjoyed it, too
This is important, because Harley has spent more time successfully racing in more forms of motorsport than most realize. Harley is a racing company that builds street bikes. Just look up their success since the beginning.
I will not dig deeper, but in time around 9:12, the man on the bike is not Walter Villa. He is actually Formula One legend Gilles Villeneuve.
Thank you, I was going to make the same comment but thought I'd check to see if someone else had caught that.
IN 1970 I was riding for a shop in Calif. that got hold of {{ Spelling }} Bart Marckles Harley 750 KR road racer. He used it the year he took second place in AMA. I recall it was the most outlandished prept bike I have ever seen. Handled OK but it needed a better team then ours to keep it running.
The world GP series in those days was not called MotoGP. The top capacity GP bikes were 500cc . The name motoGP came in in 2002 when the bikes changed to large capacity four strokes although 500cc bikes 2 strokes were allowed to compete but these soon faded out as they were not competitive. Your title is inaccurate on two counts. The term used is wrong and HD never won the senior class but did win the smaller 250 and 350 classes.
Edit: Couple things, hope it's not taken wrong.
Back then it wasn't called "motogp", a modern term.
Gilles didn't race bikes, he races snowmobiles before he raced cars.
Dead re motogp but I let it pass as I assume Bart is aiming at a younger audience. Missed the Gilles reference, but you are right.
Wailter villa looks a lot like Gilles Villeneuve 🤔
Sloppy research when a moto G.P driver i.e Giles Villeneuve is included , we're they thinking of Michel Rougeire. , the Frenchman who partnered W.Villa. ?
H-D peaked with the Topper. They should do an electric version, that boxy styling would fit lots of batteries and look cool.
9:17 is Gilles Villeneuve.
Your first pic of Walter Villa is actually Gilles Villeneuve the F1 driver :)
I was gonna say the same! LOL
The sprint was very good at dirt flat track.
I was interested in the 350's, but they stayed homely for a long time and looked old fashioned. Harley eventually updated the looks but used a fuel tank that looked comically small.
In the late 70's Harley made some motocross bikes as well, that never had much success, but weren't half bad.
Great history lesson
If I am not wrong you were talking about a 4-cylinder 2-stroke 500cc-"Harley" ? I just remember a 500cc with 2 cylinders - it featured 4 carburettors, maybe this leads to a misunderstanding?
It’s really an Aeromacci,an Italian brand Harley bought to get access to dirt bikes.
Harley-Davidson has a will all it’s own,have faith ✌🏻❤️🎃
I wish you'd taken a second to just check how Aermacchi is pronounced. It's italian. Chi becmes a K sound. It's Aermakki. Good well researched video but the pronounciation makes it more difficult to sit through than it needs to be
“MZ” - well, you pronounced the M correct. 😅
The “Ala d’Oro” was a disaster too.
Wasn't a harley motor so harley won nothing then when they finally did do an in house deal they were embarrassed and dropped out.
And they won one super bike race also with Duhmal
that Walter Villa dude really looks like Gilles Villeneuve... crazy!
IMO HD will never be competitive in racing until they develop a dependable motor capable of RPM’s in the mid 10 to 11 range that can make torque & power.
I was at Silverstone in 1976 (75 or 76 I can,t remeber) and saw the Harley works garage ,, and stood and watched (like you do ).... Eventually I saw Walter Villa and ask him for a sticker,,Of course being a great guy he gave me a Walter Villa world champ sticker...Which I still have (unstuck)
Hardly DANGEROUS.
Buell was experimenting with Chassis' . The actual Harley V-twin is a " Big Bang " type of engine in operation . Some perseverance may have payed off .
I actually raced one of the across the counter water cooled RR350 twins back in 1976 it was a good looking bike with some interesting design ideas like the two piece heads and separate cylinders unfortunately it could never run at the front with the Yamaha TZ's clearly the RR was not the same bike that Villa was winning world championships on and the money and know how was not available to make it competitive at the time in fact why even bother when you could just buy a Yamaha TZ, apparently they only made 26 RR350's I am assuming this is the reason why.
The Jarno era was an exciting time as he was cheekily challenging MV in the 350 class and would soon do so in the 500 as much as I loved the sound of the MV's they had ruled these classes for years and it was good to see some competition Jarno was a hero of mine, still is to honest, a real ten tenths rider with an engineering background but I feel the reason for his riding ability was his previous career ice racing in Finland his passing with Renzo Pasolini was a devastating tragedy to me and many others.
As a side note I have never heard Aermacchi pronounced the way you have the macch component was always pronounced like the Mach used in measuring the speed of sound if you lookup Giulio Machhi the founder of the company you will find that is how his surname is pronounced.
Anyway thanks for covering an interesting period in GP history and revealing the connection between Harley Davidson and Aermarchhi.
Back when pushrod motors were leading tech. 1920
The Aermachis were very cool. It's a shame and hard to comprehend that their innovation didn't spread to HD's other products. HD could have been a sort of Honda, with bikes from the Hummer to the Aermachis and up to the Sportsters, etc., but they never integrated it all.....
Harley had access to great racing technology with Aermacci which they could have used to make great American made road motorcycles, but no, they decided 900 pound chrome turds was the way to go. They did take a decent stab at building racing motorcycles in the US with the VR1000 but they weren’t competitive and then they blew up.
That's Gilles Villeneuve at 9:14, not Walter Villa
The tip-off is his name on his jacket.
@@blipco5 also, it looks just like Gilles
@@WL2K I agree, Gilles looks a lot like himself.
@@blipco5 as well as his face, the Giacobazzi sponsorship, and the Ferrari patch on the coveralls.
@@sergioleone3583 Yes, Bart gets things wrong on every video.
I didn't know that. Thanks for the video!
Even Harley can win a GP as long as they do not build the bike!
Please make a video about Vespas and/or Lambrettas
Please include a vid on the 1977 JAWA 250/350cc 2 stroke twin road racer ,very similar to H.D./Aermacchi.
I bought a Harley, and I'll never have that money again what a waste! Thank God I have land.
air MAH key.
Shouldn't this be titled "The Time Aermacchi Won Motogp"? Seems more appropriate.
Except it wasn't called MotoGP back then. That term didn't come around until they killed the two-strokes in the early 2000s.
@@sergioleone3583 Dorna rebranded it - but it's the same International Grand Prix series since 1949. Motor stroke had nothing to do with it. The series started with 4 strokes until the 60's when the Japanese brought the two stroke. So it's always been about the bike not the motor. The new bikes are faster than the 2-strokes
@@mikeferrini8884 I'm well aware of all that.
MotoGP is a marketing term and is indicative of the de-evolution of Grand(s) Prix for Motorcycles being a sport to MotoGP being manufactured entertainment.
The modern bikes may be faster than the two strokes but not as exciting to watch and have far too many electronics. Nor are they anything to look at, whereas the four strokes of old (MV Agustas, Hondas of the 60s, Gileras, etc) were beautiful.
@@sergioleone3583 I'm 57 years old and was around to witness the 2-stroke era. My first bike was an RD350, then later on an RZ350 YPVS. I agree with Dorna turning the sport into a sterilized entertainment package by comparison. The wife and I went to Valencia this year to see the last race of the season. She wasn't with me in the old days of standing next to hay bails along the track. I openly reminisced about how we could be so close to the track you could feel the bikes shake the ground and smell the oil. That experience is long gone. Might as well just stay home and watch it on TV.
@@mikeferrini8884 My buddy had a Daytona Special RD 400 that he did some well executed mods on. Such cool bikes.
I was a Honda Interceptor guy, (funny I talk the two-strokes, but had a "diesel"). Loved my 85, and then my 86 VFR even more.
Loved the smells at the old GPs. I never got to any of them in Europe but went to Laguna Seca many times. It was a religious experience at the time. I went to the "MotoGP" event in 07 and was stoked to see Casey win, but it didn't have quite the same feel.
Thanks for not lambasting me for my response, and getting what I was getting at. I'm two laps behind you, at 55. All the best, mate!
Buying another make of bike is the only way they will win a fucking MOToGP - let’s face it, they won’t win with a “Harley”
I wish he'd pronounce the name Aermacchi correctly. In Italian, if the letter C is followed by an I or an E you pronounce it 'ch' as in church. If C is followed by any other letter (in this case H) you get a hard 'k' sound as in kite. The double C is basically a longer 'k' sound. It's not rocket science.
Thank you!
My first bike in 1959 was a Harley and it wasn't. It was a 125 built by Puch. I modified it and could sit up at top speed while the 165 riders had to lie on the tank.
At 6:05 is that a Kröber revcounter? (Dräzahlmesser)
Yes, I think so. In my opinion no other rev-counter has this look.
Harley-Davidson has a race history that is over a hundred years old 1910 on up to now Harley is the bike to beat on the oval tracks of America
Harley Davidson was also very succesfull in the field of offroading. For a long time H-D was the most victorious manufacturer in the legendary finnish enduro competition Päijänteen Ympäriajot. And it's still on the shared 3th place with Jawa, only KTM and Husqvarna being more victorious.
HD never won “MotoGP.” MotoGP didn’t exist back then and no, it’s not the same thing as the old world championships. Nice clickbait title, though.
100%
MotoGP is corporate traction control entertainment.
Grand Prix for Motorcycles is how I recall the USGP being described when we went to Laguna Seca back in the 80s and 90s. Before the dark times.
It's the ancestor of motogp
Aermakkki not Aermathshi ! Allah de Ora ??? (Ala d'oro = golden wing) Tscharno Serrinen?
Good video, enjoyable.
harley davidson xr750,...a.k.a.,...evel knievel death machine!! incredible!!
I would love to see a video on that Harley 750 thing
VKED23 ,
There is one by Bart. Lots of specifics.
This was great, thanks!
Oh yeah, I am old enough to remember the HD 883 roadracing series back in the 1990s. Limited mods and streel-legal tires. Fun stuff.
@@vincedibona4687 Didn't Yvon Duhamel run some of those events? I seem to recall seeing him out there on the Twins at some AMA events.
@@sergioleone3583 Yes! Good times...
@@vincedibona4687 Those truly were great days. It was so cool seeing Miguel on the Superbikes and his dad on the Twins the same weekend!!!!!
I remember the ads for the smaller Harley's in the 60's and 70's. There was no hint that the motorcycles came from Italy.
They said Aermacchi on them. Where did you think that name came from?
So they didn’t then it’s was an Italian company building there aramacchi under license!
Woah woah, the XR is an evolution of the KR, it has nothing to do with Aermacchi.
It reminds me of when Ford won the LeMans race it was the only American vehicle manufacturer that beat Europeans vehicles in that race the history of it is on the movie Ford vs Ferrari.
Darn shame Harley hasn't thought of anything original for the past few decades.
Ever!! LOL
Just when I thought I read the stupidest comment I’ve ever read, I came across this idiotic comment about H-D. 🤣
The kneeling suspension on the PanAm is pretty original, but beyond that it’s mostly 60’s technology
Get this: the dealership by me used to let cops set up checkpoints in their parking lot. The company is built on an outlaw image but makes all it's money from office dads. The generation that buys THOSE bikes out of the garages of these poser old men, THEY'LL be real bikers again. But it won't have dick to do with Harley Davidson the company
BS
Buell was making "silly" bikes, winning AMA titles... Yeah, ok. Haha! The rest of this video is great though!
What do you mean Buell stuff didn't work ???
Harley started as a racing bike
Good job with this one. You might look at the winner of the F750 class at the Isle of Man, and the bike he finished second on in the Senior TT. A bike engine that was a boring bar design from a mid 40s 500 single splitting the factory Suzuki 500s and winning F750 on the Norton he built and spanking the Kawasaki and Suzuki triples with the pushrod twin from 1946. Good autobiography book Engineered to Race and cigarette sponsored documentary Race of the Powerbikes. On youtube
That was 1973
Just imagine Harley’s image today if they stayed in MotoGP and more racing in general. The old man imagine they have nowadays is because of their actions. They created this mess. Racing gets a lot of young people interested in their products. But now instead of making good value bikes they are just going to price gouge their customers until they price every single Harley rider out of their market.
A broken clock, is right, twice a day.
So it was Aermacchi that won, not HardleyMadeitson.
XR750, when the AMA will change any rule to cripple any challenger to Harley for 30+ years, and almost killed the series doing it. When they actually have to COMPETE? I think we see, and why no one who actually cares about racing is crying. Poor Harley. Screw 'em.
I love harley. I just wish they would be inventive again
Again??? LOL OK there was that one time??? Right???
Have you seen the PanAmera? The Sportster S? Remember the V-rod? And they have the electric bike, just not the best one.
They never were inventive..
That was no Harley..
Harley needs to remake in 650 class to race Royal Enfield
nice new vid
I have an Aermacchi M-65 Leggero, not as fast as one Walter Villa raced...
Doesn't anyone remember the Harley Davidson's
"Wrecking Crew???"
Or Mamola and the VR??
The drag racing "Destroyer?"
When was the last XR made, 1978!??? Or Eric Buell, with TZ-250 spec's, 52 inch wheel base, 21 degrees of rake, and a Sporter engine.
We were "PROMISED!" VRs
I've been waiting since 1977, to give me a bike I'm not ashamed of riding (XLCR).
Just saying........,
Suzuki stole the 'secret' porting. (Eyebrow exhaust ports) from here in the USA.
A drag racer, who ran the little 250 H-6 Hustler. (record holder) still I think.
funny to think that people still think they are getting something made in the usa, how ignorant
I found it strange, that when you mentioned Erik Buell and Harleys merits on the race track, you failed to mention Harleys own attempt to make a race bike for superbike, the VR 1000.
Most likely because the VR1000 was a missive embarrassment to everyone involved. When it actually made it onto the track, it was either too slow or quickly broken.
@@baseshark Was that when they had to have a separate class for just Harley VR1000's?
@@ronwoudenberg2294 yeah Harleys a good at winning races that only Harleys can compete in.