Very rare racing Aermacchi Harley-Davidson 1964
Pre-history
In the 1960s Harley-Davidson bought a 50% share in Italian motorcycle manufacturer Aermacchi, they did this specifically to get access to Aermacchi’s lightweight motorcycles which they wanted to rebadge and sell in the United States to compete with the small, popular two and four-strokes coming out of Europe and Japan.
Aermacchi was originally an Italian aircraft manufacturer, the name is a contraction of “Aeronautica Macchi” after company founder Giulio Macchi.
After WWII Aermacchi began designing and building small-capacity motorcycles to both stay in business, and fulfill the need for affordable motorised transportation in Italy. Companies like Vespa, Ducati, and Lambretta were their primary competition.
Despite not fairing as well as these three companies Aermacchi motorcycles were known for being well designed and well built, and they remain popular with collectors today.
Aermacchi Harley-Davidsons were sold at dealerships across the United States with mixed success, though they did prove popular with younger riders who wanted a Harley. By the early 1970s Harley-Davidson bought 100% of the Aermacchi motorcycle division and kept selling the bikes until the late 1970s when they sold it on to Italian company Cagiva.
Surviving Aermacchi Harley-Davidsons have become interesting historical curiosities and there are clubs around the world dedicated to keeping them alive. Spare parts are typically not too hard to come across, and the bikes are mechanically quite simple and easy to work on.
About the motorcycle
The Aermacchi Harley-Davidson Race Bike you see here is a highly-modified Aermacchi Harley-Davidson Sprint, an air-cooled 250cc single-cylinder, four-stroke model with overhead valves, unit construction, a 5-speed transmission.
This was the best selling of the Aermacchi Harley-Davidsons, it was offered initially as a 250cc before being enlarged to 350cc later in its production run. The Sprint motor proved highly responsive to tuning, the 250cc version produced 18 hp from the factory but this number could be considerably increased with the right tweaking.
This bike has Ceriani road racing forks and front brakes, a large-capacity racing fuel tank, a full fairing, and a single seat with a small rear cowling. The lower-front section of the fairing has an opening to allow air to flow over the almost horizontal engine, and the bike is fitted with clip-on handlebars, twin rear shock absorbers.
Source: silodrome, pics courtesy of Worldwide Auctioneers.
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