Name that motorcycle

[BAD DAD]

I must have been hanging around motorbikes, books, mags & people for too long because as soon as I saw Big Dave's photo I thought, "Aermacchi", then the first post in reply to the photo....Wether I was right or wrong, should a grown man (age not stature) be concerning himself with the names of recreational devices and coming up with a name as an instinctive response to a random photo ?

[tri boy]

Wether I was right or wrong, should a grown man (age not stature) be concerning himself with the names of recreational devices and coming up with a name as an instinctive response to a random photo ?

Concerned, no...
Enjoying the cerebral challenge, yeah, why not. (most on this site are brain dead cabbages anyhoo)

[Motu]

My wife had a Harley Davidson SX350 Sprint in about 1979....it was the trail bike version with a huge muffler like a DT250 Yamaha.She has a thing about big singles,and thought a more modern bike than my old BSA's would be better - but it wasn't.A left hand kickstarter with high compression,light flywheels and short kickstarter stroke meant it was a real pain to start....it had an electric starter,but seldom worked,it was off a Fiat of some sort when I tried to source parts.The alloy sidestand had a spear point,so was useless off road,and even pierced tarseal leaving the bike on it's side.

It had a 19in front wheel and I was ready to diss it for dirt handling....but shut my mouth when I found it was damn good in gravel on the MT53's,would of been a good flattracker alright.One friday night after fitting road tyres to my Rickman Metisse ready for a meeting at Puke I found it had a high speed wobble cause by a buckled front wheel....damn,no bike to race.So I commandeered the Sprint,but didn't like the exhaust.My mate said ''I think I have just the thing'' And came back with the front pipe off an LIP Vauxhall - it fitted perfectly,bending around the starter,curving behind the rear shock.After that I bought a brand new LIP front pipe and welded brackets to it and fitted a shorty muffler.It was a wet day at Puke,but it went well in a straight line and wound it off the clock on the back straight,so getting close to 100mph on standard SX gearing.

It was our first experience of a short stroke light flywheel single (no XR or TT's back then) and we weren't too taken with a single that didn't get down and grunt from 150rpm.....that was the whole point of a thumper.

But it was a nice well engineered,well put together bike.There is a guy in Auckland who is right into them,even has a sidecar on one....or the same one.

[edit] Oh,and it had an unvented dry clutch - it would glaze the plates making it jerky.We had to clean and deglaze the plates often - a vented cover would of helped.....but it was a dirt bike so needed to be sealed.Also,we found later that it had a cracked frame,both top tubes in front of the engine mount.

[merv]

Motu little did I know when I mentioned your name that you would have had one of the 350's in your family. Good to hear the story.

[vfxdog]

Another very interesting snippet about these bikes is that around 1969 the very famous Lino Tonti decided to build a 500 racebike using two of these engines bolted together (well, it was a bit more complicated than that, but you'll get the picture). The result was known as a Linto; there were around 20 or so built, and they were extremely fast but somewhat fragile. Our very own Keith Turner raced one in the GP's.

[quickbuck]

Your pic didn't seem to have it badged at all. Harley Davidson acquired 50% of Aermacchi in 1960 and then sold it to Cagiva in 1978 after which the name died as far as I remember.

What Aermacchi die?
No, still alive and kicking, and making Jet Aircraft in Italy. NZDF still have some.

There is still a very close conection to Cagiva. So close Cagiva use the runway as a testing ground.

[Conquiztador]

H-D 175cc hi tech 2 stroke - same era

What a beauty!!

[pete376403]

More trivia - the two-strokes were called the H-D Rapido. 125s and 175 IIRC

[awayatc]

Check out :

http://www.supershowevents.com/magaz...ge-harley.html

"With 35 horsepower on tap and a dry weight of only 215 lb, the motorcycle had a great power to weight ratio and the chassis was Italian thoroughbred so you can bet the handling was top-drawer." if you want to read a bit more about "Harley" that could go around corners....

[merv]

Another very interesting snippet about these bikes is that around 1969 the very famous Lino Tonti decided to build a 500 racebike using two of these engines bolted together (well, it was a bit more complicated than that, but you'll get the picture). The result was known as a Linto; there were around 20 or so built, and they were extremely fast but somewhat fragile. Our very own Keith Turner raced one in the GP's.

Pictures of the Linto were also in that link I gave you on the first page but repeated here for you http://www.vft.org/Sprint/SprintCRPage.html

[merv]

What Aermacchi die?
No, still alive and kicking, and making Jet Aircraft in Italy. NZDF still have some.

There is still a very close conection to Cagiva. So close Cagiva use the runway as a testing ground.

Yeah but no more bikes as far as I knew, I wasn't concerned about planes.

[vfxdog]

Pictures of the Linto were also in that link I gave you on the first page but repeated here for you http://www.vft.org/Sprint/SprintCRPage.html

Yep- had spotted those. Thanks anyway. There are a couple doing quite well in Classic Racing now in Italy; apparently modern oils have helped them do fewer grenade impressions. Maybe we will see one at the Puke Classic meeting one day.
The street singles, in HD guise, are easily found in the US for relatively low cost.

[Wired1]

Geez I bet that thing sounds sweet! not.

[slowpoke]

H-D 175cc hi tech 2 stroke - same era

Bugger me days, you'd think they would have retired the poor ol' "stylist/designer" by now but from the current showroom stock he's still alive and kicking (kicking the photocopier that is....)

[Big Dave]

Bugger me days, you'd think they would have retired the poor ol' "stylist/designer" by now but from the current showroom stock he's still alive and kicking (kicking the photocopier that is....)

Last time i checked Willy G Davidson was in charge of styling. He'd only be one of the 10 most influential men in the history of motorcycling. Along with his forebears of the same surname of course.

He would have the same photocopier as Dennis Denuto after the Kerrigan case.