November 2006 — The '72 is DONE!

So after much effort, the bike was completed. It's hard to believe we've been at this for about 6 years. I have to say I have been remiss in posting this update since the bike has been completed for some time, and was accepted into the Associazione Registro Storico Aermacchi (basically, the Aermacchi Historical Registry) based in Milan, Italy, back in May of 2006.  Before I get too apologetic, take a look at the last project page.  You might also want to revisit the next-to-last page as I have updated the text.

March 2005— The '72 Sprint: It's (almost) COMPLETED!

Anyone who's been paying attention (or by now gotten bored) will notice we haven't done anything with the '74 for more than a few years. Why? Well, see, I bought a '72 Sprint in January 2000 and got a bit sidetracked.

It wasn't in the greatest shape, but the odometer read 2500 miles, but it was original and had been stored inside for many years. As of Spring 2002, that bike ran like gangbusters courtesy of our Sprint expert, Kurt LeViere. I also gave up on the bike's sheetmetal, too, even though I'd gotten it into pretty fair shape. As always, I just had way too much going on. I decided to ship it off to Splatterhouse Graphics for the final tweaking and a "basic black" original-type paint job complete with repro decals. I had the seat reupholstered, too, and I fabbed up some repro seat trim clips out of brass screws. As you can see from the original pics it needed work, but it turned out lookin' righteous.

In the coming months, I'll be posting photos of the completed bike as well as "in process" pics of the sheetmetal and seat (before and after) as well as the final bike. I had thought about putting it up for sale, but have since decided that I'll probably keep it for a while. I've spent enough time working on it, I think I deserve to look at it and ride it some.

July — It’s about time, but the engine’s out—finally!

August — Head work

August — Engine disassembly

August — Makin’ it shiny!

November — Engine rebuild is finished

Back a few years ago—something like summer of 1995, I think—while living temporarily back in my native New Hampshire, it was my pleasure to become the owner of a complete, and fairly rare (2500 units made) 1974 Harley-Davidson Sprint SS350.

My bro', Randy, told me about the bike, which he heard was languishing in some computer schmuck's cellar. Was I interested? Maybe. "How much?" I asked. Randy said he'd talk with the guy. A few days later, after what was probably gut-wrenching and mega-tense seconds of haggling and arm twisting—the other guy twisting Randy's arm, that is!—he drove off with the little scooter you see here for the paltry sum of one dollar! Randy even loaded it into his pickup and delivered it to me. Can't bitch about that. (Thanks, dude!)

The photos on this page show the bike before I started the tear-down.

By way of background, there were two models offered in the early 70s, a street version (the SS) and a dual sport (the SX). (Check out some of my links for additional history.) There weren't many diffs between 'em. The major ones are the front fender mounting, lack of a tachometer on the SX, the exhaust pipe configurations, and more of a dirt-type tread for the off-road rig's tires.

(NOTE: In 2001, I had the good fortune to speak with Glynn Stewart, the owner of the absolute LAST 1974 350 SS built. (He provided me with documented proof from the original Canadian owner as well from Harley-Davidson.) As a result of those conversations, I believe my 1974 350 SS also was (like his) one of the very few Sprints that came from the factory painted black. Though he has definitive proof of his being black, even though the invoice says it was painted blue, I have no none. Ah, what can you say about good quality control? There's a similar issue w/ '74 clutch hub studs which can be 7mm OR 8mm, even tho' both can be found packaged under the same part number.)

I never intended to restore the bike.  However, after having the bike for a couple years, I noticed that there was quite a bit of interest in these suckers. (An initial Yahoo! search on the keyword "Aermacchi" netted me 311 hits!) Thus, in the fall of '97, after haulin' the bike back to Ohio, I decided I was gonna take the plunge and put this little "Harley-kinda-sorta...well-it-really-IS, but..." back on the road. Again, it won't be restored, but I'm going to try and stay true to the original SX design. (Personally, on a bike this small, I prefer the off-road look over the street look. ...but that doesn't mean I won't change my mind again and build it into a pseudo road racer.)

In addition to new/reconditioned rims and fenders, I'll obviously need new paint, some chrome and polish, maybe some powdercoating, and other custom bits. Engine-wise, I'm not sure what I'll do beyond getting it running again outside of maybe applying a few modern performance upgrades to see how much above the original 27hp we can get. We'll add a new clutch, and certainly rewire the whole thing... Yeah, lotsa work, but this'll be fun!

Stay tuned, and monitor the progress as we transform this Aermacchi-made mini Harley into a super-cool retro custom dual sport.
 

Aermacchi Links on the Web:

Eric Spurgeon's Aermacchi Pages (lots of it, including a huge registry)
http://members.aol.com/ItalianHD/

Moto Italia (new and used parts for Aermacchi/H-D lightweights)
http://members.aa.net/~garage/motoital.html

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