"Harley" Sprints.....

[66Sprint]

Weldangrind suggested I also start a discussion about the "Harley" Sprints..... My screen/nickname is a reference to the 1966 250 Sprint I wanted so desperately to have when I was 16..... I finally got my first one when I turned 46.....LOL.....

These little 250cc, horizontal, pushrod engined bikes were Harley's response to the onslaught of inexpensive Japanese bikes that were appearing on American roadways from about 1960 on, and were actually re-badged Aer macchi (Aeronautica Macchi) products, an Italian company in which Harley owned 1/2 interest...(Lockheed-Martin owned the other 1/2)...

Within a year, I had 17 of them in various stages of dis-repair, (including a couple of the later 350cc versions), and probably enough good parts to actually build about 6 or 7 nice examples...

My first build was the '66 "C" model I had lusted after so long ago...... At the time, I didn't have the funding for a "proper" restoration, so it was built with a hodge-podge mixture of Honda parts thrown in.....A CB 360 front end and wheels were used, and it was converted from a 6V generator system to a 12V AC system using a Harley z-90 magneto and Honda rectifier and regulator......I rode it to work for a year, and even managed to win the "Vintage Antique" class in a local bike show with it......

Then, my wife expressed a desire to ride it, so I gave it to her and started to build one of the 350 engines for the next one (for me).....However, between the "kick on the left" starter and the left-side brake pedal/right side shifter, it proved difficult for her, (who learned on an international shift pattern Honda), to become acustomed to the change.....So I designed and fabricated a bolt-on sub-frame that allowed the conventional pedal placement and pattern.

Pix and discription in the next installment........