You’ll find varying reports on the reliability of these old Italian bikes. It’s restored, not original condition, but then, what do you expect when you see a vintage dirt bike in good shape? That’s what makes this 1972 model, for sale at Street Dreams Texas, an interesting catch, as it seems it fairly good nick. ![]() You never see them on the roads or trails anymore. Machines like the 350 Sprint were run until they broke down, then stuffed in the back of a garage, or a barn, and left to rot. It seems unthinkable these days, but Harley-branded bikes were even relatively successful in GP racing in the early 1970s, under Walter Villa.īut GP racing wasn’t a big deal for US customers, and overall, the American public never fell in love with the smaller Harley-Davidson offerings, opting to buy Japanese instead. Harley-Davidson put its badge on a range of small-cc Aermacchi motorcycles, including roadracers and enduros (basically, the stuff the Harley-Davidson plant didn’t do well). Harley-Davidson was actually attempting to stave off the British and Japanese competition more than 50 years ago-it just didn’t do a great job. History’s sneers at the MoCo’s missteps prove that hindsight isn’t always 20/20. It was built by Aermacchi, an Italian OEM that Harley-Davidson partially owned in the 1960s Harley-Davidson bought all the company’s stock in 1974, and sold it to Cagiva in 1979. The 350 Sprint wasn’t actually made by Harley-Davidson, at least not in the US. This might wear the Harley-Davidson name, but the Sprint was made in Italy. ![]() The trouble was, that move just didn’t work out well. Digging further back into history, Harley-Davidson even tried to cash in on the great off-road boom of the 1970s, with machines like this 350 Sprint. Harley-Davidson’s Buell subsidiary was in business as recently as 2008, selling adventure bikes and sporty naked bikes. However, it’s not entirely true to say Harley-Davidson has never tried to branch out past the cruiser, Americana image. Considering Harley-Davidson’s market share in North America, if H-D sees a jump in sales, it’s good for the entire motorcycle scene. Is there something wrong with North America’s motorcycle industry? Blame Harley-Davidson, for not innovating and not selling enough bikes as a result. The company’s sales have never really recovered since the 2008 financial meltdown, despite overhauling the lineup, introducing the Street and updated Softail lines and cancelling the Dyna.Īs a result, there’s a bit of a rush to jump on the “blame Harley” bandwagon. Sales are down, management is in turmoil, shareholder relations have been strained, the much-hyped lineup overhaul appears to be delayed. Times are tough for Harley-Davidson these days. Need proof? How about this 1972 Harley-Davidson 350 Sprint? There are plenty of Harley-Davidson naysayers, but are they giving the company a fair shake? Amidst all the talk of Harley’s cruiser-centric lineup, people seem to be forgetting Harley-Davidson has tried to break out of this mold before.
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