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- Thread starter pward76
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Looks to be a '75 or later. Earlier than 74,the shifter was on the rightside,the brake on the left. It's kinda nutty riding one,then getteng back on a "normally" shifted one.
I think it had someting to do with the fact that some Harleys weren't made in the good ol' US of A. I had a little harley that was made by Amachi Motors in Italy. We called em' spagetti harleys. Then the company came home to the US. AMF was the new owner. American Machine and Foundry.
This was the start of a short lived comeback. They did fairly well I think,using the shovel head motor.
They didn't really take off till they introduce the less leaking,somewhat easier starting,less vibratory...Evolution motor.
singles to twins to knuckleheads,to panheads,to Ironheads(like this sportster) to shovelheads,to evolution,to V-rod.
Neat history....crummy bikes thou....
RSD.
I think it had someting to do with the fact that some Harleys weren't made in the good ol' US of A. I had a little harley that was made by Amachi Motors in Italy. We called em' spagetti harleys. Then the company came home to the US. AMF was the new owner. American Machine and Foundry.
This was the start of a short lived comeback. They did fairly well I think,using the shovel head motor.
They didn't really take off till they introduce the less leaking,somewhat easier starting,less vibratory...Evolution motor.
singles to twins to knuckleheads,to panheads,to Ironheads(like this sportster) to shovelheads,to evolution,to V-rod.
Neat history....crummy bikes thou....
RSD.
Yep, it's a 1976 model, bought used in 1979. I was 21, not 19 though...
I was young and dumb. It is indeed an AMF product. I used to tell folks that AMF stood for Adios, Mother Fugger - and it was fast for it's day, but it wouldn't touch the Japanese bikes.
The previous owner had converted it to belt drive on the primary, but there was no adjusting the belt, and it was too tight and burned the clutch up early. I put it back to a primary drive chain. The only way to get it to stop leaking oil was to park it in the grass so you couldn't see the oil drops.
It did pull the chicks, though. This was my girlfriend, now my wife of almost 26 years...
I was young and dumb. It is indeed an AMF product. I used to tell folks that AMF stood for Adios, Mother Fugger - and it was fast for it's day, but it wouldn't touch the Japanese bikes.
The previous owner had converted it to belt drive on the primary, but there was no adjusting the belt, and it was too tight and burned the clutch up early. I put it back to a primary drive chain. The only way to get it to stop leaking oil was to park it in the grass so you couldn't see the oil drops.
It did pull the chicks, though. This was my girlfriend, now my wife of almost 26 years...
inthexring
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As I understand it, AMF bought Harley to keep it solvent and in American hands. They didn't know d*ck about building bikes, though. The product was not very good back then. Too much pressure by the bean counters to whip 'em out the door.Looks to be a '75 or later. Earlier than 74,the shifter was on the rightside,the brake on the left. It's kinda nutty riding one,then getteng back on a "normally" shifted one.
I think it had someting to do with the fact that some Harleys weren't made in the good ol' US of A. I had a little harley that was made by Amachi Motors in Italy. We called em' spagetti harleys. Then the company came home to the US. AMF was the new owner. American Machine and Foundry.
This was the start of a short lived comeback. They did fairly well I think,using the shovel head motor.
They didn't really take off till they introduce the less leaking,somewhat easier starting,less vibratory...Evolution motor.
singles to twins to knuckleheads,to panheads,to Ironheads(like this sportster) to shovelheads,to evolution,to V-rod.
Neat history....crummy bikes thou....
RSD.
Some of the original Harley execs got together and bought it back and after that, I think, is when the Evo engine came out. They are better bikes, but that's not saying much as it would have been damn near impossible to make a worse one.
Hogley actually have a long history of racing. Street,drag,oval,hillclimb,etc.
Duhamel almost finished the race onboard this bike in 1994 at Daytona. It nuked after 80 laps...but hey...IT's a Harley.
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