After WWII the aircraft factory began building
three-wheelers with horizontally opposed twins. In 1956 th eChimera 175
ohv made its appearance. Harley-Davidson acquired 50 per cent of the factory
in 1960, and assumed complete control in 1974. HD sold Aermacchi to Cagiva
in 1978.
Hello fellow mailing listees,
Just finished some research in answering the quest: "How many Aermacchi
Ala d'Oro's production racers were build?" Normal production started in
1961. The previous models were factory specials and not included in this
count. I received help from Francesco Botta. He used to be the chief of
the "Ufficio Tecnico" of Aermacchi. Botta is considered the Italian specialist
of the brand. Anyway, here is the list, enjoy it and keep it in case you
find one in a barn....
Aermacchi Ala d'Oro 125cc
1969 - 1972: 207.
Aermacchi Ala d'Oro 175cc
Constructor Production Year Amount
A H-D 1961 35
A H-D 1962 4
A H-D 1963 -
A H-D 1964 5
A H-D 1965 2
Total 46
Aermacchi Ala d'Oro 250cc
Constructor Production Year Amount
A H-D 1961 33
A H-D 1962 55
A H-D 1963 83
A H-D 1964 36
A H-D 1965 17
A H-D 1966 25
A H-D 1967 40
A H-D 1968 -
A H-D 1969 14
A H-D 1970 17
A H-D 1971 14
A H-D 1972 5
AMF/ H-D 1973 3
Total 342
Aermacchi Ala d'Oro 350cc
Constructor Production Year Amount
A H-D 1964 16
A H-D 1965 9
A H-D 1966 8
A H-D 1967 -
A H-D 1968 37
A H-D 1969 13
A H-D 1970 20
A H-D 1971 7
Total 110
Ivar de Gier, October 1997.
To whoever first asked about the H-D/Aermacchi:
Harley purchased Aermacchi in 1961 or so to produce small bikes for
the American market, in an attempt to capture a piece of the youth market
back from Honda, et al. Harley sold Aermacchi in 1978 to the Castiglioni
brothers, who built Cagiva from it, which in 1985 bought Ducati, and later
Husqvarna and Moto Morini.
At first, H-D only imported the 250-cc Sprint. These are nice little
bikes, with a spine frame, and a laid-down four-stroke engine that is similar
to that used in the Moto Guzzi Falcone. These were imported and improved
every year from 1961 through 1974. In 1969, the motor was stroked to 350
cc.
About 1966 or so, H-D brought in some smaller two-stroke Aermacchis,
which aren't as desirable, in my opinion.
If it is a 1968 model it is either a 250-cc Sprint or a 125-cc Rapido,
hopefully the former.
Sprints are fun little bikes, especially the 350-cc version that came
along in 1969. While they are not climbing in value as rapidly as the other
Harleys of the era, they have a dedicated following, and can be very fun
to drive.
If it were mine, I'd ride it while gathering spares and NOS parts at
swap meets before they are all used up.
Little-known fact: Lino Tonti designed a race bike called the "Linto"
just before he was hired at Moto Guzzi. The engine in the Linto was essentially
two Aermacchi top ends grafted onto a single crankcase (an approach later
used by Fabio Taglioni, who grafted two Ducati top ends onto a common crankcase
to create the Ducati L-twin). If it's good enough for Tonti, it's good
enough for me.
Hope the Tonti stuff was a sufficient Guzzi angle on this whole thing.
