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Classic Bike Trackdays

1976 Harley-Davidson SS250 and 1978 Harley-Davidson SST250

 
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Dixiesatellite



Joined: 17 Jun 2018
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:07 pm    Post subject: 1976 Harley-Davidson SS250 and 1978 Harley-Davidson SST250 Reply with quote

Hi,

I have a 1976 Harley-Davidson SS250 and 1978 Harley-Davidson SST250 I am currently resto-modding with better parts. The 1976 bike is black and the 1978 bike is metallic bronze. Nice bikes to look at, fast but rock-bottom quality you expect from 1970s Italian bikes.
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DSBBadmin
Site Admin


Joined: 13 Nov 2006
Posts: 717

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 8:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome, thanks for posting straight away. Very Happy

Don't think we've had any of those on here yet, always cool to see something diff'rent. Get some pictures up. Cool
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Dixiesatellite



Joined: 17 Jun 2018
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:20 pm    Post subject: 1976 Harley-Davidson SS250 and 1978 Harley-Davidson SST250 Reply with quote

Thanks, will do when I work out how pic are shown here. These were / are pretty cool 2-stroke bikes (although 40 years old now), made for AMF Harley-Davidson by Aermacchi in Italy as a quick way to compete with the mid to late 70s Japanese 125/175/250 class 2-strokes. They were nice ideas and good looking bikes, terribly executed with horrible quality control and cheap parts (although ironically the shared the same CEV lights as the much more expensive Ducatis and Benellis). The SS was the road bike and the SX the enduro bike, with both bikes sharing 80% of the components. The SST 250 was the Euro version of the SS 250 with better trim and a Brembo front disc brake (Moto Guzzi parts bin stuff). In '79, Cagiva bought rights to the bikes lock and inventory for pennies on the $ from AMF-HD when AMF-HD decided they wanted to get out of the small bike market altogether. All in all, the AMF-HD 125/175/250s were pretty unloved, did not do well at all against the Japanese 2-strokes (or 4-strokes) and many met untimely deaths years ago as throw away bikes or have been parted out. It is very uncommon to find a nice clean unmolested example although there is still an active enthusiasts following and parts are still available if you know where to look. I bought a 1976 Harley-Davidson SST250 in 1980 when I was 18 and the thing was falling to pieces at just 4 years old. But nostalgia is a funny thing so I am at the stage now where I am wondering what the bike could have been like if executed better, with better parts and better quality....we shall see. The real irony of the above is that Aermacchi-HD already had world-class liquid-cooled 2 stroke technology down in the early 70s, way before the Yamaha RD250LC appeared in 1980. Why AMF-HD did not exploit this remains a mystery.
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yamfan



Joined: 11 Jul 2016
Posts: 122
Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for telling us about these bikes,

I was thinking HD, This guy must be on the wrong forum Very Happy


Stroker --- Yes ............... Different ---- Definitely Exclamation

You are in the right place

I have googled but would love to see a pic of yours.
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Dixiesatellite



Joined: 17 Jun 2018
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

Here is a pic of the promotion / show bike. My SST is being restored to look the same, although I am sorely tempted to make some changes to the bike to make it what I would have wanted when I was 18... The jury is still out on that decision. Smile The bottom pic is much closer to the original colour.



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