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Harley-Davidson
Sprint SS 350
On the road at
last!
January 2026, by Guy
'Guido' Allen
Our 1974 Aermacchi-Harley has copped a couple of upgrades and is now legal
You have to love the copywriter of the ad shown just above. While it was extolling the virtues of the then recent upgrade to electric start for the Sprint, it also tips its hat to Aermacchi's proud aviation history. That is, touch-and-go is a practice exercise for pilots wanting to perfect their landing technique.
I've long had a bit of a weak spot for this series of
machines, built by the Italian firm when it was owned by
Harley-Davidson. The latter saw the relationship as a way
to inject learner or starter bikes into the catalogue,
without having to do all their own development.
It was good reasoning and, at the time, Aermacchi had an
enviable reputation, which was enhanced considerably in
1976 when (as Harley-Davidson) it won the 250 and 350cc
world grand prix titles, with the talented
Walter Villa in the saddle.
Back to this beastie. I bought it a few months ago from
young Gordon Forrester, a Harley enthusiast and expert
restorer of Sturgis-series models, based in Victoria,
Australia. He had a bit of a play with it, then decided it
was excess baggage given he had a lot of other projects on
the go.
It needed a few things done, and was an excellent
candidate for some minor resto work. The chassis and
engine were mostly in good shape. To finish it off, we
needed to track down a factory exhaust system, sort out
the damaged speedo and – eventually – find the correct
rear tail lamp.
The exhaust system is a little unusual in that it runs a
siamesed header from the single-cylinder manifold, which
feeds twin mufflers. I found a used example in the USA,
which cleaned up reasonably well. My aim was to have the
bike presentable, rather than concours.
Next were the mufflers, which have a distinctive shape
and I really wasn't optimistic about finding a workable
set. Incredibly, there was a new-old stock pair in Italy –
it's days like that when you learn to love the internet.
The next issue I'll attend to is the rear lamp. At the
moment it's some sort of generic 1960s to 1970s BSA or
Triumph style of thing. It does the job, but these bikes
(see the ad) had a unique unit.
I've tracked down a scruffy used example in one place,
and a new replacement lens in another. That will be a
project where you sit down, pull it apart, clean it up and
repaint it, then get it up and running. It will take a
little patience.
One of the things that happens with old motorcycles is
that you sometimes need a sympathetic mechanic when it
comes to a roadworthy inspection. This bike leaks a little
oil – we're talking a few drops on the ground immediately
after you've been riding it. Plus we have 1970s
vertically-split crankcases, so of course it's going to
leak. There is a very real possibility that, if you pulled
it apart chasing the issue, you would end up with more
leaks than you began with.
So I'm leaving well alone...
What's it like to ride? Let's say it's very early 1970s
and maybe more like late 1960s in its general feel. You
have 25 rampaging horsepower (19kW) at 7000rpm to deal
with in a package that weighs 150kg (330lb) and has a top
speed of around 140km/h (90mph). We're talking of an
air-cooled pushrod motor, matched to a five-speed
transmission.
The Sprint comes from simpler times, with less traffic.
It performs respectably in a straight line and gets off
the line smartly with reasonable acceleration. Tuning is
very much about use-able low-end and midrange.
The gearbox is clunky and requires just that little extra
time to make it from one cog to the next on the upshift.
Finding neutral while it's running is an exercise with
stronger foundations in hope than reality.
Braking is kind of okay, with a twin leading shoe drum on
the front and single leading shoe on the rear. It's about
right for the period and safe enough in modern traffic, so
long as you allow it a little extra room.
Instrumentation is actually pretty good for the period, given it was meant to be a reasonably cheap and cheerful motorcycle. And that is its charm. It goes okay, handles okay and stops okay. Its party trick is being light and simple and cheerful to ride.
I'm not going to comment much on the handling, other than
to say it's easy and light. This bike should have new
steering head bearings (on the way) and we can talk more
about it once that job is done.
I originally rang young Gordon to talk to him about doing
a story on his exceptional and constantly-developing
Harley Sturgis fleet. We'll publish that one very soon.
However he jumped in at one point and said he had a bike
that would fit in perfectly with my own list of
liabilities. Weirdly, he was right. I like the idea of
owning an Italian-American creation that is old enough to
be accepted at more or less any classic motorcycle event,
that has electric start and is easy to ride. Plus, it will
be the perfect mount for partner Ms M Senior when we
arrive at such events together.
Was it a good decision? Yes. I've probably spent more
than I should have, but it's a stress-free thing to ride
and we'll get some fun out of it. That will do, won't it?
See our
first piece on this bike
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Top banner pic by the talented Stuart Grant!
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