Project Rocky Balboa (My '76 AMF Harley SX250)

So, I've been working on my 78 Kawasaki 650SR, slowly but surely building it, but it's been taking a long time and I've been itching to ride. Since I was already tied up in a street bike build I thought "Hmmm, I'm gonna buy an old enduro." but I was looking for something simple, and preferably well under 1K. Just like every good GRMer I jumped on CL to see what I could drum up, and just like every good GRMer, I saw something that caught my eye, unfortunately it was simple and it wasn't that cheap(for what I got). I saw this Harley SX 250 for $495, so I made a call but I wasn't able to get there till two days from then, guy told me he had 6 guys call just that day(he was a straight shooter and I believed him.) so I told him I'd give him $525 to hold it for me and I'd be there friday, and thats what happened.(I know but give me a break, I've never had a Harley and I've always wanted one even if it is an italian one.) So now the bikes in my garage and needs some work to say the least, but it's a simple bike to fix(not so much to find parts) and I'm gonna try to get it ridable before the seanson is over. So my plan is pretty much this.

1. Clean it, especially the gas tank. It's all rust, real rusty.
2. Wiring, it's all shot. So I'm planning on a full re-wire, I've done it before on other bikes so I'm not terrible worried.
3. Figure out what parts I got and what I need. Don't think I need a ton but I also don't really even know what I'm missing, figure go system by system and figure it out that way.
4. Paint. Not totally sure on scheme but I'm thinking Red, White, And Blue.
5. Seat needs recover.
6. Exhaust, I don't have one. Well thats not totally true, I got parts of it, the rest rust took.

So we'll see how it goes, and I'm gonna try to keep you guys updated with every time I work on anything.

Here it is.

Sweet.

Awesome...definitely not your typical Harley. And in my book that's a good thing!

Good job! I'll be watching this one closely.

Personally, I love the original graphics on these things. I'd try to save the tank to keep it from losing its identity. Maybe go red white and blue with a donor tank or something.

The tank has a couple dents and the graphics are pretty shot. So I'm definitely doing a reprint but, I'm gonna be using factory graphics for sure, this is what I was thinking.

Italian Harley? Explain please. Nice simple looking bike though, I like it.

Harley bought Aermacchi back in the late 60s IIRC and imported a lot of their bikes, plus they had them make some special models for the US market.

The idea was that this way, Harley could offer smaller capacity entry-level bikes to compete with the Japanese bike manufacturers.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

While I know the Japanese generally did not put out a high-quality product in the 1960's, I shudder to think of trying to go up against that with a product from AMF-HD + the Italians.

I wasn't saying it was a good plan.

You know I may actually have some parts for that. I actually have a literal TRUCK LOAD of old Harley/Aermacchi parts in storage. I got them from a guy that use to race them and was getting out of it.

rebelgtp wrote: You know I may actually have some parts for that. I actually have a literal TRUCK LOAD of old Harley/Aermacchi parts in storage. I got them from a guy that use to race them and was getting out of it.

If you do let me know!! I'd love em and be forever indebted to you!

Not much to report, just disassembly and dropped the foot pegs in vinegar baths to get some rust off, I'll let you guys know how that goes. The drivers pegs are all metal no rubber grips or anything, thinking I might hit em with bed liner to give a little more texture for grip, but I'll prolly just krylon em for now.

Organization is key.

I think that most of the parts I have are for the earlier "ash tray" head models but I will check. Some stuff should cross over. There is one odd ball piece in there that is an over lay for the rear sprocket effectively making it I think 13 or 14 inches across.

Here is a pic of the type most of my parts are for. While the engine is completely different some of the chassis stuff should cross over. Also I may have some later parts as well. Oh yeah I have a mix of 250cc and 350cc parts. Oh and the parts to build either an iron cylinder and head engine or all aluminium.

Well I'll definitely throw you some cash for some of it. I'm not sure what you have that I could use but I need a lot of little stuff. Throttle assembly. Brake/clutch levers. Gauges. Exhaust. Tail light lens.

But honestly, I'd be pretty interested in whatever you have.

It's all in storage at the moment. I should be clearing that out though sometime this month so I will let you know what I have. Some of the parts are actually NOS still in their boxes. Fairly sure I have some of the stuff you mentioned. Heck there is and entire tub full of just wheel spokes. Have another box full of Dellorto carb parts.

Anybody know about interchangable parts between these aerrimachi bikes? I found a NOS seat for a z90 but I can't find a part number to check if its the same as my sx 250?

BoxheadTim wrote: Harley bought Aermacchi back in the late 60s IIRC and imported a lot of their bikes, plus they had them make some special models for the US market. The idea was that this way, Harley could offer smaller capacity entry-level bikes to compete with the Japanese bike manufacturers.

Actually it was AMF that bought Aermacchi. AMF was also the parent company owning Harley at the time.

Actually Harley acquired Aermacchi in 60 and AMF didn't come on the scene until 69.

So rolling up to the Harley store on this thing would result in .... ?

A bunch of guys who have no idea how to help me I'd expect, and maybe a dash of distaste.