1966 Harley-Davidson Sprint H

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Sprints are small bikes, but that means they're light and agile, perfect for bombing down back roads. Photo by Dana Shirey

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Years produced: 1961-1968
Total production: N/A
Claimed power: 21hp @ 7,250rpm
Top speed: 76mph (period test)
Engine type: 246cc, overhead valve, air-cooled single
Weight (wet): 123kg (271lb)
Price then: $750 (1967)
Price now: $1,800-$4,000
MPG: 45-55

Ross Puleo is a man with a mission. A lover and restorer of Aermacchis, the little Italian imports that Harley-Davidson sold in the Sixties and Seventies, he wants to spread the word about these Italian-American classics.

Ross’ family hails from Sicily, and as the owner of Sonny’s Motorcycle Repair, specializing in HD Aermacchis, in Lowell, Mass., he’s well-placed to speak on the subject. (“Italian Americans restoring Italian Americans” is his official motto.)

When Ross was a kid, his dad would buy him junk bikes to repair, figuring they’d keep him out of trouble. His first fling with the Aermacchi brand came in the form of an Aermacchi Leggero found sitting on a trailer at a flea market. The 65cc machine was in sad shape, but to the 14-year-old mind, it had possibilities. The tank said Harley-Davidson, just like Dad’s friends’ bikes, but unlike those big hogs the Leggero was small and uncomplicated, something that a 14-year-old could both afford and fix. Ross bought it. “I got it running,” he says, “I brought it back from the dead.”

Time passed, Ross graduated from high school and then joined the Coast Guard as a boat mechanic. But motorcycles were still big on his list, and drawn again by the lure of the swap meet he encountered another sad example of the Varese factory’s output, a 125cc Rapido two-stroke. “I was in my early 20s and wanted to be an authority on something. I figured if I had two Aermacchis, it would make me an authority. Now I have 10.”

The Sprint comes to the U.S.
As first imported into the U.S., the Sprint produced 18hp at 6,750rpm with an 8.5:1 compression ratio. It had good brakes and excellent handling, but was let down by an outdated oiling system and six-volt electrics. The Italians believed that a 250 was serious transportation, something to be cared for and maintained. But in the U.S. a 250 was a kid’s bike, often used, abused and put away wet. The electrical system wouldn’t stand up to typical kid punishment and many Aermacchis were shoved into the corner of the garage to gather dust after they broke down once too often.

But the bikes were appreciated by some. Cycle World tested a Sprint H in 1962, recording a standing quarter-mile time of 19.2 seconds and a 0 to 60 time of 15 seconds for the 280lb bike. Top speed was 76mph. The same year, Car Life tested a Sprint C. The C was a little slower (72.5mph top speed, 19.5 second quarter-mile) than the Sprint H, and despite its full bodywork and larger tank weighed 5lb less.

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