Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... ...... Iml!.ression: Harleit-Davidson XR1 000 A street racer and a grid racer By Alan Cathcart Photos by Bill Petro, David Edwards and Cathcart Dayto n a Cycle We ek '83 was a milestone in the long a n d recen tly tu r bul en t history of the H arley-Davidson Mo tor Co., which if anyone needs reminding is now North Ameri c a ' s so le -su rviv i ng vo l ume m otorcy cl e ma nufact u r er. T l~ , '. I N ot o n y wa ~ ~ a yton a the ven ue fo r th e o f f icia l laun ch o f th e n ew XR 1000 stree t performan ce model , but it a lso sa w the return to road race co m pe titio n o f a n officia l H-D team , to co ntes t th e in creasin gly im p ortant Battl e o f th e Tw in s event . Ten yea rs exactly since a Milw aukeeentered V-twin last ap peared o n th e bank s o f th e Speedwa y, H a rl ey returned tr iumphant to score two cr ush in g victories o n vari ations o f th e new street model. Three-tim e AMA Grand N at ion al Champion J a y Springsteen thundered hi s way to a n impressiv ely clear o u trig h t win to clean up in th e Grand Prix class, wi th m ore th an a hint of fla t-track body English in evidence as h e drifted h is ex-Ca l Rayborn XR750 chassis with m odifi ed XRIOO O e ng i n e thro ug h th e infield turns, whil e Gen e C h u rc h cr u ise d so mew ha t m ore sedately bu t no less emp ha tica lly toa first- time victory in th e prestig io us Stock ca tegory in th e track debu t o f the n ew XRI O O. O So , a lmost from th e o utset o f wh a t promises to be o ne 01 the classic road;, 1 ~~ } ~1 ~1 ~ :~ : J" " . ,l":).1 4..' t .; ,'J,: burners of a ll time, t h e H':lrley - Davi~- s~>n XRIO OO.has ..mpres stve ~om pe t~ u o n creden tia ls In ItS own TIght. It s tru e to sa y, though, that thes~ a re a ll bUI su perfluous - for H -D 's lat est mod el is descended directl y from th e bike which has dominat ed U.S . dirttrack ra cing for th e last decad e o r mo re: th e XR 750. Sel do m ha s o ne mach in e so tot all y dominat ed its class o f racin g, and for so lon g, as H arl ey' s o verhea d-va lve mile a nd half mi ler - occasion a l h iccups from Yamaha a nd H onda n ot wi th standing. And seldo m has th e bi ke-bu ying public wa ited so long, a n d in va in u nt il no w , for a road-going street version of a successfu l com pe ti tion mo torcycle . Now a t la st , th oug h , H arley has bow ed to enthusiast press ure a n d produced th e XR-w ith-l ights th at 's seem ed in evitabl e since the mid-70s wh en Jay Springsteen wo n th efirst of hi s th ree titl es a nd th e XR 's to ta l dom inan ce of th e di rt scen e rea lly began . T he ir reluctance to act u nti l now is exp lai ne d p artl y by th e cos t o f dev elopi ng wha t is perceived as a mi nori ty interest bike-it's n o t qu ite as si mple as just stic ki ng bra kes, li ghts and a n alternator on to th e 1)1 100.' [ 1<:'_1 '(. ),1.( ' J I ' I J mi ler- and partly by politics. In the " o ld " days , Ha rley -Davidson was co ntrolled by AMF, and co rpora te types are notoriously slow to invest in such a fick le commodity as enthusiasm . Now th at H -D is once again in co ntrol o f its o wn destin y, the H a rley tide has sw u ng in favor of th e ent h usiast market, and th e XR 1000 is th e fir st proof of th is. At th is poi nt I sho u ld decl are a n interest - an d so me precon ceived noti ons, even prej u di ces. Fo r I'v e been the fortunat e o wner of a n XR 750 for th e past five yea rs, a l beit not o ne of th e kin gs of th e d irt , but instead o ne of th e dozen o r so road-racers built by th e factory in th e earl y 70s. It 's on e of th e first a lloy-ba rre led versions da tin g from 1972-the iron -jug XR's debut wa s actuall y a t Da yto n a in 1970- and was ra ced in Europe as well as th e U .S. by th e ch ief rider for H arl ey's Italian subsidiary, Aerrn acchi: hi s n ame wa s Renzo Pasolini. I prize th e old lad y highl y, and hav e grown to love riding h er in the co u rse of British Cl assic ra ces, as much for th e ca lm a nd unhurried way in whi ch she reaches a quite-surprising top speed as fo r th e gobs of low-down torque whi ch ma kes two o u t o f th e four gearbox spee ds a lm ost su pe rflu o us. The XR' s a rare bird in Bri tain an d may even be th e on ly o ne left in Europe: yet judgin g by th e crowd o f paddock sh utter-sna p pers sh e attracts, H arley has deep reserv es of loy alt y, as yet largel y untapped, amongst a British publ ic fo r wh om Ca l Rayborn beca me a fo lk h ero thanks to hi s heroic rides in th e Match Races of th e ear ly seventies. H ard-nosed racing .. ;.r l' ll :: ~ I » ·. I " ; ) I} .. '- ' . 'r t I E "1 ! J J. .. fans still get misty-eyed when they reca ll Cal's do-or-die d uels wit h Triumph tea m lea der Ray Pickr ell on tracks he'd never even seen before, Yet much as I love racing Paso's ol d XR, nothing could have persuaded me to consider investing in a Harley road bike - till n ow . Somehow Milwa ukee seeme d much more interested in ca teri ng to its traditional market of Wid e-Gliders an d Fat -Bobbers th an in widen in g th eir h or izons, an d their range, by produ cing a performanceor iented sports bike a la Du cati, even though th ey had a ll th e makings to han g o ne o n in th e sh ape o f th e legendary XR 750. Instead , we got half-. h earted triumphs of sty ling over design (yo u take your Cafe Racer bla ck, don't you, sir?) or souped-up Sportsr er varia nts whi ch were neither fish nor fowl. like the FX RS . I've had occasio na l tryouts on street H arley's from time to time over the past I 0 years, both as potential custo me r a nd journalist. In th e latter ca se, I'm sorry to have to admit that I've n ever written a sto ry by wa y of foll ow -up, for one very good reas on. Wh at ever th ey m a y -pret end, bike manufacturers don 't mind you criticizing th ei r products onl y provided yo u find at least m or e good things to say a bo u t th em th an yo u do bad. Figurin g th a t soo ne r or later H arley was 'g oi ng to co me up with a bike I'd reall y wa nt to rid e. I kept mum a bo u t a ll th ose expe rie nces with br ak es th at di dn ' t, suspens io n th at wouldn't , vibration that sho u ld n ' t, a nd engines th at co u ldn't. And, bo y, am I ever gl ad that I did. Because otherwise I might not have ,j ( ) 1 r \; :: t I'; I .,. . , 11• ~ ) i •J •• I " _ • :"' ~ 1"-1 \ J •

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