Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1508846
I t was an oft-seen Saturday afternoon television commer- cial in the early 1970s. As the average American sat in a comfy chair, watching hour after hour of sports programming, the ad with the happy cartoon characters encouraged them to get up, get their products and get moving. "We make VOIT basketballs," the spokesperson stated. "Head tennis racquets. Ben Hogan golf equipment. Harley-Davidson motorcycles." Harley-Davidson motorcycles? One of these things (cue the Sesame Street jingle) is not like the others! "We make," said the voice from the television, "weekends!" The highly diversified "we" in the television commercial was the American Machine and Foundry, better known as AMF, a company created in 1900 by Rufus Patterson, a high school dropout who went on to become a mechanical engineer. One of his most successful inventions was the "Patterson Packer," which seemed to be something of a do-it-all machine in the field of cigarette manufacture. Rufus had been gone many years when AMF acquired the Harley-Davidson brand in 1969. While H-D faithful have few positive opinions about the AMF years, it is poppycock to say that they weren't trying to build their customer base, imploring folks to get off the couch and onto a V twin! And in 1977, AMF reached out to a market that even the Big Four hadn't considered with their very first (and only) cafe racer, the Harley-Davidson XLCR. It is ironic, to say the least, that Harley-Davidson was the only major manufacturer offering a cafe racer-style motorcycle in its official lineup. America would see the birth and blissful death of disco music before sport bikes would begin dominating the showrooms of motorcycle dealerships across the country. Cycle News' staffer John Ulrich tested the XLCR for the January 25, 1978, issue. How did he feel about Harley-Davidson's bold leap into the future, releas - ing its 500-pound iron lunged machine to the world? It would be a significant understate- ment to say that he was under- whelmed. "Wonder of wonders," he stated. "The bikes starts quickly and moves off instantly…" Once the initial combustion has taken place, however, the test begins a steady descent into motorcycle hell: • It takes a long foot to shift the XLCR… • The racing seat (is) a piece of foam and a snapped-on vinyl cover. • The small headlight does a better job of spotting the bike for CNIIARCHIVES P118 THE H-D XLCR CAFE RACER THE RACER THAT WASN'T BY KENT TAYLOR The 1978 Harley- Davidson was the company's first and last attempt at producing a cafe racer-style motorcycle. The XLCR lasted just three years.