Y
ou might not believe that
there would be a strong
Italian presence in a place
like Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but you
would be as wrong as red wine
with seafood. In the early 1900s,
thousands of Italian immigrants
packed into ocean liners, made
their way to this city, and eventu
-
ally settled in Milwaukee's Third
Ward. They took the backbreaking
jobs that hard-working immigrants
are willing to do and built the area
that would become known as
"Little Italy." Italian heritage is on
display everywhere. Milwaukee's
County Courthouse is just one
of several structures that feature
beautiful Italian architecture, and
every year, folks gather for "Festa
Italiana" to celebrate their Ital
-
ian heritage and remember the
sacrifices made by their great-
grandparents.
Perhaps this is why Harley-
Davidson, that Motor Company
located at 3700 West Juneau
Avenue in Milwaukee, has a soft
spot in its crankcase for Italians.
Famous Italian racers like Renzo
Pasolini and Walter Villa rode for
the Harley-Davidson team in the
1970s, and H-D has dabbled not
once, not twice, but thrice in Ital
-
ian motorcycle companies. They
briefly owned MV Agusta and even
made a swipe at buying Ducati.
The other attempt, which was the
most successful, involved the
purchase of the Aermacchi com
-
pany, which would manufacture
Harley-Davidson-branded cycles
throughout the 1960s and '70s.
Harley and Aermacchi, USA and
Italy. Il Viaggio (the journey) was
underway!
Cycle News tested one of these
H-D Italian jobs way back in 1975.
The SX 250 was known as an en
-
duro bike at the time but would be
classified as a dual-sport machine
today. Some moto-journalists
called these bikes "foo-foo" bikes,
and they were built for both dirt
and the street. Although they usu
-
ally delivered underwhelming per-
formance in both categories, the
CN crew wrote a positive review
of this particular foo bike in their
April 1st issue. No foo foolin'.
The test began on the asphalt,
where the little H-D was a solid
CNIIARCHIVES
P130
BY KENT TAYLOR
SX
250
HARLEYDAVIDSON
The Harley-
Davidson SX 250
was a product
of Harley-
Davidson's brief
partnership with
the Italian company
Aermacchi.
The Italian Connection
