Lot 082: Aermacchi ERS

Harley Davidson had obtained a fifty per cent share in the Italian Aermacchi in April 1960, giving the American firm access to a range of potent, high quality lightweight products that could be marketed alongside Harley Davidson's existing vee twin range. By the late sixties a large number of the AMA flat track events which counted towards the all important Number 1 plate were being run on half mile ovals. These did not suit the large twins and as a result Harley looked to their Italian partners for a solution which arrived in the form of the ERS. The new model utilised an Ala d'Oro engine housed in a "Sprint" style frame to produce a comparatively light and powerful model. This very original example, which retains the correct Bendix magneto, is one of only 120 produced, the majority having been destroyed either by intensive use or accident and as a consequence the model is now extremely rare.