Aermacchi H-D 350 USA meets Italy
Aermacchi Harley-Davidson. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? And somehow, it never quite came off. To the purists, the motorcycles thus named were still the same flat singles that had been made in the Italian town of Varese, near the Swiss border since 1955, and to the Americans, anything other than a big fat v-twin was simply a travesty.
It did make sense however, to the accountants from both companies.
Aermacchi was primarily an aircraft manufacturer – Aeronautica Macchi SpA– for which motorcycles had only ever been a sideline. H-D, on the other hand, was exactly the opposite, and the US management could see clouds on the horizon, as the Japanese made constant inroads, capturing a new, non-traditional motorcycle market, and raking in the cash. Harley was also determined not to follow the slide to oblivion suffered by the long-established British manufacturers, and quite a few European ones as well.
Giulio Macchi established Nieuport-Macchi in 1912, on the shores of Lake Geneva, and much of the early production was sea planes. Military production followed during WW1, after which the firm was renamed Aeronautica Macchi. In 1934, its MC-72 seaplane established a new World Speed Record, and the company won the prestigious Schneider Trophy on several occasions. Then came WW2, when the company switched to fighter plane construction, notably with the very successful C205 Veltro, and the resultant post-war reorganisation. Barred from producing aircraft, Macchi switched to road transport – at first a light, three-wheeled truck, the MB1, and then to small motorcycles, the first of which were designed by ex-Benelli man Linto Tonti. As well as a 125 two-stroke, the Cigno, Tonti drew up 50cc and 75cc singles, both with chain-driven double overhead camshafts, and with streamlining developed in the company’s wind tunnel, the little machines took to the Milan-Varese Autostrada in 1956 to scoop a series of world record. The rider was Massimo Pasolini, whose son Renzo would go on to great fame as a racer himself.
Despite the success, Tonti wasn’t hanging around, and quit Aermacchi to join FB Mondial. His replacement was Alfredo Bianchi, who had worked at
Parilla, Alfa Romeo, and made his own engines and complete machines. Bianchi’s 175 Chimera, a simple overhead valve design, curiously named after a Greek monster with a lion’s head, goat’s body and a snake’s tail was shown for the first time at the 1956 Milan Show in November 1956. Of course Chimera also means a fantasy, delusion or mirage, so perhaps that was the thinking behind the name. It was quite a debut in Milan; the new machine clad in all-enveloping bodywork – the work of car stylist Mario Revelli – that immediately polarised opinion. To calm things down, Aermacchi had Bianchi restyle the Chimera without the bodywork, and with conventional twinshock rear suspension to replace the Guzzi-style single horizontal spring unit. The new versions appeared in 250cc form as the Ala Verde, as well as the Ala Rosso 175. Racing versions followed, and the new Ala d’Oro production racer quickly became a favourite with privateer racers.
In 1958, William H. Davidson, who had been keeping a wary eye on market developments worldwide, travelled extensively in Europe, visiting manufacturers and gathering information. At the time, Aermacchi had spent a considerable amount of money trying to break into the Indian motorcycle market, and the move had not come off. Pressured by banks for repayment of loans, Aermacchi needed help, and quickly. It is reported that H-D paid just US$250,000 for a 50% share of the new company Aermacchi Harley-Davidson, with William J. Harley as president. The Varese factory, which had grown in fits and starts since WW2, was deemed inefficient for future production requirements, and a new facility was established Schiranna, just ten minutes away on Lake Varese.
The first models to be shipped to the US were in effect a development of the Aermacchi Chimera, designed by Alfredo Bianchi in the mid ‘fifties, initially as a 175. Being an overhead valve four stroke meant the 250cc single, which at first, and briefly carried the model name Wisconsin, at least had something in common with H-D when it went on sale in early 1961. The first US model from the amalgamation was named the 250 Sprint, a neat if plain roadster with a spine frame. Over the next three years, several variations followed, including a trail version and a stripped scrambles model, but 250s were still seen as playthings by the Americans. The result was a 350 with a lengthened stroke, and the new model was sold in UK and Italy as well as USA, where it was officially known as the SS 350. In 1969, the American Machine & Foundry Company (AMF) took over Harley-Davidson in a complicated deal that included Aermacchi. The H-D/AMF tie-up also saw 50cc and 65cc mopeds, and 125cc twostrokes join the range. In 1972, AMF acquired the balance of Aermacchi, and the range expanded to include 175cc and 250cc two-strokes.
On the GP circuits, the factory-backed team unseating the might of Yamaha to take three consecutive World Championships in the 250cc class from 1974 with Walter Villa in the saddle. The racing success cut little mustard with the Americans however, who were rapidly losing interest in the smaller bikes and in deep trouble with the traditional range. In 1978, a deal was done to sell Aermacchi
Harley-Davidson to the Castiglioni brothers to add to their Cagiva range.
A survivor
Aermacchi Harley-Davidsons are not that plentiful in Australia, in fact not anywhere. Through the relatively short period of its existence, H-D/AMF worked hard to convince its home market that these little singles really were as much H-D as Aermacchi, and dictated the styling cues to suit. If there’s a family resemblance, it comes from the cherished 883 Sportster; particularly the fuel tank, seat and rear shocks.
Why, heck, road testers even pointed out that the carb/twistgrip was not fitted with a return spring, just like the Sportster, so that “the rider can rest his right arm from vibration” via the “stay-open throttle”. This model, dating from 1967, had a twin brother sold in the US as the Sprint CRS, and was devoid of lighting, switchgear and dual seat. In most other respects the models were identical, including the vivid red and white décor.
The engine has the cylinder lying almost flat, with the pushrod tunnel cast into the barrel and head. Inside the alloy cylinder head sit 39mm inlet and 31mm exhaust valves. Oil supply to the top end is via internal passages, but lubricant is returned to the wet sump by gravity through a metal tube running from the lowest point of the exhaust rocker box, to the sump. Some fittings look almost to be afterthoughts; the exposed coil for example, and the canister for the paper-element air filter which is connected to the carburettor by a long, flexible plastic tube. On the left side of the crankcase cover is a plate, inscribed Harley-Davidson, which could, and was on some models, be replaced by a rev-counter gearbox and cable leading to a tachometer above the headlight. This model has a single speedometer as the instrumentation, with the instrument mounted in the headlight shell.
Brakes are serious-looking for a lightweight, both full width cast alloy of 180mm diameter and both single-leading shoe. The frame is a typically Italian design of the time, with a 60mm OD steel backbone section extending from the steering head to behind the gearbox. The top engine mount is a pressed steel curved structure with the section behind it sealed by plates to accommodate the ignition switch and associated wiring. A combined battery case and toolbox is mounted above the left crankcase. Don’t spend too much time looking for the side stand on the left, because it is on the right.
All in all, the SS 350 is a neat little machine, and although no powerhouse in standard form, would have possessed the sublime handling that made its racing siblings such formidable machines on the track. One hyper-tuned version even established a speed record at Bonneville of 176 mph (283.3 km/h) which in any language – Italian or English – is fair cracking along for a pushrod, 2-valve single.
Thanks to SCR Ducati at Morisset, NSW for the opportunity to photograph their SS 350.