| Author | Message | ||
     Bruce_bueller |
FOUND THIS BEAUTY WHILE I WAS TOOLIN' AROUND AT LUNCH. 1975 AMF 125CC W/ 673 ORIG. MILES. I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER SEEN A NICER ONE IN TWENTY YEARS OR MORE.  | ||
| Whodom |
Sweet! Too bad Harley abandoned everything but cruisers (until Mr. Buell came along). | ||
| Chasespeed |
My Dad used to have one of those.... Thanx for the memory bro Chase | ||
| Tramp |
"Sweet! Too bad Harley abandoned everything but cruisers (until Mr. Buell came along)." ?!?!?!!? Fellers- That's an AMF with a metric engine. That wonderful little machine got more ill-deserved jeers from the sporting public just for being AMF and metric. As put off as I am by the negative buell posting by guys who have yet to ride the mount they're criticizing, the situation, back in the AMF yeasr, was far, far worse in terms of consumer ignorance and negativity toward the brand. If HD had introduced a homespun version of, say the F-650 (ie Rotax engine, etc...), the owners of this board would have to remortgage their homes on order to pay for the neccessary bandwidth to capacitate the 'expert' disparaging and spitting. It's basic "can-o-worms 101" Today when people criticize the AMF years, I analogize those days to chemotherapy.... Sure, the brand was under the weather at the time and wasn't looking so great as a result of AMF, but that treatment (AMF) ultimately saved the patient. when I think about it, Erik would be digitally crucified on this board had he introduced a rotax-powered metric dualsport.... That being said, the HD enduros of the AMF years provided us pre-teens & teenagers with an excellent 'cool' machine that had "Harley-Davidson" emblazoned across the tank.... just revisit the original "Bad News Bears" to review the strong social currency that a small-frame "harley Davidson" afforded a juvenille delinquent in those halcyon days... I'd go on, But Tatum O'Neal is knocking at my door.... (Message edited by tramp on July 27, 2005) | ||
| Denfromphilly |
As bad as the AMF bikes were, AMF management did start the project to create the Evo motor we all know and love. Had it not been for the AMF mass production to compete with Japanese bikes and the lack of quality/design control that made interchangeability and mass manufacture an issue affecting profitability the motivation for the Evo would not have evolved. All in all, I bet HD would have folded in the mid 70's due to market pressure from the competition of much higher quality import bikes or been absorbed by Honda if AMF had not kept them afloat. I met an old guy that had been a motor assembler for HD back in the day. He said motors were hand crafted, for example the intakes were mix and match to find one with the right length and angle to fit the heads that were not exactly where they should have been due to tolerance build up. When they ramped up production under AMF these kind of issues went from an inconvenience to a roadblock. They had to stock more parts and incur more labor and material costs and could not make a profit. Things had to change and a legend was reborn in the process. Erik did actually start racing the old motors too, but it all came together with the Evo. Everything happens for a reason...Den | ||
| Bomber |
just as some bad-mouth the Iron Tower and it's "lack of support" for Buell, there are many who balme of all of HD's woes (and they were legion and manifold) on AMF Tramp's got it right (agin) -- without the work done by AMF, it's likely there wouldn't have been a viable HD company to purchase -- similarly, without HD, the Buell company that is making such great strides likely wouldn't exist, at least not in the form it is today | ||
| Djkaplan |
"just revisit the original "Bad News Bears" to review the strong social currency that a small-frame "harley Davidson" afforded a juvenille delinquent in those halcyon days..." Yes, but an XR-75 was used for the stunt scenes. | ||
| Tramp |
And WHOM, as noted on other threads, was racing an XR-75 at that tender time? I think the fact that another brand was used as a stunt double increases the social currency of the machine, much like Steve McQueen riding a Feldgrau Zundapp to freedom but actually jumping the border fence on a stunt-double Triumph... ...*knock it off, Tatum...I'm on badweb, here....* | ||
| Silas_clone |
the amf bikes? i have one, a '73 ironhead sporty. i took it apart and put it together 20 years ago. still runs...fine. i'll take all the amf's anyone wants to give me!!! had a coupla flatheads back in the day...they were good, too. i never met an HD i didn't like | ||
| Tramp |
there are no bad Harley-Davidsons, only unseemly HOG members.... | ||
| Denfromphilly |
What Tramp Said  | ||
| Tramp |
Bcak atcha, Den Mother! |
