Roots II

More of my roots.

My dad with his Harley.

Some most valued information from =100kt-tape:

From: =100kt-tape
Date: Jul 15, 2009, 12:07:09 AM
I think I might be able to help with this one a little, too.

Every once in a while, Harley has tried to broaden its market share by aiming at other segments while never leaving what's worked for them. They're still doing this today.

This bike was Harley's share of the War Reparations grab bag. The design is actually German. I'll try to find out if I can.

It was known as the Hummer, was about 125 - 250cc and was aimed at the economy crowd - people who normally wouldn't consider a Harley, but wanted to ride and pinch pennies at the same time, like young folks - students and maybe factory workers who were tired of riding the bus, but couldn't really get into buying one of the big bikes. Of course it was hoped that both groups would eventually find their way to the big bikes too...

They did the same thing a couple of decades later when they bought Aermacchi in Italy and marketed a range of smaller bikes made in Italy with the H-D logo. Then they dropped the idea after about 5-7 years. Ironically, Aermacchi was later bought by another Italian maker that would eventually become the company that Harley has just bought this year to broaden their footprint in Europe.

I thought I'd have a harder time with this, but decided that Wikipedia would be my first stop. Turns out, I didn't need to go any farther, but the "Hummer" category was far broader than I realized.

Here's the link [link]

This is the German bike that the design came from [link]


Thanks again!