Harley’s 2-stroke star ONE YEAR WONDER

72 x 60mm format means a torquey package with a wide spread of power, peaking at 10,500rpm with 89bhp on tap delivered in usable way

Specially-developed parallel-twin two-stroke 488cc engine features reed valve induction for greater rideability, but four carbs – two per cylinder – owing to supply problems

Would have made an ideal customer GP racer if not for the arrival of the Suzuki RG500 in 1976

124kg package has agile handling and benchmark braking for the era via Brembo cast iron discs (far superior to Japanese steel stoppers)

The chance to ride the one and only factory Harley-Davidson 500GP racer ever built came on a sunny summer’s day at Pirelli’s Vizzola test track, just half an hour from the lakeside Schiranna factory near Varese where it was built during the winter of 1974-75.

THE RR500 WON FIRST TIME OUT AND THAT WAS IN THE WET. AN EASY, TORQUE-RICH POWER DELIVERY AND WIDE