Harley Davidson RR-250/350 Road Racer
With motorcycle racing legend Walter Villa as its pilot, the Harley-Davidson RR-250 carried Harley-Davidson to the only international Grand Prix motorcycle road-racing championships the company earned in its long history. The charming and talented Italian, whom Enzo Ferrari described as "the Nicki Lauda of the bike world—a thinking racer." piloted the RR-250 to world championships in 1974. 1975, and 1976. That last year he also earned a world Grand Prix championship in the 350cc class aboard an RR-350. The Harley-Davidson RR350 is the enlarged version of the RR250, a motorcycle built from the ground up by the Italians that was essentially a Harley-Davidson in name only (Harley took a majority stake in the Italian manufacturer in 1974). The men from Milwaukee were facing increased competition from light, fast Japanese bikes and the first investment into Aermacchi in 1960 was designed to combat this and introduce some fresh engineering talent to the company. |