Ah, Harley-Davidson. The brand of Stars & Stripes, eagle and skull decals, from time immemorial…

Or maybe not. While the made-in-America thing has long been a hallmark of H-D (and it should be, it’s something to be proud of), Harley-Davidson has a long, long history of building bikes outside the US of A! And as far as the antisocial Punisher-style decals, well, there once was a time when Harley actually made a play for the most family-friendly market available: the dual sport/enduro segment.

There were no skull stickers in sight in the 1970s, when AMF owned Harley-Davidson. Instead, there was a line of made-in-Italy trail bikes, painted in bright, groovy colors—bikes like the 1975 Harley-Davidson SX250 Enduro seen above, which appears soon at a Mecum auction.

Lots of chrome, lots of bright paint. Just like all the other trail bikes from the 1970s. Photo: Mecum Auctions

Aermacchi’s not-so-finest

After World War II, Harley-Davidson sold a lot of two-strokes, including an adaptation of the trusty DKW RT125 design (like everyone else did at that time). Then Harley-Davidson bought 50 percent of Aermacchi in 1960, and through the next two decades, H-D faced first the British Invasion and then Japan’s onslaught on the market with a series of rebadged Italian two-smokers. Initially, many of these bikes were aimed at street users, but as the ’60s turned into the ’70s, there was an increasing focus on off-road capability.

The SX250 was one of these bikes. It was introduced in 1974 and ran through 1978 as Harley-Davidson tried to counter the Japanese manufacturers’ success in the dual sport segment, which was brand-new at that time. It came with some decent components; Dell’Orto square-slide carb, adjustable Marzocchi suspension, 21-18 wheelset, and an enthusiastic engine (piston-port single-cylinder, with chromed bore). It even came with a resettable odometer, for enduro competition. Sounds crazy, perhaps, but people did race the Aermacchi-built traillies. Bruce Ogilvie and Larry Roeseler actually won the 1975 Baja 500 aboard an SX250. So it must have been an OK bike then, right?

This example is in fine condition, especially considering it’s an old trail bike! Photo: Mecum Auctions

Wrong. The SX250 was behind the Japanese competition many ways, and even further behind its Euro counterparts. It was heavy, around 270 lb—much beefier than other enduros of the day. Even worse, some of the early-production models came with a fragile Agostini Pagnelli gearbox that was quickly damned by the moto-press as a liability.

For really good insight, check out this review of the 1975 Harley-Davidson SX250 in the Cycle World archives (you might need a subscription to read it—I don’t have one, and I was able to read it just fine). In that write-up, CW absolutely slams the Harley-Davidson machine, saying it was poorly-designed, with just about every component having some inadequacy or annoying quirk. Even worse, they experienced two gearbox failures. The review issued a flat do-not-buy warning on the bikes with Agostini Pagnelli gearbox, instead advising to wait for a machine with a Cima gearbox (which Harley-Davidson changed over to): “The bikes with the Cima transmissions will be designated as having a “C-type” trans. If the SX250 you’re looking at in the dealer’s showroom isn’t labeled that way, don’t even consider it.”

Tough words, and frankly, not something you’re likely to see in today’s moto-press.

While it might have been a dog in its day, the SX250 is actually a pretty cool machine in retrospect, and if you buy one with open eyes, it’s a very cool piece of MoCo history. Photo: Mecum Auctions

It’s different today

Sounds like a debacle, so why would you want one of these bikes today? It’s because you’re almost certainly not going to be trail-bashing on it, so who cares about the bike’s reliability and performance issues? It should have the better-quality Cima gearbox, and it’s going to be a collectors’ machine anyway, rarely ridden. Maybe it won’t ever be ridden again. You can decide for yourself if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

The bike pictured here is for sale at Mecum’s Indy 2023 auction. You can see the listing here, and see the details below:

Highlights

• Odometer reads 3,373 miles
• Italian-built Aermacchi
• Sold in the U.S. through Harley-Davidson dealerships
• Highly original condition
• 250cc engine
• 5-speed manual transmission
• Finished in Harley Orange
• Original Black seat
• NOS tachometer and speedometer
• Original tachometer and speedometer included
• Original gas tank and seat
• New brakes
• New tires
• Original owner’s manual
• Parts catalog
• Service manual
• Original framed 1975 Harley SX250 advertisements

If you’re looking for a very cool piece of Harley-Davidson history, and you don’t plan on winning the Baja 500 with it, then maybe you need to get ready to bid?