Aermacchi Harley-Davidson

These Italian/American bikes have a lot to offer, and they don’t cost a fortune

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VARESE IN NORTHERN Italy has an impressive history when it comes to motorcycles. It has been home to MV Agusta, Aermacchi, Cagiva, SWM and, briefly, Husqvarna and BMW.The glacial Lake Varese is encircled by a fine motorcycling road that’s certain to bring out the best in those lightweight motorcycles the Italians do best. It is a perfect track on which to to test the limits of handling on the edge of the stunning Italian Alps.

One reason for this concentration of precision engineering efforts at Varese was the use of the lake by aircraft manufacturers building seaplanes, flying boats, military aircraft and Schneider Trophy racers until the end of the SecondWorldWar.The primary aircraft company was Macchi, founded in 1912. In the late 1940s the company renamed itself Aermacchi and branched out from aircraft, first into vans and trucks and then started building motorcycles in 1951.

AERMACCHI MOTORCYCLES ARE BORN

THE FIRST AERMACCHI bikes were large-wheeled scooters. These were of an unusual design, and featured leading link forks, 17 inch wheels and 125cc two-stroke engines. In 1956 they produced their first overhead valve four-stroke engine. This 175cc powerplant developed by Aermacchi’s designer, Alfredo Bianchi, was fitted into the radical, space age-styled Chimera, which had the engine cylinder sticking out of the front horizontally. Moto Guzzi also used the flat-single concept on its Falcone models, and Motobi built a horizontal single too.