Post Sale Update: This Baja sold for $9,500 after 44 bids on eBay.
In the early 70s, young riders were throwing all their money at 100cc MX bikes from Hodaka and Kawasaki. At the time, Harley’s cheapest bike was the Sportster, so they thought they should get a slice of the small MX market by having Aermacchi build them an entry level motocrosser. Aermacchi took a 125cc Rapido and sleeved it down to 98cc to create the short-lived (and fairly terrible) Baja 100. These are hard to find in good shape, but this example stands out even more as it has never been ridden.
The thing was, Harley tricked a lot of riders because they were able to create a successful racing program with the Baja – they even won their class in the Baja 1000 in 1971. What consumers soon found out is that the production bike could not compare to the race bike, or even what Kawi and Hodaka were putting out at the time. Still, it was Harley’s first foray in the dirt and and it’s now an interesting footnote in HD’s history. For more on the Baja, check out this “Classic Steel” article on PulpMX.
By the end of the production run, Harley had a little bit of trouble selling Bajas, which might be why this bike sat in a showroom for years until the seller acquired it. He/she says the bike is in fantastic condition, so find this HD Baja for sale in Upland, California with bidding up to $8,099
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Joseph D!