8-27-17 Update: Tim Huber just let me know that 18 months later, this is back up for sale. This time it’s got further ~$25k off, with a BIN of $55,500. Bidding is up to $31,800 with the reserve not yet met
2-7-16 Update: Over a year later, this VR1000 has been given a $50,000 discount. Let’s see if that’s enough to get it a new owner. Find it for sale here on Craigslist for $75,000 in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Back in 1988, Harley decided to try their hand at knocking off Ducati from their perch atop AMA Superbike. Unfortunately, what would have been top notch technology when the bike was supposed to have been released (in 1991) was well behind the curve when it actually started racing (in 1994). Homologation requirements resulted in the Harley-Davidson VR1000, of which only 50 were sold. Normally I aspire to bring you interesting bikes on an individual basis. But thanks to reader Zack B., today I can show you what might just be the beginning of your own personal race team – nearly two whole bikes with enough spares to last you a long, long time!
Nifty fact of the day – the VR1000 did not share a single part with any existing Harley. HD outsourced a lot of parts to help develop their attempt at a world-beater, but kept it all within the good ol’ USA. Roush developed the engine, Pesnke took care of the suspension, and Wilwood handled the brakes.
But what was truly unique about this bike was how they handled homologation. AMA rules do not specify where a bike has to be road legal, just that a minimum of 50 copies have to be produced. As American emissions laws were impossibly strict for a true race bike, HD sold all 50 bikes in…Poland. Feel free to go back and reread that. HD just threw on a headlight, turn signals, and mirrors, and called it a day. For $49,490, Polish riders got a 135 horsepower, 400 pound racebike that had a lovely split-personality paint job. One stripe of white split halves of black and orange.
But forget homologation – this specific Harley-Davidson VR1000 and spares are all true factory race bikes. The seller gets into good detail about the story of Mike Canepa and how he got involved in a privateer VR1000 effort, which grew to a 2 rider, 3 bike effort.
“The bike was always the fastest privateer bike but was at first plagued by a high speed misfire due to issues in the wiring loom. They raced it at Daytona but the factory gave them the wrong washers for the clutch which developed a leak. Cal, aware of the oil seeping out, crashed chasing Mike Barnes on the Britten. With Harley out of the picture and dumping everything at Mikes feet, the business of running a race team on a national level became more labor than fun. Mike finally became tired of dealing with the grief of running a team and packed it in. One of the last straws was the wrecking of the team truck on someone’s birthday celebration back east. The fun had turned to vapor. Mike brought the bikes home, unloaded them and the spares and pulled the garage door down.”
I recommend that you check out the listing for more of the story.
Find this Harley-Davidson VR1000 and all the spares for sale here at Automania – the same guys offering the Yamaha OWO1 from a few months back – in Grants, Pass Oregon for $127,500.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Zack B!