The Harley-Davidson Aermacchi Sprint 250 was a solid little runner with agile handling. It was generally a fun little bike that the Italians thought made for a great commuter (at a claimed 45-55 mpg). When the Sprint first made its way to US shores, it supposedly made 18 hp at 6,750rpm with an 8.5:1 compression ratio. Multiple versions of the model were available, including the higher-end H-spec. The Sprint H reportedly weighed in at 271 lbs (wet) but is said to have possessed some highly competent brakes. Produced from 1961 through 1968, the Harley-Davidson Aermacchi Sprint H had an air-cooled 246cc OHV single that made a claimed 21hp at 7,250rpm and was good for a top speed of just over 75mph. Back in 1967 the H-spec reportedly sold for $750, which comes out to about $5,550 today.
Unfortunately in the US, the Sprint didn’t get a lot of respect, at least compared to in its native Italy. America reportedly saw 250’s as more of a neighborhood runner. If properly taken care of, the bike was pretty reliable – aside from outdated oiling and electrical systems. Far too many Sprint examples ended up in a damp corner of a garage or barn to be forgotten. The Sprint H-models were more expensive and were sought after by those in the US who actually appreciated the quarter-liter Italian scoots for their flickability and prowess on the race track.
The Sprint H recorded a standing quarter-mile time of 19.2 seconds and a 0 to 60 time of 15 seconds. It clocked a top-speed of 76 mph – all of these figures were recorded by Cycle World in 1962. Car Life also tested a Sprint C-model in 1962 though it was a tad slower with a 72.5 mph top speed and a 19.5 second quarter-mile. This example is not only a resto-job but it also features an array of non-factory parts. The entire ground-up rebuild is admittedly very well done, but keeping the machine bone-stock seemingly wasn’t a huge concern. The upside to this is the newer components used on this example means that it is almost guaranteed to boast superior performance and/or reliability than the bone-stock Sprint H.
The seller originally came across this example at a Triumph repair and restoration shop in Orange County, California where it was in multiple boxes as it had reportedly been for the last three decades. It was a complete bike but it had a few non-original parts from various Triumph models including the example’s entire front end. It only had the lower half of the motor and the seat pan had rusted through, but the frame and engine did have matching case numbers. In Tampico, Illinois is Lancaster Aermacchi Sprint Restoration and Parts owned and operated by Paul Lancaster. The Tampico-based Aermacchi specialist was able to sell this example’s current owner the piston and pushrods, a complete gasket and seal kits, and stainless bolts. An all new electronic ignition system – sans points and condenser issues found on the stock bike – from Penton Racing Products was installed as well.
According to the ad, this example boasts lightweight internal rotors which allows for faster acceleration while its new state-of-the-art electronics system makes a markedly higher kilovolt output compared to the original ignitions units, ultimately producing more horsepower. The no-battery PowerDynamo route was taken with the lights on a separate switch to prevent over-powering the bulbs on ignition. The entire terminal block and one master fuse are neatly housed inside the driver’s side tool box. When building this example the seller ended up using a Japanese carburetor and custom built manifold as it was without one when he acquired it. Unhappy with how things looked he ended up finding an original Dellorto UB24A unit in England which he says was the build’s hardest part to source.
The Triumph forks and head making up the front-end weren’t chosen because they were good components, the previous owner just happened to run a Triumph shop so they had tons of parts from the British marque just laying around. During its rebuild a fork and triple clamp from an unspecified newer Aermacchi Sprint model year were selected. A set of Akront replica rims, spokes, and Michelin tires were purchased from Wheel Works in Garden Grove, California, who also laced the rims and mounted the Michelin’s. The front and rear brakes and hubs were both purchased online and after the current seller read about a builder in Portland, Oregon who was drilling out the hubs on old racers, he got a hold of a rotary table and setup on a vertical mill to drill out his own. In the seller’s own words: “Enough to look good but not enough to lessen the structural integrity.” The drums were also painted red to show through the speed holes which is a cool subtle touch.
The stock US version of the 250 Sprint came from the factory with the distinctive H-D tear-drop style tank while the race and European models both came with the metal tank that’s found on this example. The rear cafe-hump is also from the race-spec version. The fiberglass fenders, seat, fairing, and side panels are all Aermacchi replicas from GFTP up in Northern California. The actual seat is made of real leather and was designed and hand-crafted in Long Beach, California. From what I gather the H-D Aermacchi sprint came in a variety of different seat set-ups, including two-up benches and bobber-style solo/wide-bicycle seats. The seller had accumulated a collection of vintage parts over the years in his “wheeling and dealings on eBay”, and was able to trade many of them for the two “toolboxes” (boxes covered by side-panels) and the tank with an Aermacchi specialist in Switzerland.
The frame was dipped and powder coated at New Year Metal Finishing in Santa Ana, California. When first acquiring the multiple boxes that contained the pieces making up this example, one of the many parts that were missing was a single tab for the driver’s side axel-lock, so the current owner drew up his own design and had it fabricated. A pair of rear sets, brake/clutch levers, and the bike’s connecting rods are all from Motocicli Veloci of Milan, Italy. The seller actually designed the connecting rods and levers themselves and had the Italian specialist bring them to fruition. The original gear shift-lever was just cut down and placed on backwards to accommodate the new rear sets and as a result the shift pattern has been changed to a 1+/4-.
The seller also designed the brackets for the NOS Veglia speedometer – which only reads 10 miles – and the front fairing which attaches at four points via Dzus fasteners. The handlebars came from Moore’s Cycles in Fullerton, California, and the seller says these are “Probably the only off-the-shelf part on the build.” He goes on to explain, “The grips are Amal because they were grey!” Fair enough. As a whole the entire build is pretty damn clean. The yellow powder-coated frame and matching bodywork with white racing stripe look pretty good in my book. The matte black exhaust is a cool touch too. It’s not spotless but it’s a cool example of an awesome little vintage Italian racer. It is also 100% street legal and currently registered with a clean title in the state of California. Though it isn’t bone stock, I appreciate how the bike was rebuilt using replica units from the original race-spec Sprint bikes.
The ad also states that this example has previously been entered into a Southern California Car/Bike Show where it supposedly won ‘Best Motorcycle’. It was also featured in a photoshoot for a British Men’s Fashion magazine, a Men’s File June issue, and was used in a branding video for a company in Long Beach, California that has yet to be released.
You can find this rebuilt 1966 Harley-Davidson Aermacchi 250 Sprint H Racer (VIN: 66H2486) for sale here on Craigslist in Los Alamitos, California with a price of $7,700.