Aside from a handful of championship titles sporadically earned by the big four from Japan, Harley-Davidson reigned supreme throughout the majority of American Flat Track history. While the MoCo obviously employed some top-notch pilots, its dominance in AFT can be largely attributed to H-D’s XR750. Introduced in 1970 as the successor to the venerable KR, Harley would successfully campaign the XR750 for several decades, making minor updates and changes along the way, prior to it being replaced in recent years by the XG750R.
Largely derived from the XLR mill, the folks at Harley shortened the air-cooled, 748cc V-Twin’s stroke and utilized smaller connecting rods to bring the engine’s displacement down to within a regulation three-quarter-liter size. While the XR750 was undeniably a beast in its time on the dirt ovals — prompting some to call it “the most successful race bike of all time” (which I question) — Harley also slapped some bodywork onto the 750 and then campaigned it as the XRTT road racer, with a surprising amount of success…at least early on.
Like other factory built racers, the XR750 was produced by hand in extremely limited quantities. Between the rarity of the H-D racers, and the Milwaukee-based brand’s massive popularity, XR750 examples command pretty substantial prices, though they’re relatively reasonable for factory racers.
According to the seller; this particular 1977 example is a genuine XR750 and not a road-going replica. Making things even more interesting is the fact this 750 specimen is supposedly fully (CA) street-legal, though I don’t see any indicators or instrumentation. A kickstarter was also tacked on, (as was an alternator I assume), and a front disc brake was added to the mix for obvious reasons.
Though it’s not the most pristine example, this ‘77 750 is said to be in solid running condition. Based on the amount another street-legal XR750 example (that Abhi featured) sold for a few years back at a Las Vegas Mecum auction ($25k), this example’s asking price seems reasonable (assuming this is indeed a genuine XR750).
Find this supposedly street-legal 1977 Harley-Davidson XR750 for sale here on Craigslist in Los Angeles, California with a price of $25,000.