Harley-Davidson 1000 XLCR Racer Coffee
The 1000 XLCR Cafe Racer is a model of Motocyclette, produced by the American firm Harley-Davidson.
History
In 1977, Harley-Davidson surprises everyone completely by presenting a model contrary to its usual production, the XLCR Cafe Racer.
The XLCR was imagined in the greatest secrecy, at the bottom of a small workshop. Three men are at the origin of this project, Willie G. Davidson (the small son of one of the founder), Lou Netz and Jim Aubert (of which the workshop belongs to his/her father). With the head office, only presidents John Davidson and one of his collaborator are with the current of the project.
The will of Harley-Davidson is to propose a machine capable of enrailler the Japanese beachcomber, to counter Italian hegemony on its territory, to offer sporting to the American customers, while taking again the concept of English modified.
The prototype is ready in 1977 and it is presented for Bike Week of Daytona. The first impressions coming from the press are good and the factory decides to start the production.
Its esthetics slices radically with the practices house. The tank, like the whole of the motor bike, very narrow and is very lengthened. A small careenage head of fork is judicious to improve protection. It is entirely black.
The engine is derived from 1000 Sportster (from where denomination XL) and offers 68 horses. The couple is available as of the low modes. It is made out of cast iron. The advertizing booklet even announced that it was the most powerful model of the production of Milwaukee.
It is the first Harley-Davidson with dropped the rims to rays to use models with moulded sticks. It is also the first equipped two discs of front brake, a careenage head of fork and a completely black painting.
On the road, the XLCR makes suffer its pilot. The careenage head of fork offers only one summary protection against the wind. The handlebar is too high and too ahead, the footrests are too behind.
But the XLCR will be a commercial failure. Not sporting enough and too expensive to compete with its competitors, it is also too far away from the Harley-Davidson spirit to allure the customers of accustomed mark. It will be produced only during three years, to 3133 or 3134 specimens (the 8 or 9 models left in 1979 will be made starting from spare parts and their forever clearly established number). Certain dealers will keep during several years a model in their hall of exposure, without being able to sell it, even while agreeing up to 50% of reduction.
See too
Related article
Coffee racer
| Random links: | Climatology | Mezquita | Classify (data-processing) | Web Newspaper one Farming Patrimony | Araxe | Oporornis | W-FIVE |