Keep it Weird: Italian-American Chop from Red Right Hand…
In 1960, Harley-Davidson bought half of Aermacchi, an Italian company that manufactured airplanes until Italy’s surrender in World War Two and pivoted to motorcycles and three-wheeled trucks after the war. Harley needed a range of smaller bikes to compete against the lightweight machines coming out of Japan, and the first Aermacchi they began to import was a less racy version of the company’s Ala d’Oro (Gold Wing) 250, rebadged as the Harley-Davidson Sprint 250.
The Sprint was a fairly straightforward roadster featuring full fenders, a 4-gallon tank, high “American-style” bars, and an 18-horsepower horizontal four-stroke engine. While not all red-blooded Harley riders and dealers were happy about the Italian-made machinery wearing the Motor Company badging, the Sprint 250 managed to impress the motoring press.
“In Italy, economic conditions are such that many people ride motorcycles because they are such inexpensive transportation — and the motorcycles themselves must be rugged and dependable. On the other hand, the Italians are constitutionally incapable of doing anything without making a sport of it and all of their machinery reflects that as well. It is natural then, that the Aermacchi/Harley-Davidson should have taken the form it has: low, stretched-out and racy-looking, yet sturdy and not much given to fits of temperament.” –Cycle World, 1962
That said, the Sprint 250 is certainly not the Harley-Davidson you’d expect to see chopped and stretched into a custom creation, but that’s what makes this ’72 Sprint 250 chopper so much damn fun.
It’s the work of our friend Mike Schroeder of Montana’s Red Right Hand Motorcycles. Mike is the GM at Grizzly Harley-Davidson in Missoula by day and builds bikes out of his small home shop by night. We featured his “DirtyXL” Sportster way back in 2019, and his ’79 Honda CB650 “Jasmine” in 2020.
At the One Moto Show this year, we spied Mike’s “Italian Job” chopper and couldn’t wait to hear more about the build. Says Mike:
“I’ve never owned or built a chopper so I finally decided it was time, but I didn’t want to do the typical chrome fancy paint V-twin, so I used an old Sprint I’ve had sitting around for years and gave it a little flavor of my own. It’s a little bit chopper, a touch of bobber and just straight funky…”
A hardtail seemed too easy and expected a route, so Mike converted the old twin-shock rear end into a mono-shock setup complete with a custom one-piece subframe and sissybar. Up front, he modified the OEM forks and yokes and fitted a huge 23″ brakeless speedway wheel.
Mike was able to use a lot of old parts he had lying around his shop, including the red glass police light he converted into a headlight, an old pair of copper mufflers, and a set of cast footboards from Landström Foundry.
Then came the tank art, inspired by the logo of Skip Fordyce Harley-Davidson of Riverside, California.
“The really fun part is the tank I painted and made my own water slide ‘flying lady’ tank decals. She gets a lot of attention. There are a lot of other details, you just gotta find em.”
“The Italian Job” was a perfect fit among the wild and wonderful two-wheelers at the 2024 One Moto Show, even though it had fewer cylinders and displacement than the heavyweight V-twins sitting beneath the skylights of Portland’s Zidell Yards. We can’t help but love this lightweight Italian-American chopper and would love to give it a twist.
Sprint 250 Chopper: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
Motorcycles are my life. From my career running a dealership to hobby building in my little shop, down to my amateur flat track racing, bikes are my world.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
1972 Aermacchi Harley-Davidson Sprint.
• Why was this bike built?
I’ve never owned or built a chopper so I finally decided it was time but I didn’t want to do the typical chrome fancy paint V-twin, so I used an old Sprint I’ve had sitting around for years and gave it a little flavor of my own.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
I didn’t really have a concept. I just started cutting things off and collecting parts and let it guide me. I just knew this one had to be different from every other chop I’ve seen.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
I started with the idea of a hardtail but it felt too obvious so I decided to build a mono shock rear end and create a solo seat sissybar subframe to float above it. I reworked the OEM forks and trees to add some flavor, then added a 23” brakeless speedway front wheel.
I used a lot of old parts I had around like the red glass police passing lamp I turned into a headlight. I polished a set of old copper mufflers I got from a buddy and ran them to the header with flex pipe to keep it weird.
The cast footboards are mini repop versions of old Harley boards cast by Landstrom foundry. The really fun part is the tank I painted and made my own water slide “flying lady” tank decals. She gets a lot of attention. There are a lot of other details, you just gotta find em.
• Does the bike have a nickname?
“The Italian Job.”
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride this bike?
Sketchy.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
The mono shock rear end. It’s the first time I’ve ever built one!
nice. my only real negative is the lack of brakes. that would make it a death trap around my place. otherwise its pretty cool!
Shame to ruin a bit of history
I will say that the tank on this build makes up for me not being a fan of taking the stock bike and doing a resto-mod of this sort! And the business logo…on that plate/plaque…is just the “tits” (meaning “COOL”)!!!
That’s not a ’72 Sprint 250. It’s either a ’73 or ’74 350SS or SX.
You are correct, sir! The donor bike is a 1973 350SS (street model). The SX model had a high clearance front fender, high muffler and trials tires. The ’73 and ’74 Sprints had kick and electric start.