HD XR750 Replica?

Mr.B

Everybody likes curves, when we talk about roads.
Hi, has anyone here tried to build a XR750 replica (or look-a-like)?

I'm not thinking about the Sportster tracker kit (It doesn't have the same look, guessing it's the frame, but cant really put my finger on it)
But as close as you can get.

What HD engine is the one the resembles the XR's engine the most?
I was thinking that an XLCH Engine (ca 1968-74?) would be similar (and wouldn't be to pricey or hard to find for me).
But what frame would be a good starting point? I'm guessing that the xr750 frame was built for the flattracker scene and never built as a regular production bike.
So what frame needs the least amount of modification to make it look the same?

This is the picture I'm looking at,
harley-davidson-XR750.jpg



Ideas are as always welcomed!
 
I really should have built my bike along these lines. The roads around here are not condusive for Cafe' racing.
 
I have to point out this is project is a couple years in the future for me (unless someone practically gives me an HD engine for free).
Just gathering some basic information at the moment :)
 
Mr.B said:
Hi, has anyone here tried to build a XR750 replica (or look-a-like)?

I'm not thinking about the Sportster tracker kit (It doesn't have the same look, guessing it's the frame, but cant really put my finger on it)
But as close as you can get.

What HD engine is the one the resembles the XR's engine the most?
I was thinking that an XLCH Engine (ca 1968-74?) would be similar (and wouldn't be to pricey or hard to find for me).
But what frame would be a good starting point? I'm guessing that the xr750 frame was built for the flattracker scene and never built as a regular production bike.
So what frame needs the least amount of modification to make it look the same?

This is the picture I'm looking at,
harley-davidson-XR750.jpg



Ideas are as always welcomed!

That bike in the picture is a 1970/1971 xr750 the only years they used iron heads . In 1972 the alloy XR came out and Harley domination started 8) that is the cheapest model to replicate . You need a pre 1974 right hand shift iron head engine and a 1977/1978 xlcr frame good luck $$$$ or get a 1979 frame and mode the tail section
 
cobraace2 said:
That bike in the picture is a 1970/1971 xr750 the only years they used iron heads . In 1972 the alloy XR came out and Harley domination started 8) that is the cheapest model to replicate . You need a pre 1974 right hand shift iron head engine and a 1977/1978 xlcr frame good luck $$$$ or get a 1979 frame and mode the tail section


This is exactly the information I'm after :D
So the engine from an XLCH 1974 (and older) would be an acceptable look-a-like (at least what I could see on the ones that are for sale in Sweden at the moment).
About the frame, the XLCR seems to be (as you stated) quite hard to find. I'm not afraid to cut in to the frame but the less work the better.
If not the XLCR, are their any other frames that are somewhat close and easier to find (and less pricey)?

I guess with a lot modification I could re-use the frame of an XLCH (1973) or is it better to make a frame from scratch in that case?
 
Mr.B said:
This is exactly the information I'm after :D
So the engine from an XLCH 1974 (and older) would be an acceptable look-a-like (at least what I could see on the ones that are for sale in Sweden at the moment).
About the frame, the XLCR seems to be (as you stated) quite hard to find. I'm not afraid to cut in to the frame but the less work the better.
If not the XLCR, are their any other frames that are somewhat close and easier to find (and less pricey)?

I guess with a lot modification I could re-use the frame of an XLCH (1973) or is it better to make a frame from scratch in that case?

If you are looking for the cheapest option the 1979 frame is it no other sportster frames will even be close . forget about the xlcr frame I sold a frame and cases for $2500 :eek: In my opinion its the 79 or custom$$$$ you get a 79 for about $300 and the mode is only in the tail section. You can build a sub 350lb 80/89 rwhp bike it will the most exciting ride you ever had unless your dating a porn star 8)
 
It would seem to me that you could make one out of any sportser, just need to de-rake the neck and change the tail. The plastics are easy to find. Best to get a complete running bike with the shouldered aluminum rims. The forks are ceriani?
 
lurkmaster2000 said:
It would seem to me that you could make one out of any sportser, just need to de-rake the neck and change the tail. The plastics are easy to find. Best to get a complete running bike with the shouldered aluminum rims. The forks are ceriani?

Have a quick look on EBAY at sportster frames and you will see why that's not true ;)
 
Mr.B said:
What HD engine is the one the resembles the XR's engine the most?

The XR1000 was the closest thing to a street version of the XR750 and probably the fastest air-cooled production Harley ever built. Unfortunately they are very rare, even more than the XLCR.

Harley%20XR1000%2084.jpg
 
Engine-wise, you could prolly save a few bucks getting an old Ironhead/Sportser engine..
But yeah, I want to see this happen.
 
This will be a cool type of bike to build.

DrJ said:
The XR1000 was the closest thing to a street version of the XR750 and probably the fastest air-cooled production Harley ever built. Unfortunately they are very rare, even more than the XLCR.

The current XR1200 is the fastest air cooled production HD bike.
 
I had this bike(and hair) about 25 years ago, it was an alloy xr750 from the last batch made in 1980. I put dummy lights on it and a disk brake on the front and rode it on the street for a year. I also took it down a 1/4 mile drag strip a few different weekends. It had very quick steering, at highway speeds you were almost better off riding it with your hands off the bars because the wind buffeting on your arms and shoulders would make it wobble if you sat upright.

555219_391373054286914_182271165_n.jpg


The frames on these bikes were lightweight chromemoly. I had an extra frame and swingarm and I think bare it weighed about 24 pounds.

Back when I had this bike the blueprints for these frames were floating around, a guy I used to talk to had got the blueprints for the road-race version of the XR frame and had made one up from them on his own. There was a guy in Chagrin Falls, Ohio named John Steel who was buying all these bikes up back in the 1980s and I am sure he is still into them, if you got hold of him he may be able to tell you how to get those blueprints as he was having replica XR frames made and trying to build and sell accurate replicas of the bikes.

Yea, this was a quick bike, with around 100 rear-wheel horsepower and weighing in at a bit over 300 pounds. Off the line it was about as fast as a stock Sportster, but when it came on the cam the power felt like it at least doubled and the front wheel would come right off the ground. No kick or electric start, you just ran down the street, jumped on and popped the clutch. The racing exhaust was loud enough that a couple of State Police going the opposite way down a highway turned around and gave me a nice ticket one day, not a bad penalty for a whole season of riding fun.

The iron motors will have about half the power of the alloy ones and they will be a LOT heavier. Back in the day no one could give away an iron XR, I knew where there was more than one of them that was brand-new, sitting because no one wanted to race or have them as collectors items. I suppose that changed once all the alloy jobs were snapped up. I had a few other old Harley XLR dirt-track racers too, I got rid of them all mainly because the parts are so rare for the engines that if you blew one up you would never find the parts to fix it. The looked like street engines but every part in them was non-interchangeable.

If I was going to live to be 150 I might put something together along the lines of the famous Aluminum Steamroller(google it) but using an early 90s alloy Sportster engine, I think that Aluminum Steamroller was the best cross between an XR and a street-sportster ever built. If you build one you better make it so it has almost too much power for the chassis and give it very borderline and quick steering so you can have some of the feel of a real XR like I had, don't build a no-go show-boat.
 
NortonGuy said:
I put dummy lights on it and a disk brake on the front and rode it on the street for a year.

Don't XR750s run without a charging system? Did you just charge up the battery every time you went for a ride?

Anyone interested in this motor?

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-other-1983-XR-1000-Motor-Brand-New-W0QQAdIdZ437235529
 
DrJ said:
Don't XR750s run without a charging system? Did you just charge up the battery every time you went for a ride?

By "dummy lights", I meant that they were completely non-functional, just hanging there so when I went for a ride it looked like I had lights on the bike. The xr750 had no electrical system at all. It had a magneto to fire the plugs and that was it. I remember I stalled it out at a traffic light with cars behind me once, so I had to push it off the side of the street and run down the curb to bump start it before re-joining traffic. No, no brake lights, but with two open megaphone exhausts pointing back at the car behind me they surely knew I was there.
At least I had it titled and registered with a plate hanging on the back, so I was in much better shape when the cops pulled me over than I would be if they had pulled me over on one of the several rides I have taken this bike on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggb3cz3_lzo

Another funny xr750 story. One time when I had it at a drag-strip, I had taken off the rear brake for some work I had done on the gearing or something, so that's right, I went down the quarter mile with no brakes at all front or rear, which was pretty damn stupid. I was lucky to have enough room at the end to slow the bike by down-shifting, going very slowly in first gear back the return lane and through the traffic of other people waiting their turn down the strip or spectating. A moron-move but I got away with it so it is a good memory.
 
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