1972 Harley-Davidson 125cc Rapido
by That Car Guy
on February 12, 2009
Ah, our first street-legal vehicle ... that life-changing moment when freedom from family finally becomes possible. In 1971 Tennessee, it could happen when you were at least 14 years old, got your parents' signatures, had a motor-driven cycle with 5 brake horsepower or less, could see, paid $6, and rode within a 7-mile radius of your home during daytime hours.
I had the luxury of learning to drive a tractor at 6, a car around 8, all on our farm. We had bicycles, a mini-bike, and a go-kart, so going to a slightly larger motorbike was not a problem. But, unfortunately, choosing one was. Honda was breaking ground with its fantastic line of bikes, and I saw their reliability and features through my friends. I wanted a blue 1972 Honda CL100, a dual-purpose on/off-road bike that sadly is not made anymore. However, my father was writing the check, and he wanted *American* - a Harley-Davidson.
Anything sold by Harley-Davidson under 500cc was built by Aermacchi in Italy, but my father could not grasp that concept because the bikes had "Harley-Davidson" written on them. He grew up in The Great Depression, was still fighting World War II, and simply would not give his money to the Japanese, though the only two new cars he ever bought were German Volkswagen Beetles--in fact, he bought the third VW ever sold in Nashville. We had a great family friend, the late Bill Abernathy, who had just purchased the first 1972 model Harley-Davidson Electra-Glide 1200 sold in Tennessee, so it was deemed by the powers that be that I would have the first 1972 H-D 125cc Rapido sold here (Do we see a pattern forming?).
The 2-stroke Rapido's gas tank cap had a built-in cup to measure oil for every gallon of gas bought. Such an unnecessary hassle. I think the dealer did not hook the battery up correctly, as the magneto poorly powered everything on the bike ... lights, horn, etc, at different engine rpm. The horn would change tempo and volume simply by revving the engine, and the lights would dim and brighten. I never found any factory-related use for the tiny 6-volt battery.
Most H-D dealers would like to forget these bikes, both then and especially now. A few months after getting the bike, I perused the accessories catalog and found a luggage rack and tool kit for the Rapido. At first the dealer said these items did not exist, but after I pointed them out in the fine print, he gladly ordered them. The tool kit came in very handy ... the single spark plug would often foul, leaving the bike immediately dead wherever that happened, day or night. A bud and I fashioned trouble lights on our bikes, which were not only life savers at night, but also the only use I ever got out of the exposed battery.
If I seem ungrateful about the bike, I don't mean to be. But for the same money, we could have had such a nicer motorcycle. Once on a trail ride, the carburetor literally fell apart. Yay tool kit! The Rapido was a 4-speed, most of the others had 5. Less than a year after getting the bike, the once-lustrous metallic red paint turned pink, and the Harley-Davidson cans of touch-up paint were horrible, not even close to the original color. Oh, and though the bike was dual-purpose, my father and Mr. Abernathy deemed that it should have the optional lower front fender and windshield for road use. Shall we say "Dork-cycle," and beyond my control.
The Rapido ran by a single-cylinder, 2-stroke engine displacing 123.15 cc, true horsepower unknown to me. Maybe the only clever thing on the bike was a rear wheel hub with two sprockets... one for street, the larger for trail. Just loosen the back wheel, slip it forward, and replace the chain onto the larger sprocket for getting muddy. It sat 30.5 inches off the ground, cleared Mother Earth by 6.3 inches, held 2.38 gallons on gas, and weighed 211.5 pounds. I remember the bike as being very smooth and quiet, but the brakes would disappear at the first sign of a wet road. Not a reassuring feeling at all.
Some things on the Rapido were backwards... shifter, shift pattern, brake pedal, kick starter, all were on the opposite side and/or function compared to every Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha made then. Whenever anybody else rode the bike, they hated it because the brake pedal was on the wrong side, causing them to shift up rather than slow down. The next model year, 1973, all of this was corrected ... the new bike even had blinkers! But that came too late for this nice little motorcycle.
If you ever visit the Smokies, please use a bike, convertible, or something with a sunroof. Nothing else on wheels can give you the proper view.
We traded the Rapido in Dec. 1972, for a new black 1973 H-D SS-350 (Formally called the Sprint), identical to the cop bikes in the James Bond film "Live And Let Die." The SS-350 was another Italian-made disaster; the vibration from the single-cylinder "thumper" engine, as it was called, cracked the license plate into several pieces in less than six months. But I was 16 soon anyway, and we sold the bike for cash to go towards my first car, a red 1972 Chevy Vega, less than a year old.
I doubt this bike still exists, but you never know. This time last year, I saw somebody was restoring a similar bike. I emailed them and said I had an original Owner's Manual for their bike, and they were welcome to it if they wanted it--but no reply ever came.
I can't believe I still have a sales brochure for this bike after all these years. Somewhere in the living room is the Owner's Manual. Our family took very few pictures through the years, yet the first one here is me at 15 on the bike in 1972. Mr. Abernathy passed in 1981. I still see David and his family every Friday night; his son Daniel helped me with this post. Kevin is probably enjoying his "Lamp of China" somewhere.
--That Car Guy (Chuck)
DAN P on December 09, 2009 at 09:34 PM
I have this mean sky blue 1970 Rapido 125 I am in the process of collection NOS parts for a complete restoration if you have ANY NOS PARTS for a 68-70 ML or MLS Rapido email HCKYDN@AOL.COM
Justin on December 20, 2009 at 02:53 PM
I jus found one im restoreing. I also go to MMI and one of my instructors has one he rides.
John Bradley on February 27, 2010 at 02:14 PM
Small world! I bought a H-D Baja from Lonnie Boswell in 1970! It was my first new motorcycle, and immediately began "training" me in all-to-frequent piston replacements! Really frustrating, as I don't believe I ever finished a race (motocross)without blowing the rings. I did find that Yamaha a 180 twin piston fit, and had two rings, a bit more reliable....but the bike had NO BRAKES at all when they got wet, and I tried some Hare Scrambles with it only to crash into some icy creek after some rather terrifying rides down extremely steep, muddy hills. I guess it built character, eh?
I used to envy the Yamaha and Honda riders, whose bikes seemed unbreakable. I do have an old Rapido sitting out back, and am searching for a (cheap) gas tank. It seems like everything else is there, so I may restore it to running, but keep it "barn yard aged"...kinda like a Rat Bike!
F. Barber on May 10, 2010 at 09:17 AM
We have a 1971 Rapido with only 300 miles on it. It has been sitting since 1977. I want to take it apart and soak the engine parts in kerosene and clean up the bike in general. It looks new, but after all of those years it is really gummy.
I need a manual. Where can I get one? I would even take copies. I'll pay for copy efforts. Fred
Tom on August 10, 2010 at 06:01 PM
I tried to buy one in the late 70's, but the salesman at the dealership refused to order one, as the last one,(which sat in the dealership for at least a year which I drooled over every weekend),had just been sold.
I tried to give him cash money and told him I would wait until delivery, to no avail.
He rudely told me to put down on a Sportster, or get the hell out of his store. I should have put down on a Sporster, but I left mad, and went down the street and bought a Suzuki, cash money.
It was a good bike, But it was not a Harley SS350.
I still wish I had bought one even after reading about them here. I guess I'm crazy, but there is just something about the single cylinder thumper that I crave.
Mark Lehman on August 15, 2010 at 09:28 PM
Hello All, I have recently heard that Harley is planning on moving its plant to India. I buy and sell HD's for a living and this I am very afraid would kill a large part of my business. Can anyone tell me if this is true or just a rumor? Thank you so much. Mark Lehman All American Imports www.AllAmericanImports.com 01-404-422-6143 http://twitter.com/USA_Imports
George on October 01, 2010 at 03:46 PM
What is the worth of a 1971 Harley Davidson Repido? In fair condition?
jerry on November 04, 2010 at 03:44 PM
hello i have a 1970 H/D 2stroke that is a copper color with a black strip around the gas tank i need to find out more about it can anyone help with info and is it worth the time to fix or not
james on June 22, 2011 at 08:10 AM
i just bought a 71 and it runs i got lucky i found this guy who was just looking to clean out his shed...i paid $200
RacerS3 on February 01, 2012 at 03:02 PM
My father and uncle both bought identical 1972 Sprint SX-350's brand new, and road them constantly, to work and on weekends. Until my father and uncle bought identical Yamaha XS-11's in 1978, which my father still has. I still have my fathers Sprint SX-350 and it ran fine right up to the day I took it apart for a cosmetic refreshing. I had the wheels re-chromed and re-laced and I am having the paint redone on the tank and fenders. It should be back on the road soon. These bikes are actually strong runners and won alot of races on flat track and even in Europe in Grand Prix road racing. Here is some info I found about these bikes.
If the Grand Prix road-racing record books came with footnotes, you’d see a reference to this Italian-built Aermacchi motorcycle next to the only GP titles ever credited to Harley-Davidson.
Back in the 1970s, Harley-Davidson actually was a force in international road racing, winning the 250cc class three years in a row and topping the 350cc class once.
When small, technically sophisticated machines from Japan began flowing into the United States in the 1960s, Harley responded by buying a 50 percent stake in the Italian motorcycle firm Aermacchi, spun off just a few years earlier from airplane-maker Aeronatica Macchia. Aermacchi’s trademark 250cc four-stroke singles, with one horizontal cylinder sticking straight forward, formed the basis of the Harley Sprint line of 250s and 350s.
Aermacchi officials, who in the Italian tradition believed that race performance was integral to success, continued to contest the Grands Prix under their own company name. Then, in 1973, the same machines were rebadged as Harley-Davidsons. A year later, factory rider Walter Villa began a string of three 250cc championships. In that final championship year, 1976, Villa also topped the 350cc class on a bored-out version of the same bike.
Early air-cooled versions made about 50 horsepower at 10,000 rpm. Later water-cooled bikes pumped out 58 horsepower at 12,000 rpm.
It’s hard to say that all this grand-prix success had any positive impact on the parent company, which was staggering through its years of ownership by the AMF conglomerate. Still, the GP race program continued through 1978.
That Car Guy on February 01, 2012 at 09:52 PM
Thanks RacerS3, that's a lot of great history on the bikes.
I had a new 1973 SS-350 street bike, not the SX-350 on/off road version... we actually traded the Rapido in on it. Maybe I'll do a post now, I may still have the owner's manual.
The '73 SS-350 was also in "Live And Let Die" as the police bikes.