Hi, Although this may not pertain specifically to the '74-'78 HD 2-stroke 125/175/250 range, it is an interesting side note from the transition period from AMF HD to HD-Cagiva to Cagiva in the late 70s / early 80s. I always liked the Harley SS250 2-strokes ever since I first saw one at the IOM (Isle of Man) TT Races as a 17 y.o. back in 1980. When I got back, I sold my Suzuki and went ahead and bought a very neglected SST250 and rode it all through 1980/81 (unlike my previous Suzuki, my Harley SST was less than reliable and on several occasions threatened me with catastrophic technical failure and potentially serious injury). The UK laws at the time (and the insurance premiums) did not allow anything larger than a 250 on L plates and it was not until after I got my full licence, I moved on to bigger and effortlessly reliable multi-cylinder bikes etc. (all Japanese). Little came close to the 2-stroke thrill of late 70s / early 80s 2-strokes and even now, I am still puzzled why I like the late 70s Harley-D 2-strokes so much – they were a rare sight, they were poorly equipped, had poor quality, were fussy, parts were expensive and were basically ignored by dealers. Despite all of that, they were pretty and (like it or not) carry the HD name on a (non-Japanese) unique platform. I always figured that with more foresight and organization, AMF- Aermacchi-HD could have given the Japanese manufacturers a better run for their money. Cagiva obviously had the vision AMF-HD did not – or maybe AMF just ran out of interest as it was just not lucrative enough when considering what a fully-loaded Electra-Glide would add to the bottom line. In the last 30 years, Cagiva has continued to grow and diversify, ultimately taking over MV Agusta and Ducati - all starting on the back of the AMF Aermacchi-HDs with their beautiful 125/175/250cc alloy chrome bore engines. Detractors say this is just a copy of the Yamaha DT250 minus the reed valve – semantics, really, as in the end they are all influenced to some degree by Walter Kaaden's post-war East German MZ racing 2-strokes and technology anyway (anyone interested should read 'Stealing Speed' by Matt Oxley). In Europe from ’76 on, HD-Aermacchi (and later HD-Cagiva) offered the SST250 and SST350 2-stroke singles. I never rode an SST350, but based on the vibration the SST250 displayed, I imagine the SST350 was even bigger filling rattler. The '79-80~ Cagiva SSTs were still fundamentally HDs but better kitted out, more refined and with better build quality - all areas pointing towards where the company needed to be heading. In adition to the 1979 / 80, HD-Cagiva offered their face-lifted SST125/ SST250 / SST350 / SXT 125 / 175 / SXT 250 and SXT 350 2-strokes, HD-Cagiva also released a prototype show bike liquid-cooled Cagiva 250 twin, the DSST 250. This seems to be one of the only pictures available on the net, but I remember the bike being announced (w/o much fanfare) in the MCN (Motor Cycle News). This bike did not appear overnight and was likely on the AMF HD drawing board for a while as the similarities between this as a road-going RR250 were obvious. HD-Cagiva had an opportunity to capitalize by brining the RR250 mystique to the street and the beauty of the 1979 HD-Cagiva DSST 250 Twin is that you can clearly see the usage and incorporation of familiar / modded HD-Aermacchi parts w/ RR cast wheels etc. Granted, this could have been a ‘me too’ nod (if not a direct challenger) to the dominant Yamaha RD250LC and Suzuki GT250 X7 2-strokes, the fastest 250s a 17 y.o. could legally get his / her hands on in the UK, but the HD-Cagiva had real pedigree. The UK 250 cc market at the time was very lucrative and there were many manufacturers (and a few pretenders) vying for a position with anything from road rockets to commuters - from Kawasaki KH250 faired race-replicas to CZ twins. Funnily enough, the MZ TS250 was a good seller and despite being a commuter and somewhat agrarian design, was bullet-proof and well built (the complete antithesis to my SST). Perhaps it was just a case of timing and unfortunately, plans for sale of the Cagiva DSST 250 Twin (in the UK market, at least) may have been side-lined once the new learner laws (125cc / 12 BHP) were drawn up for 1982/1983, which in one fell swoop killed the UK 250cc market. It does appear to show the company was thinking in the right direction and had the technical ability and experience to pull it off. All the major Japanese 2-stroke manufacturers had bigger, bolder siblings - Yamaha RD250 (air-cooled) had the RD400 (air-cooled) hooligans (and later RD250LC & RD350LC) – all bikes with a now legendary reputation (if a little more rose-tinted than back in the day) and are fondly remembered by guys now well into their 40s (yes, incl. me...) and early 50s. Suzuki went a slightly different route with their GT380 / GT550 / GT750 Kettle tourers, but also had a reliable air-cooled GT500 twin in their former stable. Kawasaki had their KH400 / KH500 and KH750 triples – all models which continue to live on as much sought-after classics today. The pretty HD-Cagiva DSST 250 Twin would indeed have been a healthy and perhaps more refined road-going version of the RR250. AMF-HD obviously had experience with both air-cooled and liquid-cooled twins from their raciong days, but lack of funds may have limited the ability to challenge thriving small capacity liquid-cooled 2-stroke road bike market which the Japanese continued to dominate. Alternately, perhaps making money by ironing out the trouble spots w/ their smaller capacity bike range was just more trouble than it was worth. Interesting what might have been, though. Ian B. :occasion14:
