Additional photos of this Harley-Davidson Baja are available here for your perusal.
In the early 70s, young riders were throwing all their money at 100cc MX bikes from Hodaka and Kawasaki. At the time, Harley’s cheapest bike was the Sportster, so they thought they should get a slice of the small MX market by having Aermacchi build them an entry-level motocrosser. Aermacchi took a 125cc Rapido and sleeved it down to 98cc to create the short-lived Baja 100.
Harley was able to create a successful racing program with the Baja – they even won their class in the Baja 1000 in 1971, though consumers soon found out the production bike could not compare to the race bike, or even what Kawi and Hodaka were putting out at the time. Still, it was Harley’s first foray in the dirt and and it’s now an interesting footnote in HD’s history. For more on the Baja, check out this “Classic Motocross Iron” article on Motocross Action Magazine.
If you’re a baseball fan, you may appreciate that the owner of this machine (VIN: 60100822H2) is Robin Yount, the Hall of Fame shortstop! He acquired it in September of 2013 from Rudy Pock, a restorer who Motocross Action Magazine calls the “World’s Baja 100 Expert” in the above article.
This example has a custom paint job that emulates the Baja design but is in a Harley-inspired orange/black that was not OEM.
It also has a fantastic Hooker Headers exhaust.
A restored example of an interesting moment in Harley-Davidson’s history, this beautiful Baja is ready to star in another collection. If you’d like to ride it, our White Glove Service would be glad to go through it for you.
