Random info on the Harley Davidson XR1000
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The XR750-inspired, XL based street bike and AMA Battle of the Twins road racer was developed in just sixty days in the fall of 1982, allowing H-D to meet AMA rules by producing 200 such bikes in time for the 1983 racing season.
The bike sold for $6,800 (versus about $4000 for an XL). It boasted 70.6 horsepower at 5,600 rpm straight off the showroom floor (versus 56 on a stock XL). Peak torque is 71.4 ft.-lb. (versus 58 for the XL). And with high-performance kit parts from the factory, 90 horses becomes a reality. Power emanates from XR aluminum heads and rocker boxes, high-compression (9:1) aluminum XR pistons, Branch Flowmetrics heads (ala Jerry Branch), a redesigned combustion chamber and port area, the stock Q cams from the XL, dual Dell'Orto slide carburetors and XR-style megaphone exhausts.
The frame is 100 percent XL, though a number of performance adornments have been added. Shorter connecting rods had to be used to bring down engine height to make the power plant fit.
Dunlop K291 Sport Elite tires, dual 11 1/2 in. disk brakes up front, an 11 1/2 in. rear disk, flat track bars and a 2.5 gallon fuel tank add up to a dry weight of just 480 pounds. Performance options include higher compression ratio pistons, special cams and special exhausts. It could also be ordered with a larger 3.3 gal fuel tank instead of the peanut tank which made it a little more useful for the street.
Dick O'Brian, former racing director, oversaw the quick, quality work. The Bike, in the hands of Jay Springsteen, won the Battle of the Twins contest at Daytona in March of 1983 with a top speed of 163 mph.
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According to Allen Girdler and Ron Hussey from their book "Harley Davidson Sportster", published by Motorbooks International, 1995, the Harley race shop:
"Reconstituted a frame left over from the team's road racing retirement ten years earlier, fitted it with the latest in brakes and suspension, built a beyond-full-race XR750 with the XR1000's bore and stroke, clothed the monster in early XRTT fairing, tank, and seat and sic'ed the incomparable Jay Springsteen on the field for the BoTT race at Daytona Beach in 1983. He smoked 'em. Trounced, crushed, whipped, destroyed, aced--pick any cliche from the sports page's collection and it fits"
"The factory turned the project over to a top private tuner/dealer, Don Tilley. He and his rider, Gene Church, took the BoTT title for the next three years and retired as living legends."
Note: BoTT stands for "Battle of the Twins"
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