5 Minute Histories: Harley-Davidson Sportster

Harley-Davidson created their Sportster partly as a result of losing sales and prestige to the quick and nimble British motorcycles being imported into the United States in the fifties as Britain’s government used an “export or perish” economic model to pay off her war debts. These bikes from the likes of Norton, Triumph, and small arms maker BSA were around 500cc capacity heading on up to 650cc. Born in an environment in Britain where racing from café to café trying to reach 100mph and not get caught by the police had become a new sport.

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