This is a 1978 Harley-Davidson XLCR that has been with the current owner for 35 years. It’s been completely rebuilt in their ownership, it now has all new front and rear suspension, vastly improved front brakes, and an uprated engine.
The XLCR, or XL Cafe Racer, was an attempt by the American motorcycle manufacturer to appeal to a younger more performance-oriented crowd that was being wooed by the inexpensive (and wildly popular) Japanese UJM inline-fours of the 1970s.
Fast Facts: The Harley-Davidson XLCR
- The Harley-Davidson XLCR was introduced in 1977 as Milwaukee’s attempt at a factory café racer. Designed by Willie G. Davidson, it was based on the Sportster platform but had radical styling with all-black paint, angular fiberglass bodywork, Morris cast wheels, and triple disc brakes. Only about 3,100 were produced before the model was discontinued in 1979.
- Powered by a 997cc Ironhead Sportster V-twin producing 61 bhp, the XLCR had a 4-speed transmission and suspension tuned for sharper handling. Performance was respectable but fell short of Japanese rivals, with Cycle World tests showing quarter-mile runs in the mid-13s and a top speed under 110 mph.
- Market reception was poor due to its high price of $3,400 and underwhelming performance compared to faster and smoother Japanese fours. While sales were weak, the XLCR became an important symbol of Harley’s willingness to experiment outside its conservative lineup and is now considered a collectible rarity from the late 1970s.
- The 1978 XLCR shown in this article has undergone a comprehensive rebuild, including inverted front forks, upgraded Performance Machine brakes, and a lengthened swingarm with Fournales air shocks. Its Ironhead V-twin now runs an S&S Super E carburetor, Dynatek ignition, and a custom two-into-one Supertrapp exhaust – making it a far more capable machine than it was in period.
History Speedrun: The Harley-Davidson XLCR
The Harley-Davidson XLCR has been called “Milwaukee’s failed café racer” but in retrospect that might be a little bit unfair – the XLCR was one of Milwaukee’s boldest gambles of the 1970s, an attempt to reach beyond the company’s conservative customer base and into a growing niche dominated by European brands.
The idea for the XLCR came from Willie G. Davidson, Harley’s design chief and grandson of one of the company founders. Image courtesy of Harley-Davidson.
On paper, the XLCR was exactly what the market wanted – an American-built café racer styled for the performance-conscious rider. In practice, the XLCR was a commercial failure, but it remains one of the most daring motorcycles Harley produced during the era, and for that reason it does deserve respect.
The idea for the XLCR came from Willie G. Davidson, Harley’s design chief and grandson of one of the company founders. By the mid-1970s, Harley-Davidson was in trouble. Japanese manufacturers had seized the performance market with modern, reliable machines like Honda’s CB750, while Harley’s lineup remained rooted in tradition and antiquity.
Willie G. saw an opportunity to break from convention by creating a machine with European styling cues, aimed squarely at the café racer movement that had taken root overseas starting in Britain. Introduced in 1977, the XLCR (short for “XL Café Racer”) was Harley’s attempt at a reinvention.
The XLCR was built on the familiar Sportster platform, but almost every visual detail set it apart. The bodywork was all black, from the paint to the exhaust, with an angular fiberglass fairing, a squared-off fuel tank, and a seat cowl that gave the bike a purposeful stance.
Cast aluminum Morris wheels and triple disc brakes added to the modern look. Even the exhaust was unique, a blacked-out two-into-two system that swept up along the right side of the bike. It was arguably the most radical styling exercise Harley had ever put into production.
Underneath the bodywork, however, was familiar Harley engineering. The XLCR used the 997cc ironhead Sportster V-twin, fed by a single 38mm Keihin carburetor and producing about 61 bhp at 6,000 rpm.
Power was sent through a 4-speed transmission. Suspension was conventional, with 35mm front forks and twin rear shocks, though it was tuned for sharper handling than the cruiser-focused Sportsters. Cycle World testing at the time recorded a quarter-mile time in the mid-13 second range, with a top speed just shy of 110 mph. This was respectable, but not competitive with the faster, smoother, and dare I say more reliable Japanese fours.
Despite its failure in the showroom, the XLCR did carve out its own unusual legacy – it was evidence of Harley’s willingness to experiment at a time when the company was under pressure to modernize.
The timing of the XLCR was unfortunate. Harley hoped to attract younger riders looking for performance, but by 1977 the café racer trend had already begun to fade in the United States. Moreover, the bike’s performance was seen as underwhelming for its price.
At around $3,400, it was more expensive than many faster, more refined Japanese machines. While the styling was striking, the XLCR did not deliver the speed or handling that serious sport riders expected. Harley built only around 3,100 units between 1977 and 1979 before discontinuing the model.
Despite its failure in the showroom, the XLCR did carve out its own unusual legacy – it was evidence of Harley’s willingness to experiment at a time when the company was under pressure to modernize. Willie G. Davidson himself later admitted that the bike was ahead of its time in some ways but ultimately misaligned with what Harley’s core buyers wanted.
Today that limited production run has made the XLCR one of the most collectible Harleys of the era. Well-preserved examples regularly draw interest at auctions, prized not only for their rarity but also for their role in Harley’s history as an outlier.
Though it may be controversial to say so, the XLCR was also a direct ancestor of other Harley models like the Harley-Davidson FXR – a motorcycle also developed by Willie G. Davidson with the help of Erik Buell and a Skunk Works team of engineers at HD to take on the onslaught of Japanese cruisers.
The Custom Harley-Davidson XLCR Shown Here
The motorcycle you see here is a 1978 Harley-Davidson XLCR that now benefits from a comprehensive rebuild and it now rides on new front and rear suspension, with much-improved front brakes, and an uprated engine.
The new suspension consists of an aftermarket inverted fork up front with dual Performance Machine multi-piston calipers up front over 13″ drilled rotors. In the rear you’ll find a lengthened box-section swingarm and a pair of Fournales air shock absorbers, with a 12″ drilled disc at the rear.
The engine is an air-cooled 998cc Ironhead OHV V-twin with a black crinkle finish, it now has a custom-fabricated two-into-one exhaust system with a Supertrapp muffler, a Dynatek Dyna S electronic ignition module, and an S&S Cycle Super E carburetor.
The engine is an air-cooled 998cc Ironhead OHV V-twin with a black crinkle finish, it now has a custom-fabricated two-into-one exhaust system with a Supertrapp muffler, a Dynatek Dyna S electronic ignition module, and an S&S Cycle Super E carburetor.
The bike is now being offered for sale out of Irvine, California with an owner’s manual, a Clymer service manual, and a clean California title in the seller’s name. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid, you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
