TimHuber

90 months ago

 - via web

- Story

94' Harley-Davidson VR1000 SuperBike

308 East Compton Boulevard, Compton, California, United States

VR1000 in all its vintage glory

VR1000 in all its vintage glory

In my years of riding, I've purchased a handful of bikes from craigslist, as well as some riding gear and a few parts, depending on where you live it can be an incredible resource. Even when I'm not in the market for another bike, I still like checking out what's being sold, as occasionally, something special pops up. It's SOP to see track/race bikes being sold, even rare production models at times, but what's being sold right now, is truly noteworthy.

VR1000, angle 2

VR1000, angle 2

Being offered up is the Harley Davidson VR1000 AMA SuperBike, and not JUST the bike, but everything you would need to operate a race team for several seasons. This includes several engines, dozens of wheels, multiple bodies, two rolling frames and many smaller parts not worth mentioning. Even with an asking price of $75,000, it's still pretty cool.

VR1k angle 3

VR1k angle 3

While this bike's racing lifetime took place while I was in 1st grade, it still features many top of the line, advanced and cutting edge components. (Some of which are still used today, having been slightly improved over the years but the same principle technology such as the quick shifter on the VR1k). The bike has a carbon AP slipper clutch, quick shifter, It has PI System 3 Plus acquisition system, same as the factory bikes. The display and ECU appear to be made by magneti marelli, a legendary parts company still used today in MotoGP. Lastly the top end of the engine was built by Roush Racing, famous for stockcar engines.

[cid=166514,https://dn3bmh8yk8vvw.cloudfront.net/lamPaXptiLzQ18kmzIC4J_4BeZc=/fit-in/600x600/XNCu3cXCTamU4MnARQUE_image.png]

The sale includes three complete separate drilled, painted and prepped race bodywork fairings and a couple extra tanks that I would guess are aluminum or titanium. In addition to that there is one non painted or drilled set of body work, made of carbon fiber. All of the bodies were made custom by Gemini. While not mentioned in the post, from what's in the photos the belly pan and front fender's are all made of carbon fiber too, the attention to detail on this bike is astounding.

[cid=166513,https://dn3bmh8yk8vvw.cloudfront.net/ZYf4A-M8ahZB9uZG5CKq8G6tc3M=/fit-in/600x600/5QCdQFZQnSKL3dNlScgw_image.png]

As the seller makes abundantly clear, what's being sold is more than a bike, it's more than a collection of spares and parts needed to run a vintage race team, it's a unique piece of American Motorcycle history, and one that couldn't be more rare.

Angle 4

Angle 4

The story of HD joining AMA racing is long, complicated, and wasn't very successful in the long run. While the budget and politics involved didn't help, simply jumping into AMA racing and going up against the likes of Honda and other manufacturers with decades of race experience and a much greater budget as well as focus on superbike racing is nearly impossible. This project started in 1988 and was eventually shut down and liquidated about a decade later. I won't bore you with the names of every rider to pilot the VR, or every owner who's hands It passed through, but the seller has done an incredibly thorough job explaining the bike and teams history in the original post which I will include a link to below for anyone wanting additional info.

VR1000 tail

VR1000 tail

In my years of looking at bikes for sale online, this is easily the most unique and interesting I've ever found. Even the concept of owning a (non Eric Buell) Harley Davidson Superbike is pretty epic in and of itself. Check out the impressive attention to detail put into this bike, the sun-faded carbon fiber, the 90's technology and style and the garage full of spare parts. If anyone wants to invest 75k, I'd be happy to write a long term owners review of this bike. As the owner said in the ad, "This is not just a bike for sale, it is an experience very few will ever have to place yourself in the middle of a piece of history.".

Garage full of spares

Garage full of spares

Rolling frame 1

Rolling frame 1

Suspension

Suspension

Tank (Notice the old carbon)

Tank (Notice the old carbon)

Tripple tree

Tripple tree

Rolling frame 2

Rolling frame 2

Dash 2

Dash 2

Cool custom cover

Cool custom cover

Front wheel

Front wheel

Dash 1

Dash 1

Magnetti Marelli, pretty cool

Magnetti Marelli, pretty cool

Engine

Engine

For $75k, this could be your mess

For $75k, this could be your mess

Ready for new plugs!

Ready for new plugs!

Rear wheel

Rear wheel

Wheels for days

Wheels for days

Here's the original post for anyone who wants to read it. It includes a much more detailed history of the bikes creation and race career. It's pretty long as well. Thanks for reading and ride safe! http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/mcd/5843313249.html

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alex

90 months ago

Holy crap, that is awesome.

paulr

90 months ago

@marina While a few of these very rare race bikes have been purchased by HD dealers for display. I don't think anyone else had this amount of stuff plus bikes. It is noteworthy that three Canadians raced VR1000s: Pascal Picotte, Miguel DuHamel and our current national Superbike champion Jordan Szoke.

In order for Harley to race them, they had to have street versions available. Apparently the AMA were shown sufficient number of street versions that HD was allowed to race them. Did anyone ever see one of the street?? Likely not.

frencholive

90 months ago

@OGSXR600 On fire. Another great post!

TimHuber

90 months ago

@Kman the one in your photo appears to be an older version but the two appear to be of the same lineage. The strange thing is the orange one has a headlight, making me think it was a production model possibly, as where the VR1000 clearly was not. It's really really cool you went there, I'm for sure going to go some day. Great photos btw, That Britten Bike is epic, I've seen one in person, they're beautiful.

Kman

90 months ago

@OGSXR600 Yeah I saw one for the first time in @drewck 's Barber Museum post... scroll down to the bottom - it's orange! At least it looks like the Vr1000.

TimHuber

90 months ago

@Kman I had no idea HD had ever built any sportbikes aside from Buell. It's cool seeing something like this for sale. Also just seeing it's pretty cool too

marina

90 months ago

@paulr you probably know someone who needs this VR1000

Kman

90 months ago

Hot. Thank you for posting this stunning VR100.