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Senin, 19 Maret 2007

1977 Harley-Davidson XLCR

Although the 1977 Harley-Davidson XLCR motorcycle was an attractive machine, competition from Japanese bikes was too fierce for the XLCR to be highly successful in the American marketplace.

The XLCR faded away after only two years because
too few Harley buyers were interested in
joining the road-racing crowd.

In an attempt to capitalize on the café-racing trend that was sweeping the country in the mid-1970s, Harley-Davidson ventured back into the world of customs to bring out the XLCR.

It applied a small "bikini" fairing, skimpy front fender, angular fuel tank, solo seat with fiberglass tail section, triple disc brakes, and special "siamesed" two-into-two exhaust headers to a standard 1000-cc Sportster, and then cloaked the whole affair in black.

The problem was that although the XLCR was claimed to be "the most powerful production cycle Harley-Davidson has ever built," that wasn't saying much; Japanese competitors were quite a bit quicker and cheaper to boot.

Furthermore, the typical Harley buyer seemed to take little interest in joining the road-racing crowd, so sales never took off.

What was in fact a very interesting motorcycle (and quite soon, a very collectible motorcycle) faded away after only two years.

Continue to the next page to see more 1977 Harley-Davidson XLCR motorcycle pictures.

1997 Ducati 750 Monster

The 1997 Ducati 750 Monster motorcycle drew lessons from the past to set a standard for the future

The 1997 Ducati 750 Monster was part of a trend
in motorcycle design toward minimalism.
See more motorcycle pictures.

While a swoopy, full-coverage fairing was a defining necessity for any self-respecting sportbike of the 1990s, a new breed of performance machine was beginning to bloom.

Stripped of all non-essentials, bikes like Ducati's Monster were starting a new trend toward minimalist motorcycles.

On the Monster, there's nothing to shroud the tubular trellis frame
or V-twin engine. As opposed to Ducati's race-inspired sportbikes that carried exotic four-valve, water-cooled V-twins, the Monster came with a less-sophisticated air-cooled, two-valve engine, though it still sported the company's signature desmodromic valve actuation.

The machine's simplistic nature meant even a tachometer was superfluous, but the approach resulted in a feather-light curb weight of just 390 pounds.

As a result, the Monster followed a formula that proved so successful with American muscle cars of the 1960s: light weight, powerful engine, basic amenities, low price. Introduced in 1993 with a 900-cc V-twin, smaller 750- and 600-cc Monsters followed, though the last wasn't sold in the United States until recently.

On the next page are more pictures of the 1997 Ducati 750 Monster.