Harley Davidson Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the XR750

“The XR750 is the winningest motorcycle in AMA Pro Racing motorcycle history”

Those are the words of Jon Bekefy, General Manager of Brand Marketing at Harley-Davidson. That’s a pretty good boast on a 50 year legacy. He added “Harley-Davidson is taking its 50th anniversary as a moment to reflect on the legacy and individuals who have designed, engineered, tuned, and raced the XR750 during its years of competition, and to celebrate Harley-Davidson’s 2020 racing efforts.”

There’s a lot to reflect on. The XR750 was created in 1970 by Dick O’Brian and his team to keep up with the new AMA Racing equivalency formula. It was designed to replace the highly successful outgoing KR750. It came off the shoulders of the Harley-Davidson Sportster-based engine. It was born with modified cast-iron heads and cylinders, a magneto instead of generator, and improved oiling. Two years later a more powerful all-aluminum alloy XR750 engine was introduced. From then until 2008 the XR750 would go on to win 28 of 37 AMA Grand National Championships. It was quickly labeled “the most successful race bike of all time”.

Racing wasn’t it’s only game. Evel Knievel started jumping an XR750 at the peak of his career from 1970 to 1976. From there it spawned a new generation of riders proudly taking the XR750 to the streets. The bike was not only fast, but was now an icon.

This year the Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track team continues the tradition. The updated Harley-Davidson XG750R flat tracker, powered by the liquid-cooled, fuel-injected and race-tuned 750cc Harley-Davidson Revolution X V-Twin is based on the production engine originally designed for the Harley-Davidson Street 750 motorcycle. 50 has never looked so good and we can’t wait to see it at 100.