I have had an approach/avoidance conflict with the Sprint H since 1963, my favorite model year of this lovable/cantankerous beast. We all know the storyline. H-D was having its V-twin lunch eaten by a horde of little Japanese minisquirts, and the company just had to do something about the onslaught. They thought that Americans had respect for Italian motorcycles, and the troubled Aermacchi factory was for sale, so they bought it and began to put their logo on the gas tanks of a bunch of 50-350cc models imported throughout The Sixties.
My feelings toward the Sprint are no better or worse than they are toward most '60's Italian bikes. I simply do not care for OHV thumpers, hard, narrow seats, right side shifters and left side kickstarters, or machines that feel compelled to make just starting up a fussing, cussing affair to remember. The '63 H-D brochure showing the Sprint H climbing a hill is one of my fondest marketing memories. I love the off-road styling with its exposed rear springs, rubber gaiters, high, abbreviated fenders, and high exhaust pipe, but you can still take that buckboard seat and shove it. I would guess that the 1963, and to a slightly lesser degree, the '64, Sprint H is my favorite classic Italian tiddler after the Ducati Diana.
The 1961 Sprint C was brought in much as the Italians had originally designed it, with a large tank and fenders, seventeen-inch wheels, eighteen horsepower, and a somewhat crouched riding position. Did I mention that the Sprint had a one-up, three down shift pattern exquisitely designed to be an accident ready to happen? The sportier, off-road oriented H became the companion to the basic C in 1962. The first H can be distinguished by its eighteen-inch wheels, high exhaust, white tank panels, chrome covered rear shocks, and low front fender. The '63 model had a red tank with a wide white stripe, exposed chrome rear springs, and a high-clearance front fender. The white tank panels returned in '64, and this was the last dirt-oriented 250cc Sprint H. The photo above is a 1965 model H, and you can see the chrome covers on the upper rear springs and the new low pipe and front fender. Other photos I have show an exhaust pipe more like that of the earlier H's, with a bullet-shaped muffler bulging from a smaller diameter pipe. I am not sure if the exhaust on the bike in the photo is original or not. I would not be surprised either way: the company could have changed it back then or the owner of this machine may not have been able to locate an original 1965 pipe for restoration.
Although the Sprint continued in the Harley-Davidson lineup for several more years, the party was quietening down rapidly as the CL160 showed the Sprint H its tailpipe for a much lower price. Even my extensive collection of H-D books offers little confirmation of the model year details as the Sprint continued into the later '60's. Harley added the SS model and the option of a black paint job, but even a shorter-stroke engine design was not enough to launch the Sprint rapidly off the showroom floor. Depending on which version you believe, the Sprint grew to 350cc in either the 1969 or '70 model year. Just imagine the ease with which the CL-350, SL-350, DT-1, and RT-1 would run and hide from a 350 Sprint while its rider was still back at the ranch trying to start it!
See Also: Harley-Davidson Scat
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