Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1515062
10 | WheelsOfGrace.com | #71 Michl Betz has a passion for part of Harley-Davidson history overlooked by many: bikes from the Motor Company powered by two-stroke engines. Now, his MX250 restoration is finally a winner. A childhood growing up close to a motocross track in southern Germany meant Michl Betz, now 43, developed a lifelong love of two-stroke motocross bikes. Combine that with a passion for Harley- Davidson and a select group of motorcycles remains. The first bike to scratch the H-D two-stroke itch for Michl was a rare Harley-Davidson® X90, a motorcycle from the '70s, produced when the company was looking to draw in new riders with entry level two-stroke bikes. This bike proved to be a hit wherever it appeared and the quality of the restora on meant that the li le X90 took a coveted first place in the An que category at the European Bike Week® custom bike show. The X90 was followed up with the acquisi on of an even rarer Harley off-road two-stroke – a 1972 Baja 100, designed to compete in gruelling desert races such as the Baja 500 – and then a Harley- Davidson SX250, a purely off-road compe on bike. Compe ng on the SX250 at Harley & Snow in the south Tyrol, where riders have to complete a speed hill climb up a snow slope on spiked tyres, soon showed the SX250 didn't have the power to compete with bigger bikes, even when fi ed with a larger 350cc engine. Purely by chance, parts of a 1978 Harley-Davidson MX250 became available and the SX was sold to fund the purchase. The MX250 is a full-on compe on motocross bike made famous by the Harley- Davidson factory motocross team which competed in the 1978 RESURRECTING AN ANTIQUE motocross World Championship. Produced only for the 1978 model year and for the US market only, just 1,000 examples of the MX250 were produced and this rarity means the bikes are in high demand when they appear on the market. Just four examples of the model are known to exist in Europe. With the MX250 in a dismantled state and consis ng of li le more than a frame and a few other items, a three-year project to source parts and reconstruct the bike to its original specifica on began. In common with many compe on-only bikes, parts for the MX250 are extremely rare; some items, such as the fenders, air box and the one-use-only shock absorbers are almost unobtainable. Michl managed to find an ultra-rare air box from a closed-down Harley parts shop, while the front triple trees came from a specialist in old Harley racing parts. The issue of the one-use shock absorbers was solved by installing discrete refillable gas reservoirs in the original items, a modifica on carried out by a German suspension specialist. Some parts proved virtually impossible to source: the fenders are reproduc on items and the cylinder head is an item originally fi ed to a Cagiva RX250, near iden cal to the original but actually improved by the radial finning pa ern. Michl managed to find eight of these in Italy, bought them all and used the remaining seven to trade for different MX250 items from other enthusiasts worldwide. A new-old-stock (NOS) front rim and spokes were purchased, but then tragically lost in transit, so the bike currently wears the hard- lived original rim un l another NOS item eventually appears. The MX250 represents a period of Harley-Davidson history when the company – at that point owned by American Machine and Foundry – decided to go motocross racing by commissioning their Italian-based subsidiary Aermacchi to build a compe ve, lightweight 250cc motocross bike. By 1976 a hard-riding Californian named 'Rocket' Rex Staten was hired as lead rider and the factory team's a empt at the Championships was ready. Although the MX250 achieved some wins, the championship itself proved elusive and the factory motocross team was dismantled a er the 1978 season and the MX250 was discon nued. Harley-Davidson's race debut in Europe in the capable hands of Rex Staten. Harley-Davidson tucked a 350 engine into the 250 bike and reworked the suspension. The result was excellent performances for Rex Staten and Marty Tripes. 10 | WheelsOfGrace.com | #71