Harley Davison has a long and storied history of racing having participated in almost every form of two wheeled motorsports over the years. In the 1990s Harley wanted to take the fight to the the Italians in SuperBike racing. Every manufacture has come up with a clever plan to stretch the rules of homologating a bike for racing, but the VR1000 took it to a new level. The rules stated that a specific number needed to be made, and those units needed to be street legal. The Italians were famous for just slapping lights in VINs on race bikes, but that would not have worked for the Harley. Sure some markets were harder to get away with that kind of thinking, but in the end it seemed to work. This history has given us the Ducati SPS and R lines as well as a host of interesting bikes from Japan. The rules did not stipulate where the bikes were road legal, so Harley exploited that loophole. They found that the rules in Poland at the time were exceptionally laxed regarding what could and could not be registered for the road, so this was the only market the VR1000 was street legal in when new.
The bike shares nothing from the Harley parts bin, as this was a ground up attempt at a race bike. A very modern fuel injected, 8 valve, liquid cooled V twin provided over 150 horsepower. The bodywork was carbon fiber to reduce weight to around 390 pounds. This all meant that the bike had the performance to take the fight to everyone else in the field. Front brakes were six piston Wilwood units and the suspension was the best Ohlins had to offer. In true race bike form the 5 speed transmission utilized a dry clutch. All of this racing pedigree and performance came with a $50,000 price tag when new.
From The Seller’s eBay Listing:
Vintage Motorcycle Collective
Dealer # MC1463
FOR THE REAL COLLECTOR OF HIGH END RARE BIKES
No Title – They Never Had Titles
Cost $49,626.00 in 1994
Just Out Of A Museum
Ridden 231 Miles in 1994 – In Museum Since
Has The Big Box of Parts & Tools You Could Buy With The Bike – Almost No One Did
200 Made – 50 Made For Street Use – This Is #6
Only Street Legal in Poland
Porsche Designed Motor1994 Harley-Davidson VR 1000 Motorcycle, only 231 miles, already offered 20K for the box of parts & tools made for this motor only, will be throwing the box in with the bike, a steal of a deal . Sold as is-no warranty. Buyer responsible for shipping.
The $90,000 asking price is in line with what some other VR1000s have sold for in the last couple of years. The extremely low mileage is appealing, but truth be told most of these bikes were stored in collections so not many have real street mileage. What really sets this example apart is the extensive collection of spare parts and tools that are included. This addition to the package means the new owner would have a substantial leg up if they wanted to keep the bike running and usable, even if only used sparingly.
Such a fantastic bike. Unfortunately, wasn’t quite up to the standard to compete in the golden era of AMA Superbike competition in which it found itself. Still, a bona fide American attempt to build a top end race bike. Definitely the real deal, if only a couple of years behind in terms of performance at that vaunted level.
If this were in my stable (something that, unfortunately, will have to wait), I would forget that it didn’t quite achieve its performance goals – and remember fondly the exploits Duhamel, Picotte, Scott Freaking Russell, and Mike Smith and his crazy fringe leathers.
Watching Russell at Road America, obviously well aware of his proximity to Milwaukee, wheelie the VR out of Turn 5 to the cheers of the orange-and-black crowd on the hillside is the kind of memory one doesn’t forget.
This is just screaming to have the turn signals removed and some blue painters masking tape applied to that headlamp.
No pictures of what is in the box?! Fail….
One of those bikes that I’d rather have a picture of than the real thing. I still remember the years Harley owned the AMA. I’m more of an underdog kind of guy. Give a Britten any day. Much prettier and a better motorbike.
Saw Miguel on the VR1000 at Brainerd, so cool. This is a dream bike for me, for sure. Didn’t care that the Ducatis were faster, the sound this thing made was awesome in the truest sense of the word. BWAAAAAAAA
Agreed, Big Mig was a personal hero of mine as well. Very cool bike indeed, and where are you going to find a Britten?