At the end of 1966 Aermacchi had begun developing a 125cc two-stroke. Late in 1967 the first advertisments were published and the model was presented as the Aletta at the Milan Show. On factory pamphlets the bike was shown as the Turismo 125cc. Marketed in 1968, it is model with a conventional piston-port engine with a bore and stroke of 56x50mm using pre-mix fuel. The tank cap was also an oil measuring device.
The frame is basically the same as that of the Zeffiretto S, the M50S and the M65S. Some modifications were made to the rear of the frame and also to the rear swinging arm, and the engine mounts of the 125 differ from those of the 50 and 65cc models.
Production of this model ended in 1970 after 560 were manufactured. A Scrambler version of the Aletta was built in 1968 and the production of that model ended in 1970, with some 613 units produced. In 1972 another version of the Aletta 125cc model arrived in the form of the 125cc De Luxe - production ended in 1973 with 1014 units manufactured.
The Aletta was named the Rapido for the United States market and there were a number of differences. The toolbox disappeared and was replaced with a sizeable container on the rear mudguard. According to an American magazine, the models sold faster than they were produced. Also according to that test people were very satisfied with this model, it rode and steered as a racer, but most important: the Harley-Davidson logo was on the fuel tank, which meant guarantee, parts and service were widely available.
Harley-Davidson issued information on performance enhancement, but mentions that the guarantee does not extend to tuned machines. The Rapido on the second picture below is a Trail model. In 1971 a real off-road model (125 R/C) was introduced and this particular model was manufactured until 1972, the last production year for Aermacchi-Harley-Davidson. It was manufactured in 1973 by AMF-Harley-Davidson and had a different fuel-tank. 998 examples of the 125 R/C were built.
This page is derived from an archive of 2stroke-nl
