This is what I associate AMF as. Not a Harley.

 

When AMF bought Harley-Davidson in 1969 the motor company was on the verge of bankruptcy, in short "If AMF hadn't bought out Harley-Davidson, there's a high chance that Harley-Davidson wouldn't exist today".

Yes AMF trimmed down the H-D workforce and the production lines, but it worked to keep H-D as a going concern, AMF also made some bad decisions, to my mind scrapping the Nova project was one of them. The Nova would have given H-D a modern modular range of engines sharing common parts throughout it's portfolio. Another bad decision that AMF made was to cut down on quality control which gave H-D a bad reputation for unreliability. Building snowmobiles and golf carts was another bad decision by AMF as they sold in very low numbers. AMF buying out 100% of Aermacchi's motorcycle division was another bad decision, the motorcycles were poorly designed and assembled, there were lots of warranty claims on those machines that cost a lot of money to put right, fortunately AMF H-D sold the Aermacchi factory and fittings in 1978 to Cagiva.

No matter what you think of AMF, at the end of the day they saved Harley-Davidson from being resigned to the history books.

 

Yes am familiar with the AMF-Harley story, and glad Willie G and company took it back. But AMF will always stand out as more bowling than biking in my mind.

 

I'm fairly new to motorcycles and Harleys. Was interesting to find out about the AMF-Harley history. Got myself an Iron 883 and figured I'd try to duplicate the 1973 paint scheme since I'm an old fart and 1973 was the year I was born, haha

 

You think your an old fart being born in 1973, I was born the year before Sportster production started, it was "Flatheads" that H-D produced like the 1956 KHK below. The bottom end of the K models is very Sportster like.

 

K-Model.
Side valves.
Elvis rode one.
Precursor to the "Sportster - Since 1957", with OHV.
Paint/decal-wise, it's your choice, unless someone else is paying your bills.
I'll omit my opinion.
Rock it the way YOU want!
When it's done, show us pics. Love to see it.
And, yes, AMF saved Harley. They developed the Evo motor.
I was born the last year of the Pan Head.

 

AMF didn't develop the Evolution motor, AMF sold H-D to Willie G and his consortium in 1981, the Evolution was introduced in 1985.

Here's a snap of Elvis on his model K.

 

^^^ 1984 was the introduction of the Evolution ^^^

 

Sorry about my error Uncle Larry, you are right in saying that the Evolution was introduced in 1984, but the motor wasn't patented until Feb 26,1985, see below.
#

 

No apologies needed :>)