18 minute read
FINDING #49
BY KEITH GEISNER PHOTOS COURTESY OF KEITH GEISNER COLLECTION
B
arn find. It’s one of those dream scenarios a lot of motorcycle enthusiasts think about, especially those into vintage bikes. Most have their special list of desirable — and probably rare and expensive-to-buy — two-wheelers, and the thought of finding one for sale for not a ton of money in someone’s barn or garage is always there.
Of course, it never really happens, right? Those are just stories you read about, eh?
As the guy who devours every book or magazine on motorcycles he can find, I dreamed the same dreams…and never thought I’d find myself on the lucky end of the classic “barn find” situation. It just doesn’t happen.
FINDING
#49 Discovering, buying, restoring and celebrating a piece of American MX history — Don Kudalski’s factory Harley-Davidson MX250
Don “Killer” Kudalski busting a sandy berm during the 1978 Florida Winter-AMA Series aboard his factory HarleyDavidson MX250. Kudalski would score a historic win there for the Motor Co. that season.
But as it turns out, it does happen on that very rare occasion, just as it happened to me back in September of 2016. My barn find? A classic dirt bike, but not just any dirt bike. It was a rare piece of Harley-Davidson history — a real-deal HarleyDavidson MX250 motocrosser. And a very special example, too.
There’s some rich history here because, between 1975 and 1978, something unheard-of happened in the sport of motocross, professional and amateur alike: Harley-Davidson, America’s number one manufacturer of heavyweight, air-cooled street bikes, entered the off-road racing scene with a motocross bike of its own, the MX250. At the time, the Motor Company was looking for new riders and buyers for its unique style of products, and a some hare scrambles and vintage motocross racing. The joy I got (and get) from bringing a vintage bike back to life is hard to explain, but it continues to thrill me. Which is why I wanted to share this particular story…
It all started on a Friday evening in September of 2016. It was getting late, and before bed I checked Craigslist to see what was out there. When I first saw the Harley-Davidson MX250 ad, I thought, “There’s a rare bike you don’t see every day.” I knew very little about the 1978 MX250, only that around 1,000 were sold to the public and that restored ones were selling for anywhere between $6,000 and $10,000. I emailed the seller a reasonable offer and then texted my buddy Jeff Allison, a fellow vintage bike enthusiast, and asked if he had seen the same ad.
promotional boost in an area it’d barely ventured into before.
I’d been into motorcycles forever, riding dirtbikes on the family farm as a kid and, later, doing some buying, fixing and selling on my own. I wanted to attend a motorcycle tech school but my parents insisted on a four-year degree, so during college I used my extra time to restore Honda Z50s and CT70s. I ended up selling the entire collection (over 100 bikes) to a collector after graduating with an engineering degree, but the motorcycle bug was as strong as ever. I kept collecting and restoring once I started working in the automotive and aviation industries, and even did Then I did something I rarely did: I double-checked the email I’d sent to the seller and realized I’d mistyped my cell number, so I re-sent the correct one. (I often think of what might have happened, or not have happened, if I hadn’t double-checked!)
The next morning I got a call from the seller accepting my offer. He’d done his research and knew what the bike was worth restored and was tired of all the lowball offers he’d been getting, and we made plans to meet the following day. I was excited, as I’d never owned an MX250 and was looking forward to the discovery and restoration process.
Meanwhile, Jeff called and told me someone
Far left: The factory-spec MX250 “barn find” in Geisner’s driveway, just after purchase. Before the painstaking preservation could begin, Geisner disassembled the entire motorcycle to see what was what, then got busy with research. The process took the better part of two years, but the results are, in his words, “totally worth it.”
had posted the Craigslist ad on a Facebook page that identified and appraised motocross bikes… and that the bike I was interested in buying might actually be a factory team bike, as it had parts and traits that looked much more factory/works-spec than production-spec. Whoa. The most intriguing part was its number plate: 49. I found that #49 belonged to Don “Killer” Kudalski, the last rider to race for the HarleyDavidson MX team, and the only rider to win a major AMA race for the team.
To think I could possibly be the owner of a factory team bike was unimaginable. I couldn’t wait to see the bike up close, and Jeff was as excited as I was.
I had a vintage race the following day and my plan was to meet the seller and pick up the bike later that afternoon. Jeff came with me and soon we were headed to a commuter parking lot off the interstate in central Missouri. As I approached the seller’s truck he climbed out and introduced himself — holding a pistol. “A precaution when dealing with strangers on Craigslist,” he said. I told him I didn’t blame him and that we didn’t want any trouble.
I asked why he was selling. He told me he didn’t ride motorcycles, and the bike, which his father had given him, had been sitting in his father’s barn — a real barn find! — since the mid 1980s. They’d tried to
When I started naming off a few of #49’s features, however, his tune changed, and he said it sounded like I did indeed have a factory racer.
get it running at one point, but parts were hard to find. When Jeff and I inquired about the number 49 on the number plates, he said he wasn’t sure, and had always assumed his dad had put them on. When I mentioned the bike appeared to have parts from the HarleyDavidson factory race team, he didn’t seem interested in the least. He didn’t ride and was married with young children.
All the way home Jeff and I discussed the bike’s possible history. When we arrived I put the number plates on correctly, took some photos and then began thinking seriously about the upcoming research, much of which would include online sites that focused on vintage motocross and HarleyDavidson’s MX250 in particular — but also on Aermacchi and Cagiva machines. Aermacchi was the Italian company AMF/Harley owned and which had actually spawned the MX250 before eventually becoming Cagiva after H-D sold it off in 1978.
That evening I revisited the Vintage Motocross Buyers & Sellers Price Guide page, letting everyone know I ended up with the bike in the Craigslist
Far left: Don Kudalski at speed during the 1978 Florida Winter-AMA Series. “After years of trying,” wrote Cycle News in its March 1, 1978, edition, “Harley-Davidson finally recorded its name at the top of a score sheet in National caliber motocross. The rider that put them there was none other than Don ‘Killer’ Kudalski.” Below: That’s teammate “Rocket Rex” Staten crossing up the MX250 during that same season.
ad, and that my goal was to research its origin and decide its fate — total restoration or a really thorough preservation. The owner of the page was Joe Abbate, who also ran a restoration business called Cycle Therapy. We chatted a lot during the following months, and with Joe’s feedback I decided on the “preservation” route. He told me to rub on that bike “until my fingers bled,” get all the documentation I could and take care preserving the paint. I owe Joe a great debt of gratitude for his direction and assistance.
I also discovered a website that featured H-D motocrossers, parts and info on Harley MX team members. The site’s owner was Menalco Solis III, who helped identify the engine in #49 and verify that what I had could very likely be a real factory racer fitted with a bunch of production parts after its racing days were over. He’d posted a story about the H-D team bike he owned and where it had come from and did a great job capturing the history of it and the team. Over the next year Menalco and I would assist one another in our restorations and would also solve a few mysteries surrounding the short-lived Harley-
Davidson MX team.
Those months were a blur of internet research, phone calls to dealers, people I thought were previous owners of #49, people who actually were, factory team mechanics and riders, team managers and other knowledgeable motocross folks from that era.
One particularly valuable site was Tom Fox’s Harley-Davidson MX Owners Facebook Group, which introduced me to a Florida racer named Mason Boyd, who knew Don “Killer” Kudalski. Kudalski was Harley’s last factory pilot and the guy I was pretty sure raced my motorcycle in the 1978 Florida Winter Series, where he grabbed the Harley factory’s first and only National win in round three of the Series. Mason and I talked frequently, and he got Don and I together, as well. We communicated a lot during the following months, and it was through this collaboration — along with some photos Mason and Don had — that we became more certain than ever that what I had was indeed a factory race bike from 1977-78.
Team mechanic Tom Volin, who’d been Kudalski’s crew chief during that final run, helped confirm it. When we first spoke, Volin seemed certain I had a production bike, mainly because he’d been instructed to destroy some factory bikes at the end of the season. He’d urged Harley-Davidson to put the bikes in the museum, but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. When I started naming off a few of #49’s features, however, his tune changed, and he said it sounded
Above: Kudalski graciously signed the items Geisner brought to their very first face-to-face meeting in October 2019. “Don isn’t a limelight sort of guy,” says Geisner, “but during dinner he opened up, and I was honored to hear stories from his racing career.”
like I did indeed have a factory racer. I asked if he had any photos, and the ones his wife Kathy sent were the clearest shots of Kudalski on his bike I’d ever seen. They were black and white and in sharp detail, and I could see many bits and pieces that were on my bike.
In between all this talking, researching and assembling of the puzzle that was this motorcycle, I disassembled the entire machine, engine included, and began inspecting and identifying parts, figuring out which ones were from the original race bike and which were standard production pieces. My bike already had a factory C&J frame, of which fewer than 10 were ever built according to C&J’s Jeff Cole. Over time I was able at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. And it happened, too, back in 2018 thanks to a letter my wife Sara and I sent to Bill Davidson, son of Willie G. Davidson. Bill got the letter, left me a voicemail inviting us to the Museum, and had his very capable assistant Dara help organize things on their end.
On my end I contacted everyone who’d been involved in the restoration project and invited them to come along. Not everyone could, of course, and those that couldn’t sent their best wishes. But on the big day, myself, Bill Davidson, Tom Volin, Don Habermehl, Peter Zylstra, Brent Thompson and the late (and longtime Harley man) Clyde Denzer met
to identify and purchase from select individuals the other special parts the bike had used in 1977 and ’78, which included Fox Airshox and the alloy Cross-Up swingarm utilized by the factory when Kudalski won his Winter Series race.
Aside from finishing #49 and getting it as close as possible to the spec it’d been in back in 1977 and ’78, I wanted to gather as many of the team players as possible and meet up — and briefly display the bike — at the Museum, checked out the bike, had lunch and traded stories about the bikes, the team, Harley’s efforts back in the late 1970s and how much fun everyone had despite the fact that the team wasn’t really around all that long. It was a fantastic gettogether, and a day I’ll never forget.
I followed it up a few weeks later with a showing of the bike at the Mungenast Automobile and Motorcycle Museum (where I met motocross champion Broc
Glover) and at the following night’s St. Louis Supercross, where #49 was displayed in Alex Moroz’s Legends and Heroes movable museum. I even got to meet Rex Staten the following year when he was inducted into the Trailblazers Hall of Fame at the group’s annual get-together in Carson, Calif. While there I also met Marty Tripes, Bob Hannah and Tommy Croft. Wow.
Finally, in October of 2019, I got a chance to meet with Kudalski, in person, which was a treat. I flew to Florida and stayed at his place for a day to discuss the book, his history, and have him sign some items. Mason Boyd came for dinner, and we had a great time. Don really opened up, and I was honored to hear his stories of his racing career.
There’s more in store for #49, too. Not only are we planning to reunite Kudalski with #49 at Daytona this March (look for coverage in American Motorcyclist and on the AMA’s social media channels), but the bike is also scheduled for a year-long appearance at the AMA Hall of Fame Museum later this year. Seeing it in the flesh is a visceral, time-machine look into the history of American motocross and Harley-Davidson’s brief efforts there, so don’t miss it if you’re in the area.
Thanks to all the Harley-Davidson motocross team members, photographers, and everyone else here who helped me tell this story — including my wife Sara, who supported me during this journey.
Isn’t it amazing what a quick check of Craigslist can turn into? AMA
Geisner’s book Finding #49 and America’s Forgotten Motocross Team earned national recognition in 2020 from the National Indie Excellence Awards. For a copy of the upgraded second edition (more photos and info), find Geisner on Facebook or check ArchwayPublishing.com.
The highlight of the #49 project for Geisner had to be his invitation and subsequent visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee to display the bike and meet with many of the men involved with the team at the time. Left to right: Tom Volin, Keith Geisner, Don Habermehl, Peter Zylstra, Brent Thompson, Bill Davidson (great grandson of an H-D co-founder) and the late Clyde Denzer.
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