Harley’s original superbike: Harley-Davidson VR1000

Harley Davidson VR1000

With Ian Falloon

Back in the early 1990s, Superbike racing was still in its infancy, and two-wheelers had a huge advantage in weight and power over four-wheelers. Ducati took full advantage of these regulations, dominating World Superbike racing from 1990 to 1992, and Harley saw an opportunity to do the same in AMA racing.

With the strong Yen making Japanese motorcycles very expensive, Harley sales skyrocketed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, breaking the 100,000-vehicle barrier for the first time in 1994. In this prosperous economic climate, Harley-Davidson decided to build its first pure racing motorcycle from scratch.

Every other Harley race bike was a modified production bike, and this was their first road racer since Gary Scott rode a factory-imported XR750 through a pack of Japanese two-strokes at Laguna Seca in 1973. And since the VR1000 needed to be certified for AMA racing, Harley built 50 with lights and license plates in 1994.

The AMA rulebook states that the bikes must be “sold as roadworthy vehicles for normal highway use,” but there’s no way the VR1000s could pass the EPA’s strict noise and emissions regulations that would have allowed them to be approved in Poland. As a result, none of them can actually be legally used in the US (or Australia).

The VR1000 concept originally began in 1988 between HD and Roush Engineering. Jack Roush was a Detroit-based consultant involved in racing and designed the four-valve cylinder head. Rouch employee Steve Scheibe was then hired by Harley to manage the racing program. It wasn’t until late 1993 that the first rider turned a wheel in anger in competition.

The engine powering the VR1000 is the complete opposite of a conventional Harley V-twin. With a bore and stroke of 98 x 66 mm, the 60-degree V-twin features plain bearings, fuel injection, liquid cooling, dual overhead camshafts and a racing-style dry clutch.

Taking a page from Ducati’s book, the EFI was supplied by Weber Marelli, and with a slightly lower compression ratio than the race bike (10.8:1 versus 12:1) and a softer cam, power was claimed to be 135bhp at 10,000rpm. Considering the most powerful production twin available in 1994 was the 131bhp Ducati 916 SP, the VR1000’s power was modest, but the five-speed gearbox hampered the power delivery when a six-speed was standard.

The VR1000 frame was also groundbreaking for Harley, a twin-spar aluminum frame designed by Oregon mountain bike builder Mike Etough. Every component was state-of-the-art for 1994, including 46mm inverted Öhlins front forks with titanium-coated struts, NASCAR-inspired Penske rear shocks, Wilwood six-piston calipers, and carbon fiber bodywork.

Subtle details included the exquisite Bimota machinery down to the footpegs and billet levers, but the VR1000 remained an enigma, marred by quirky styling and a strange black/orange paint scheme. Rolling on a short 1410mm wheelbase and weighing 177kg dry, every test praised the VR1000’s handling, and with a top speed of around 270km/h, it was at the time the fastest road-legal American-made motorcycle.

Early impressions were promising. In the first race at Daytona in 1994, DuHamel started VR 68th on the grid and steadily worked his way up to 20th. When the stabilizer failed on lap 22, the machine had run over 78 miles—16 more than the usual 62-mile Nationals.

Even more impressively, Duhamel ran laps in the 1 minute 54 second range, not far off the pace of the leaders. Unfortunately, the VR1000 project fizzled out after 1994. Despite its long gestation period, the VR1000 racecar was plagued with failures and generally underperformed.

Although the engine was predicted to produce 165 horsepower, this never happened. Despite being ridden by some of the best racers of the time, including Miguel Duhamel, Doug Chandler, Chris Carr, Pascal Picotte, Tom Wilson and Scott Russell, the VR1000 never won a race.

Highlights included Duhamel leading at Mid-Ohio, finishing fourth at Brainerd and Carr winning the pole at Pomona. More power in 1996 helped Carr finish 10th at Daytona.

By 1995, the race shop employed just five technicians and the program was run on a shoestring in a building far from the factory in an industrial park. After a series of poor results, rumors spread of management disputes that would seal the VR1000’s fate. Milwaukee had never been comfortable with the concept of a purebred racing machine, and the VR1000 simply reinforced that preference.

As happened fifty years ago, a battle is raging between the economic and sports-supporting factions. The economic rationalists see expensive factory racing as a large expense with small returns, while the sports enthusiasts argue that racing brings benefits in terms of public relations and advertising, as well as winning hearts and minds.

While the Superbike racing program continued on a small scale for a few more years, without a street-legal production partner, racing was pointless. Only 50 street-legal bikes were built, but after the VR1000 fizzled out, Harley applied much of what it had learned to the 2002 VRSCA V-Rod.

The VR1000 died mysteriously, but more than thirty years later, many now view Harley’s entry into the Superbike line as a missed opportunity.

1994 Harley-Davidson VR1000 Specifications