1978 HD XLCR Cafe Racer. October 2008

As director of styling at Harley-Davidson at the time, Wille G's first effort was the FX Super Glide, which featured a Sportster front end, streamlined bodywork and bobtail seat.

It wasn't particularly popular, but changes were rapid. With the bobtail seat replaced in 1972, the large fuel tank giving way to a smaller one in '73, the evolution of the FX was under way.

In 1977 Willie G designed the XLCR Cafe Racer, a contender in the sportsbike market. With its bikini fairing, racy seat/tail section, low bars and black on black motif, the XLCR struck a dramatic pose. Despite looking and performing well - the XLCR was still not enough to win customers from the British twins or Japanese multis, and Sportster fans considered it a curiosity. It lasted only two years in production and today is a true collectors item.

The Siamese exhausts were claimed to produce an extra 5 horsepower, but for most that was not enough. The twin front & single rear discs were quite adequate in the stopping department, & there was the distinctive Harley exhaust note.

Despite a small production run (only 3,123 were made over two years) and limited popularity when new, today the '77-8 XLCR enjoys a strong enthusiast following that continues to this day, and they are getting harder to find as collectors snap them up for their rarity, curiosity value, or just as an investment.

When new, many of these bikes would have been trashed by back road racers, or on racetracks in the U.S, making the few remaining bikes highly sought after. This fine example of a '78 XLCR has been carefully restored by K&M Motorcycles in Adelaide, after having sat in a shed in Alice Springs for about 20 years. Fully rebuilt from the ground up for Clive, the owner of K&M, she is now reluctantly for sale.

If you're quick, you can snap her up for $24,000.

A rare piece of Harley history, the value of this immaculate XLCR can only appreciate over time.