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US Topper goes Down Under: Dale Huggard has landed a rare piece of Harley-Davidson history
Dale Huggard keeps his friends close but his motorbike closer.
Upon entering his Ardmona home, Mr Huggard points to the Harley-Davidson Topper glazed in red, though there’s no need to indicate – the bike is the centrepiece of the living room.
“It’s a conversation piece that one, something a bit different,” he said.
By different, he means unique.
Harley-Davidson has only produced one scooter (the Topper) in its entire history.
In the early 1960s, American culture was saturated with scooter mania, from Vespas to little Hondas, and Harley-Davidson decided to jump on the bandwagon in hopes of nabbing a piece of the lucrative market.
The Topper was designed with a small 165cc DKW reed-valve two-stroke engine and a lawnmower-style pull start.
What made the vehicle even more distinct was its workshop of origin.
Instead of being manufactured overseas by Italian-brand Aeromachi – as Harley-Davidson often did with its smaller bikes – the Topper is one of the few bikes made in their Milwaukee Factory in Wisconsin.
“But they kind of did it too late,” Mr Huggard said.
“By the time they developed it and got it produced, they missed the scooter craze, and then people were going back to bigger bikes again.
“For that reason, they only did it for about three or four years, and that was it.”
In general, there are not many of these Toppers around.
And on Australian soil, the Harley-Davidson Topper is one of only two Mr Huggard is aware of.
So how did such a unique piece of engine-manship go from the States to an Aussie’s living room?
As the former part-owner of Shepparton’s Harley Davidson dealership, Mr Huggard was privy to acquiring all things throttle.
“A guy that I used to buy quite a few parts from, he was up in NSW at a shop called Pacific HD Trading Company, and he dealt a lot in really old motorbikes, like real early Harley stuff,” Mr Huggard said.
“What he used to do was go over to the states, buy a complete shop from guys going out of business, buy up all their stock, stack it in shipping containers, bring it back to Australia and sell it.”
Mr Huggard wanted something different, a two-wheeled fix, and asked his dealer to keep an eye out for the elusive Topper.
Eventually, he came across one, and Mr Huggard restored it.
“That was about 30 years ago, and it’s been sitting around ever since,” he said.
It’s the nucleus of not only his home but also his life.
Mr Huggard bought his first bike at age nine, and today, he owns a passel of motorcycles, cars, hot rods and the like.
The warm, familiar smells of gasoline, the smoke and dust, and the exhilaration that comes from every mile has always felt like home for him.
So it’s no surprise the unique Topper has made its way quite literally into his home, and there it will stay.