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The Harley-Davidson WLA is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was produced to US Army specifications in the years during and around World War II. It was based on an existing civilian model, the WL , and is of the 45 solo type, so called due to its 45-cubic-inch (740 cm 3 ) engine displacement and single-rider design.
During World War II, the US Army requested experimental motorcycle designs suitable for desert fighting [1] and offered Indian $350,000 in exchange for 1,000 shaft-drive, side-valve, twin-cylinder test motorcycles. In response to this request, Indian designed and built the 841 (8 for the new engine design and 41 for the year).
Copy of DKW RT 125 given to Harley-Davidson as war reparations. More than ten thousand were sold in the first year of production. Model 165 165 cc (10.1 cu in) two-stroke single 1953–1959 Replacement for the Model 125, with larger engine. Hummer 125 cc (7.6 cu in) two-stroke single 1955–1959
Harley-Davidson XA opposed-twin engine runs 100 °F (38 °C) cooler than a V-twin. [4]During WWII, the U.S. Army asked Harley-Davidson to design a specification of a motorcycle much like the BMWs used by German forces, with shaft drive, a boxer engine, and several other features that made the BMWs exceptionally reliable and low-maintenance machines.
As part of war reparations, Harley-Davidson acquired the design of a small German motorcycle, the DKW RT 125, which they adapted, manufactured, and sold from 1948 to 1966. [46] Various models were made, including the Hummer from 1955 to 1959, but they are all colloquially referred to as "Hummers" at present. [47]
The US Army entered the war in 1917, and their messengers were equipped principally with Indian and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. A September 1914 account states that French despatch riders, like the British, are equipped with revolvers, whereas their German counterparts are equipped with Mausers. [6] An Indian dispatch rider in Cyprus, 3 March 1942
The Harley-Davidson RL 45 is a model of the R-series range produced from 1932 to 1936, preceded by the DL range (1929–1931), which was Harley-Davidson's first 45 cubic-inch and first flathead V-twin motorcycle, and succeeded in 1937 by the WL. The R-series range included 45-solo, R, RL and RLD models.
It was founded in 1983 by ex-Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell. [1] Harley-Davidson acquired 49 percent of Buell in 1993, and Buell became a wholly owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson by 2003. [2] On November 17, 2006, Buell announced that it had produced and shipped its 100,000th motorcycle. [3]