Retro stylised image of an antique Harley-Davidson 42WLA Liberator motorbike, widely used in World War II.
One of only two US motorbike manufacturers to survive the Great Depression (the other being Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company), Harley-Davidson again produced large numbers of motorbikes for the US military during World War II and then resumed civilian production, with a series of large V-twin motorbikes that were successful both on race circuits and with private buyers.
On the eve of World War II, Harley-Davidson was already supplying the army with a military version of its 45 cubic inch (740 cm3) WL line, the WLA. In this case, the A stood for "Army". At the outbreak of war, the company, like most other manufacturing companies, switched to war work. About 90,000 military motorbikes were produced, mainly WLAs and WLCs (the Canadian version), many of which were delivered to the Allies.
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