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| Diversions, Successful and Otherwise |
| Clement Salvadori |
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American Rider
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Harley-Davidson is noted for its line of superb V-twin-powered two-wheelers, from the 54-cubic-inch 883 Sportster to the 96-inch Big Twins—even bigger if you’d like a Screamin’ Eagle CVO. Of course, every Harley enthusiast knows that the company began 105 years ago producing a single-cylinder model, popularly known as the Silent Grey Fellow, while the successful V-twin did not appear until 1909.
Over the last 100 years there have been a lot of minor diversions along the Harley engineering department’s way, everything from flat twins to in-line fours to V-fours, sidecars to scooters to golf carts to snowmobiles. Probably the most successful was the 1933 Servi-Car, the three-wheeler powered by the old 45-inch flathead engine that remained in the company line through 1973. Now the rumor (well-established) has it that Harley is getting back into the three-wheeled business with a deal involving Lehman Trikes Inc.
But let us go back to those halcyon days just before Henry Ford pulled the pavement out from under the motorcycle world with his cheap Model T car. Back in the early ’teens America was just beginning to get motorized, and horses were still favored. But horses had to be fed and watered even when they weren’t being worked, plus they left an awful mess on the city streets. For urban businesses, a vehicle with some carrying capacity was the trick. To that end Harley came along with both the sidecar and the Forecar.
The first sidecars were offered in 1914, with the actual cars being built by a firm called Rogers. This third-wheel concept was exceptionally useful due to the fact that any sort of box could be fitted, whether to hold passengers, groceries, or plumbing gear. These commercial boxes were called “Package Trucks”, and Harley would provide either a 45- or 56-inch wheelbase, depending on the size of the needed box and, presumably, the amount of traffic in the city. Package trucks are long gone, but Harley still sells sidecars, and has been making its own since 1925. That diversion was a success.
The 1913 Forecar Delivery Van, Model 9G, was a different, and much clumsier, beast, having a big box on two wheels instead of the one front wheel. When you turned the handlebar, you had to turn the entire box, which required both muscle and slow speeds. The Forecar was on sale only four years, the last one being produced in 1916.
World War I came and went, and in the aftermath Harley decided to drop the 6-horsepower (factory rating) 30-inch single in favor of a new Sport model powered by a 6-horsepower flat twin, with the cylinders laid fore-and-aft in the frame, but the price was only five percent less than that of a 61-cubic-inch V-twin. This was followed by a new 37-inch single in 1921, again with a price that kept it close to the Big Twins. This single evolved into 30.5- and 21-inch versions. One place where this new single excelled was in racing, and the Peashooter, as the competition model was called, brought home a lot of trophies.
In 1925 Harley hired Everett DeLong, who had worked with the Henderson company, to develop a longitudinal four-in-line motor that could use stock Harley chassis parts. A lot of work went into this, but when the decision to produce the machine came up before the board, it was thumbs down due to costs.
A neat diversion in the 1920s was the arrival of Harley-Davidson bicycles in the Harley showrooms. These were actually made by the Davis Sewing Machine Company under the Harley aegis. This idea was born of great marketing as a lot of the fellows coming into the showrooms were men with children, especially boys, and while Dad was dickering for a new JD, the boys were seeing the bikes. In theory, if the kid is riding a Harley bicycle when he’s 10, why not a Harley motorcycle when he’s 20? Good marketing.
During Depression time, Harley pulled in the old belt a few notches, sold quite a few Servi-Cars, and then got on a wartime assembly routine. The old WLA 45 was the prime product, but the company also developed a 45-inch XA BMW clone with horizontally opposed cylinders specifically for use in the desert. However, by that time the General Purpose “jeep” was taking over, relegating motorcycles to a minor role in the war, and the XA to a footnote in history.
For 1948 Harley developed a genuinely cheap motorcycle based on the German DKW, the design of which was part of the war reparations scheme. The simple little S125 two-stroke, Harley’s first ring-ding, sold for $325, a good deal less than the $735 tag on a 61 knucklehead. That little diversion had a pretty long and profitable life, ending with the 175 Bobcat in 1967. A success.
Far less profitable was the Topper scooter. In the 1950s scooters were the rage, and Harley belatedly decided to get on the bandwagon—except by 1960 the hoopla was pretty much over. That was the same year that Harley bought into the Italian Aermacchi company, in an effort to have some inexpensive and smallish motorcycles on the showroom floor.
Next diversion was the X1000 of 1966, powered by a transverse in-line four, a very forward-thinking piece of engineering that looked a bit like the MV Agusta of the era. The decision was not to build due to its un-Harleyish appearance, but one can imagine where the world might be if Harley had beaten Honda to the punch. The X1000 was followed 15 years later by the Nova, a liquid-cooled 60-degree DOHC V-four that actually was on the road in a half-dozen prototypes. This development was a last chapter of the AMF involvement in H-D, and when Harley went independent in 1981, it had enough money to develop the Evo, or the Nova. The correct choice was made but we can see the Nova heritage in the V-Rod of 2001.
The next big diversion was following the company’s going public in 1986, and being flooded with cash. Deciding to expand into other motorized entertainments, Harley delved into the motorhome world by buying Holiday Rambler, then England’s dual-purpose motorcycle, the Rotax-powered Armstrong MT500, and then the little known, or understood, Tri-Hawk venture, a three-wheeled car. It would be interesting to find out who was making these purchasing decisions. Holiday Rambler was sold off in ’96, undoubtedly at a profit. The Armstrong was kept going for a few years, but retired when the assembly line proved to be more profitable building CVO models. Despite its supurb handling, the Tri-Hawk, a Citroen flat-four auto engine-powered sports vehicle with two wheels up front, one in the back, and side-by-side seating, has disappeared without an obituary. I presume it lies pigeonholed in some old roll-top desk at 3700 West Juneau Avenue.
Which brings us back to the hook-up between Lehman and Harley. No word has leaked out since that original news release, dated 1 September 2006, and mum’s the word as to what might be happening in 2008. As it did with the V-Rod, H-D does not like to natter on about possible projects, but prefers to have the finished product in hand before any announcements are made. All this said, I am willing to lay a small bet that before the year is out we will see a trike appearing, probably with a sophisticated lean factor built into the chassis and Harley-Davidson writ on the gas tank.
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