Photo: Mecum
Historically, Harley-Davidson is one of just two bike makers (the other being Indian) to have survived the Great Depression, and despite the many product and corporate mistakes made since that time, it endures to this day. If it weren’t for World War II though, history might have been entirely different.
For all intents and purposes, Harley was the main supplier of motorcycles for the American Army during the war. WLA is how the two-wheeled, belligerent wonder was called, and it was made in huge numbers: depending on the source, anywhere between 70,000 and 90,000 were made and deployed on the battlefields of the world.
But the WLA was only the tip of the iceberg, as Harley, money-hungry and willing to help with the war effort as it was, tried its hand at some other things as well. Things like the TA knucklehead we have here.
The TA is, if you like, an evolution for military use of the already-introduced Servi-Car. A trike, by all intents and purposes, that could have been used by American and allied troops in circumstances a regular motorcycle might have found a bit difficult.
Using a knucklehead engine 68 cubic inches in displacement and tied to a three-speed transmission, the trike was meant as a workhorse operating away from the main roads, in challenging terrain and oftentimes under enemy fire.
Harley started development of this trike in the early years of the conflict, at a time when the military was still getting its bearings. Sadly for Harley, the same was true for a company called Willys-Overland, which eventually was tasked with making the mother of all off-road machines for war use, the military Jeep.
That meant the army favored four wheels over three, and Harley was left with just the 18 prototypes of the TA it made. We’re not sure what happened to most of them, but presently there are only seven known to still be around. And here’s one, probably the rarest wartime Harley in existence, listed for sale during the Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida, at the beginning of next year.
But the WLA was only the tip of the iceberg, as Harley, money-hungry and willing to help with the war effort as it was, tried its hand at some other things as well. Things like the TA knucklehead we have here.
The TA is, if you like, an evolution for military use of the already-introduced Servi-Car. A trike, by all intents and purposes, that could have been used by American and allied troops in circumstances a regular motorcycle might have found a bit difficult.
Using a knucklehead engine 68 cubic inches in displacement and tied to a three-speed transmission, the trike was meant as a workhorse operating away from the main roads, in challenging terrain and oftentimes under enemy fire.
Harley started development of this trike in the early years of the conflict, at a time when the military was still getting its bearings. Sadly for Harley, the same was true for a company called Willys-Overland, which eventually was tasked with making the mother of all off-road machines for war use, the military Jeep.
That meant the army favored four wheels over three, and Harley was left with just the 18 prototypes of the TA it made. We’re not sure what happened to most of them, but presently there are only seven known to still be around. And here’s one, probably the rarest wartime Harley in existence, listed for sale during the Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida, at the beginning of next year.
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