Photo: Mecum
Back in 1941, America was about to be drawn into the Second World War by the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. It meant that soon all of the nation’s vehicle production capabilities would be focused on the war effort, and that left little room for civilian versions of cars and bikes.
Those with an eye for such things have quickly got hold of the motorcycles and cars whose value was more than certain to skyrocket after the war ended, and for the great part took good care of them. Other such machines made the trip through time in a forgotten state, but made it nonetheless.
We’re not sure which category this 1944 Harley-Davidson FL is part of, but here it is, just as shiny as when it was new.
This particular bike was made at a time when the war was at its peak, and the demands of the military were great, so it’s part of a run of just 172 FLs manufactured that year. It somehow landed in the Vintage Motorcycles Northwest’s garages and was restored in 1989, surfacing at the Mecum Las Vegas auction where it got sold at the end of last month for $143,000.
Considering how the bike’s initial price was just $465 ($6,952 adjusted for inflation), that would be 308 times over the MSRP.
The bike is wrapped in a gray paint that makes it stand out in the crowd of surviving FLs from that era, it packs the restored 74ci knucklehead engine paired to a four-speed transmission, and sports serial number 44FL1332.
The price it went for secured this bike the ninth place in the top ten best-selling motorcycles list on the floor of the Vegas show, alongside two other FL’s, one from 1946 and one from 1947, that went for $220,000 and $192,500, respectively.
We’re not sure which category this 1944 Harley-Davidson FL is part of, but here it is, just as shiny as when it was new.
This particular bike was made at a time when the war was at its peak, and the demands of the military were great, so it’s part of a run of just 172 FLs manufactured that year. It somehow landed in the Vintage Motorcycles Northwest’s garages and was restored in 1989, surfacing at the Mecum Las Vegas auction where it got sold at the end of last month for $143,000.
Considering how the bike’s initial price was just $465 ($6,952 adjusted for inflation), that would be 308 times over the MSRP.
The bike is wrapped in a gray paint that makes it stand out in the crowd of surviving FLs from that era, it packs the restored 74ci knucklehead engine paired to a four-speed transmission, and sports serial number 44FL1332.
The price it went for secured this bike the ninth place in the top ten best-selling motorcycles list on the floor of the Vegas show, alongside two other FL’s, one from 1946 and one from 1947, that went for $220,000 and $192,500, respectively.
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