Harley was clearly a better motorcycle for the military mission.
That conclusion notwithstanding, the Army could not buy as
many motorcycles as it needed from Harley-Davidson, so produc-
tion contracts went to both Harley and Indian.
The World War II military motorcycle mission
Unlike Germany, the U.S. Army did not intend to use its
motorcycles in combat. The Army was aware of Germany’s use
of motorcycle rifle companies as combat units, and at one
point it may have entertained similar thoughts for its military
motorcycles, but Army motorcycles were never intended to be
combat vehicles. The Army assigned motorcycles to its infantry
and armored divisions. In these units, motorcycles were primarily
used by couriers and messengers, but the infantry and armored
divisions also used motorcycles for reconnaissance. The speed,
agility and maneuverability of the Army’s Harley-Davidsons and
Indians made motorcycle-mounted scouting a natural use of the
machines. Armored and infantry divisions would typically have
200 motorcycles. Military police units used motorcycles for traffic
control and other police duties.
Harley and Indian military motorcycles
Harley-Davidson built four military motorcycles during the
war: the aforementioned WLA, the WLC (Canada’s version of the
WLA), the Knucklehead EL Overhead Valve model (small num-
bers were delivered to a few lucky soldiers) and the XA (an experi-
mental motorcycle based on a horizontally opposed flathead
twin, à la BMW). The WLA was the U.S. Army’s preferred military
Harley-Davidson, and Harley built lots of them. Harley-Davidson
sold 88,000 military motorcycles to the United States, England,
Canada, China, India and Russia. In addition to the 88,000 com-
plete military motorcycles, Harley built enough spare parts to
build 30,000 more motorcycles. Significantly, Harley continued to
build civilian models during the war.
Indian produced approximately 38,000 motorcycles during
World War II, and the company essentially devoted its entire
manufacturing capacity to military production. Indian made
almost no civilian motorcycles during the war (the company did
not even print a catalog in 1942), and it produced only a few
police motorcycles during that time. Although the U.S. Army
used the Model 741 during World War II, most of the military
motorcycles Indian manufactured went to the Allies (includ-
ing Great Britain, Canada, Poland, Australia and Russia). Like
Harley, Indian also built several military models during World
War II. These included the Model 741 you see here, the Chief (the
Military Chief was based on the 74-cubic-inch Police Chief), the
Model 640B (a detuned 45-cubic-inch V-twin based on Indian’s
civilian model), the M1 (a lightweight 221cc single intended to
serve with paratroopers, although there is no evidence it ever
did), and the Model 841 (the Model 841 was Indian’s answer
to the Army request to emulate the BMW; it used shaft drive
and a transverse 90-degree V-twin, like Moto Guzzi does today).