Photo courtesy Indian Motorcycle
Above : The second World War was a boon to Indian and H- D . Military production , as seen here at the Indian factory , tripling the amount of motorcycles made compared to production during the peaceful 1930s . Right : Indian developed the model 841 for military use during the war . Its 90- degree V- Twin was set across the frame , a formula adopted in the 1960s by Moto Guzzi . Note its shaft drive , a requirement from the War Department for experimental military models so they could handle harsh battlefield conditions .
authorized 1,000 experimental examples from both companies .
Harley cranked out more than 80,000 45ci WLAs and also developed the military XA . It mimicked BMW ’ s excellent BMW R71 / 75 with cylinders opposed across the frame in a “ boxer ” layout and was H- D ’ s first and only shaft- driven motorcycle .
Indian cleverly came up with what might have been the inspiration for the post- war Moto Guzzi : the 841 , a
90- degree V- Twin set across the frame . Both H-D and Indian used shaft drive on their experimental machines at the request of the War Department .
Worn- out tooling from the 1920s was a problem for both
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