Author Archives: Panhead Jim

Harleys at Work: Ice Cream Delivery Vehicle

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You may have seen the Ice Cream Man From Hell selling his frozen wares from the back of his ’71 Servi-Car, but he wasn’t the first to use a Harley-Davidson to peddle ice cream.  In the 1920′s and 1930′s Harleys were often seen delivering all sorts of things, including ice cream, thanks to an option […]

The Two Knucklehead Trikes of WWII

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During WWII, Harley-Davidson made numerous prototypes hoping to land one of the many lucrative military contracts available to help the war effort.  They hit a home run with the WLA model and the dream of another huge contract kept HD engineers busy throughout the war.  One complaint that they US military had with motorcycles was […]

Harleys at Work: The Topper H and Utility Box

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  Harley-Davidson released the Topper in 1960.  It was powered by a single cylinder two-stroke engine mounted horizontally in the frame.  The 10 cubic inch powerplant could produce up to 9 horsepower using a high compression head and larger carburetor available only the “H” models.  It’s top speed was 60 miles per hour and boasted […]

Half Harley, Half Tank

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In the 1930′s, the Danish Army wanted to increase the range and mobility of their soldiers by purchasing armored cars.  Unfortunately, the Danish government was still reeling from the expenses of WWI and was not about to spend any more money on new military purchases.  In order to satisfy the government’s demands, the Army compromised […]

Harleys at Work: Mail Delivery Vehicle

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Less than 10 years after the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle had been produced, the engineers at the Motor Company were hard at work designing a new commercial vehicle.  They wanted to build something that had a larger payload, was easy to operate and could be targeted to some of their existing commercial accounts.  The result was […]

Harley Hits the Beach in ’33

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In 1933, Harley-Davidson designers created a one year only paint job which is arguably the best that has ever come out of Milwaukee.  Even back in the 30′s, Harley knew that nothing looks better on a motorcycle than beautiful women and if you throw in some sand and sun, you’ve got a recipe for success. […]

Harleys At Work: Coca-Cola Delivery Vehicle

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Pictured above is a 1930, Harley-Davidson V-series motorcycle with a custom package truck which could hold 288 bottles of Coca-Cola.  This was most likely a VLC model, with the “C” denoting commercial.  It would have featured a 74 cubic inch sidevalve engine with low compression heads mated to a three-speed transmission.  The dual headlights had […]