Author Archives: Panhead Jim

Police Training California Style

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In the 1960′s, Burbank, CA motorcycle policeman would train monthly at the Lockheed Air Terminal in order to insure that they were ready for whatever might befall them while on patrol.  Leaving their uniforms behind and dressing in street clothes, they would practice a number of maneuvers including riding across a wooden seesaw and jumping […]

Some Assembly Required

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Chances are if you served in any part of the US Military’s supply chain during WWII, you saw a lot of wooden crates being shipped in from Milwaukee.  During the war, Harley-Davidson built more than 60,000 WLA’s, so the sight of a Harley-Davidson being unpacked would have been fairly common at US and Allied bases […]

Hill Climbing Takes the US By Storm

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At the end of WWI, a new motorsport was sweeping across the US.  Based on the simple concept of riding a motorcycle to the top of a steep hill, hill climbing was so popular that clips from recent races were shown at movies theaters as part of the preview reel throughout the 1920′s and 1930′s. […]

Police Stunt Riders in Sydney, Australia

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This group of photos was taken in the 1930′s down under in Sydney, Australia.  The police stunt team was riding a pre -1935 Harley-Davidson V-series with attached sidecar.  You’ll note that in a few of the images, the sidecar is missing it’s wheel.  This was no accident and was a popular stunt of that period. […]

Police Stunt Riders in Sydney, Australia

Stunt01

This group of photos was taken in the 1930′s down under in Sydney, Australia.  The police stunt team was riding a pre -1935 Harley-Davidson V-series with attached sidecar.  You’ll note that in a few of the images, the sidecar is missing it’s wheel.  This was no accident and was a popular stunt of that period. […]