Harley Davidson XA 1942

1942 Harley Davidson XA, ONLY shaft driven Harley model. This one is under construction. Just over 1100 were made and each was a proto type throughout certain s/n's lots. Some were sprayed desert sand color for the North African war at the time but later all were done in olive drab. Mine has the original olive drab and also signs of the desert sand color as well. The US Army wanted a bike that would withstand the desert elements, and since the Germans had low maintenance on their BMW's the US wanted a similar bike. It is said the US copied the BMW design with heads out in the open air to keep the bike cooled better than the familiar V Twinn, drive shaft so no worries with chain driven in the sand. By the time the XA was ready for combat the war was over. Continuation of XA production was halted then as it was too expensive to build and at that time the Jeep came into play.
Original parts are hard to find and $! I have collected about 90% of original parts for it and slowly putting it together. You can look up the XA online for more history, etc. Pretty cool bike for its time.