The Horizontal Harley 

Every time your talk about a bike I'm Blown away. Thank you.

I can’t believe Harley didn’t give these a longer production run.

My wife and I take the 720 mile motorcycle ride to Maggie valley every year to visit your museum. I notice something different every time we have visited. Awesome place and we love the fact that your anniversary is on the 4th of July. Keep up the great tradition of motorcycles.

Part of what is not being told here is how HD came up with this machine. In 1939 the Germans and Russians signed a nonaggression pact. Part of this pact was the receipt of military technology in the form of blueprints and plans. Included in this package was the plans for the BMW R71 750cc opposed twin flathead since the German army considered it obsolete. (Production was discontinued in 1941 in favour of the BMW R75) When the American Government requested HD and Indian to build opposed twins, the Russians volunteered the plans as part of the lend lease program for the supply of arms and materials with the idea being "why reinvent the wheel". (Those same plans were used to build the Ural, the early Dnieper, and the Chang Jiang) HD used these plans to design and build the XA and if you look at the BMW you can easily see the resemblance between the two. 500 XA's were shipped overseas with the remaining XA's being left in the US. One of the biggest problems with the XA was in sandy conditions, and the desert has a fair amount of sand, was the HD designed wheels. The bearing seals were so poorly designed (they were just grease impregnated felt rings) that the grease in the bearing acted like a sand magnet and the bearings were ruined in very short order. Another problem was when seen in silhouette, like when riding towards you in the early morning or evening sun, American DR riders were sometimes shot at by their own troops. Seems the boys could see those opposed jugs fairly well. THe exchange of technology in the pre-war years was fairly common. HD sold their factory in Japan in 1934 and the new owners continued to build HD 45's under licence. The Japanese military used 45's through out their war efforts. After the war the factory was bombed out and the company sold to a new owner, Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Bet you will never guess what Kawasaki did with it........ Something else that many don't take note of. All HD products made during the war years are 1942. There are no 43 to 45 models. So if someone tries to sell you a 1944 WL, WLA, or WLC you might want to pass on it. Those numbers simply don't exist and the cases have probably been restamped over another serial number most likely from a post war civilian bike that may have been "appropriated".

I've been riding bikes for 48 years and I never knew Harley produced this machine! Fascinating story!

Looks and sounds like a Beemer, complete with the side step kick start

Super Kool bike. Got to hang with Dale for the day and he let me ride that bike out of the Museum and around the parking lot. A memory I will never forget!

Harley Beemerson ?

It’s crazy how, even after 80 years, Harley still has that quintessential exhaust note that never gets old

A friend of mine's dad ran the Chicago Harley dealership back in the thirties, he had fifteen or so bikes in the basement including a 39 Zundap flat twin looking almost identical to these Harley's. He had about forty or fifty rare bikes between his home shop, the dealership, and his basement, some of the nicest bikes I've ever seen. He's the reason I've been riding since the early seventies. Love this channel!

A big compliment to the commentator! Finally a speaker who speaks so clearly that even for me as a European he can be understood easily and completely! 👍👍👍 Subscribed.

Man, I've had a lot of different Harleys over the past 60 years, including several WWII models. But one I never seen for sale anywhere, or even sitting in anyone's bike shed, is the XA.

I have heard of these bikes, but first time I ever saw one. I like it.

I scored a XA springer years ago. Gives my panhead a subtly unique stance.

I had a friend that had a Harley that had a single cylinder that was pointed horizontally forward i think it was a 250. It was a beast.

I learn something new every time I watch one of these WTT videos. I had no idea Harley made a boxer style engine.

Thanks Matt....your the teacher that allways has my ear.....what a great new discovery for myself...i never new HARLEY did this with their Motors.....YOU are....the teacher...id give an apple too out of RESPECT......👍

Cool I'd heard of the shaft drives, a few of them still being ridden in the Philippines when I was stationed there in the eighties.

What a great sounding engine

Last year (2019) I found a Russian Dnepr Soviet Union military sidecar motorcycle at an estate auction parked in the barn. It looks almost exactly like that XA. People even ask me if it's a Harley. It was made after WWII in Kiev Ukraine so it has overhead valves instead of flat heads like the XA. It was purchased after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, rode two days, and then the owner got tossed off it and injured. After that the bike was parked in that barn until I purchased it at the auction. Parts are easy to order and get from Kiev but take a month to arrive. I restored it to perfect operating condition, insured and registered it, and ride it like it should be. Sidecar motorcycles are not for everyone but I love it! It's an acquired taste. Once you get the hang of driving one it's all you want to do.

That's one that Harley should bring back today! Beyond cool!

When things were built much better ! Great looking bikes 👌 that bike being as old as it is fired right up ! Impressive 👍

Just discovered this channel Appreciate the shared history and details!

If you listen really closely, you can hear Mike Wolfe shedding tears over wanting to find this bike in a barn somewhere. LOL! You know that he is.

Civilian version looks damn cool and sounds good too. BMW tried with their retro style bike but BOMBED big time. Looks like hell. If ya want to go fast, by a crotch rocket. This would be great for where I live. Very cool stuff. Thanks a bunch.

I would love to own one of those, fantastic motorcycle. Ocala Fl.

While on a one year assignment to northern Egypt in 1994, I made it my mission to find and repatriate an early Harley. Living in Cairo, you'd see them from time to time being used as random task work vehicles, mostly WL's. I found a few but could never come to terms to seal the deal on a purchase (I now realize I was under valuing them). The two that I should have bought was a WL that at the time I discovered it, it probably had been sitting for 30-40 years. The other one, that was actually priced rather cheap was what I later learned was an XA. When my guide told me he had found a 2-cylinder Harley to show me, I was anticipating a V-twin. When I ultimately saw it, I discounted it entirely from consideration because I didn't think it was a Harley. I didn't give it much more than a glance and passed on it. Fast forward to 1998, I had subsequently learned about the Harley XA and on a second assignment to Egypt I went to pursue either the previous WL and/or the XA; both were gone of course.

That sounded incredible!!

That opposed engine is really smooth and sounds great.

Man ill bet you know more about Harley Davidsons then Harley itself, love your vlogs.

Why in world didn't HD keep this model going, and develop it to the potential that it could have become ?... It seems brilliant.

I have an original technical manual for these dated 25 September 1942. It has this bike, the WLA, the Indian Scout military, and the Indian shaft drive bikes built for this same study, the Indian shaft drive is basically a Scout engine turned sideways in the fashion of a Moto Guzzi to run the shaft drive. The manual has all the exploded views for all 4 of the bikes individual components and all the technical data such as torque specs, clearances etc etc, lucked out and got it out of a box of military manuals that a woman brought into a local military surplus gun shop after her dad, a WW2 vet, passed away.

that is very cool. I have seen one years ago in a magazine. Good to know there are some surviving bikes

Always learn something every time I watch a video 😮

First I've ever seen. Love it! Reminds me of a Rokon all grown up!

Saw one of those run when I was there last year! So cool

so basically an American BMW R72

Awesome bikes! I was praying you were going to start one of them! Thanks!

Thanks a lot. Beautiful motorcycle, it sounds great!

The military gave BMW R71’s to HD and Indian. Although the copy was good, the Jeep was found to be a more practical vehicle. Best Harley ever built

Good looking and nice sounding!

I have seen films of American GIs on opposed cylinder bikes from WWII and always thought to myself, "Hey, they captured those bikes from the Germans and re-painted them for service." Now, the mystery is solved! I never knew HD had this model design and I thought I knew alot about the company. Boy, was I wrong!

thanks , recently sub,d and enjoying the different variety of bikes reviewed, i,m a rider of many years from Australia.

The way I always heard the story was that the Army wanted this bike built. Harley didn't want any part of it and killed it as fast as they could. Notice how little of this bikes technology carried into future Harley models. It's more or less a copy of a BMW R71. It's a design that the Soviets built on captured German equipment, the IMZ M72. The Chinese copied the Soviets and built the CJ 750. You can still buy one from Chang Jiang I think. They imported a bunch of them with sidecars a few years back. They were very cheap at the time. I test drove one when I was thinking of getting a Ural.

I never knew that Harley Davison made a motorcycle with opposing engines, so cool

In my opinion this is by far the coolest Channel on RU-vid so you just keep them coming bro I'm learning a lot of obscure things about things I thought I knew a lot about

I absolutely need one of these.

that's not their first opposed twin. They did one, as did Indian, to compete with Douglass back in the teens. That English bike was very popular and known for dependability.

Wow I never knew this even existed!

Thanks Matt

Excellent place to visit. Don't pass up a chance, great people there too.

A well sorted flat twin can be started with your hand pushing down on the starter. Won lots of bar bets with an R60/2

That is one sweet bike right there 👌

I'm speechless! Never heard of it and I'm into Harleys!

Love Wheels Thru Time! Thanks Dale

I rode on one in 1964 or 5. My uncle owned it and it was cool. It was as smooth as you would expect. It was not all that fast, maybe 70 as I remember. Parts were not available through Harley for it. I never got to see the Indian that also built a shaft driven motorcycle for the Army, it used a 45" scout motor turned across the frame. I have seen them in pictures and here on RU-vid they are even rarer than the Harley, look like a Moto Guzzi.

GOOD INFO!!!!

I owned a series 1 XA and it was too short for me to ride because I have long legs and did not have enough room between the cylinder and the shifter. The series 2 were longer to address that issue.

That's really super cool stuff... Love my Harley history.....

Going to get to Maggie Valley later this year. Thanks for the awesome videos😎

While the XA did break a lot of new ground, it is NOT correct to say it was the company's first opposed twin. That bike was the 1919-23 Model W Sport Twin. The Model W was an opposed twin along the lines of the early Douglas motorcycles, where the cylinders were in line with the frame, instead of transversely mounted. Kind of surprised that WTT doesn't have a Model W somewhere in the collection.

What a cool bike, never would have guessed

A fellow rode one of these to one of our rallies in the 2000's

good job. history...enjoyed,,

Barber Motorsports museum in Leads Alabama has two or three of the Harley XA bikes. I’ve often wondered about the back story on this rare model of Harley Davidson.

Would be nice for HD to re-release the XA as an Anniversary model or something.

Totally Cool,would love to ride one !!

AWESOME MOTORCYCLE'S....👍👍🇺🇸

The H-D XA was a retro-engineered BMW R71, a model not used by the Wehrmacht.They bought and dismantled the beemer and converted metric into inches. For 1943 they moved the motor further back. It was produced for two years, some 1101 made in total, but the Army prefered the 1/4 ton GP and the cheaper WLA while the North-African campaign came to a close. It wasn't Harley's first horizontal twin; during the early twenties H-D made the WSport, just like a Douglas.

NICE!!! I want one.

Excellent! Thanks for posting.

Great place, been there, got the t shirt, but it wore out. Gotta go get a new one. Thanks for the video.

Damn! I never knew that shaft drive tech came out so long ago 🤯

I was just thinking'must the first with back springs',when he said,,,,,,,,,,yep. Thanks for the vid.

Actually they were a nut and bolt copy, SAE vs Metric, of the German Military machine. Were quite advanced when compared to a normal Harley.

Great video Ben Harley man for years the shame look like they went backwards cylinders in the Wind Drive Shaft no chain or belt LOL

Nice tyres.

The opposed engine is superior in every way, and has a lot more cooling, without any of the longitudinal vibrations of the Harley engine which shakes the frame to death. Harley has been the worst company in history, because they refuse to build anything other than single cylinder and shared crank pin, v-twin engines. An inline 4 cylinder or an opposed twin, would create a whole new market for them. Seeing this bike makes me want one. I wish they could remake this bike, as a scrambler. It just looks amazing. Thank you for this great video!

The rarest of the rare. Cool tool for sure 👍 If you are riding the Cannon ball run this September stop by South Texas Motorcycle Museum in Edinburg Texas. Open Saturday and Sunday 12-5? Ride Boldly Ride.

I helped friend of mine pull one out of the knee high grass and saplings growing through it down in Florida. It was our understanding the aluminum gear on the oil pump is what led to it's demise. Still have a picture of it somewhere. Both Dave and the XA are long gone but the memory is still there. Thanks for the ride back in time.

That bike in the US 1945-1946 would have been the sweetest bike on the road, that’s cool 🤤

My first car was a motorcycle. It was a love hate relationship of having a biker dad. Lol! All the kids think your cool riding a motorcycle to school but man does it suck when it's cold and raining! I've owned a few over the years and never stopped riding. From 16 yrs old to 46.

Another treat!

sounds great

Cool. I have a similar motorcycle, IMZ M-62, 1962

I wish my 1969 XLCH started that easy. It takes some doing to get that iron head to fire over.

I love your passion

XA - Experimental Army. Maybe if the oil pump drive gear had been made of something other than aluminum it would have gone somewhere. Helped a friend try to restore one back in the early eighties. Never finished.

Great stuff. Thanks for the very interesting history lesson.

It appears to be a "2 stroke". If so, I believe that I would certainly mention it next time. What a neat concept.

Nice, dam just an amazing collection. Cheer's H.L.

Great video

THANKS

That was truly interesting. Pity they didn't develop the concept.

The green one would be a pig on those tractor tyres. I have never heard of an opposed engine on a Harley, as you say a very rare piece

Legend says -HD had to work on captured and siphoned Zundapps -

wow , thanks so much

This is very nice. 😍

Dude you have one of the coolest freaking job and I'm sure its your whole life. Damn what an awsome thing to do?!?! Inspect,work on and discuss the coolest motorcycles in the world!!!!

My second motorcycle was an Indian horizontal with a four-speed foot shift and a shaft drive I believe they were made at the same time as the Harley to be used in the war in the desert against Rommel can you do a show on one of them?