Two-wheeled warriors: Military Motorcycles 

My high school principal, MR. Gosling, served in the British Army, Riding his motorcycles across North Africa. He immigrated to America after the war, went to Life Bible College, met his wife, and they both became missionaries in South America for over 30 years. He then became an assistant pastor at our church/school in the early 80’s. He retired and him and his lovely little wife lived out their lives in Helendale, CA. A very fine man who told incredible tales of cruising across Africa at 70 MPH jumping small ravines, and I, at the age of 16, 17 and 18 wish I had recorded them.

About ten years ago a professor in New Mexico passed away, in his garage was a WW2 Harley still in the crate. I worked with the professor's younger brother, they were stunned to find out it's value. 🤠

The WWII German BMW R-75 lives on today as the Ural sidecar motorcycle imported from Russia into the USA. Enhanced with modern parts and technology it is an impressive machine.

Motorcycles aside... Bicycles are an underrated technology that have got many people out of a pickle. They are the most flexible form of transport that can be used for leisure, exercise, commuting or just for when your car has a flat. It requires little training, no license and the only fuel is what you need to eat.

Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Great motorcycle scene!

I found it interesting how @3:10 the sidecar passenger and his machine gun are protected by armor yet the driver is unprotected!

A former coworker was USAF NCO on Cyprus when the Greeks and Turks decided to fight over the island. They were on lockdown for weeks with nobody leaving the base. The base had a significant number of motorcyclists who had formed a club. As they got stir crazy, they organized a bike ride to a beach. The day before my coworker was summoned to the CO’s office. As he approached he noticed more and more of the club members heading the same direction. As they entered the CO’s building, the highest ranking officer in the motorcycle club was directing them to the meeting room. Many of the Enlisted personnel were expecting to be dressed down. When the CO entered he said the trip was on. They were to collect intel about the citizens attitudes towards the US and its personnel. The next morning they took off on their ride stopping in multiple towns to interact with the locals who were just as nice as before the hostilities had started. Mission accomplished and another usage of motorcycles by the USA’s military.

Growing up in the 70's and loving war history, I bought a Matchbox police motorcycle that fit a WW2 figure from a Willys jeep Snap Tite plastic model. Of course, he was a Steve McQueen type figure, lol.

Very interesting episode. Not many people realize the importance of small motorized vehicles in the military. My dad was a ETO veteran in the 99th Infantry Division in Europe. He had assumed the position of company commander during the Battle of the Bulge. He was a 1st Lieutenant and didn’t get his captain’s bars until just before the end of the war. The 99th was northeast of Munich when the war ended. In the next few weeks, some soldiers were rotated home to the US based on the Army’s point system. Dad was short a few points so he stayed in Germany under the Army of Occupation. After a short period of time, he was assigned as company commander of a provisional MP company being organized to provide security during the upcoming war trials in Nuremberg. A few days after arriving in Nuremberg, Dad found a recently uncrated Harley-Davidson motorcycle marked “US Army Air Force”. He took a look at it, it was full of gas and the keys were in it. So he decided “to borrow it”. For the next few months, Dad learned his way around Nuremberg with his “borrowed” Harley. The War Trials were just getting under way in late November of 1945. Dad’s orders had come through and he was being sent home in early December of ‘45. As his time to ship out approached, Dad drove the Harley back to where he had found it. He filled it with gas, parked it with the keys in it and wrote a short note explaining his “borrowing of the Harley”. There was so much American equipment coming in to Europe after the war ended, that the Quartermaster Corps had huge stockpiles of vehicles and other equipment. Even though the war was over, materials that were in “the pipeline” between the US and the ETO continued to be shipped until arrangements were made to shift material to the Pacific. So somewhere in Nuremberg, Germany in December of 1945, there was a brand new Harley-Davidson motorcycle with just a few miles on it, waiting for the next rider. I’ve thought of that Harley many times, wondering what ever happened to it. Thanks for a great episode that brought back many memories.

My Grandfather was a motorcycle messenger for Poland in the British military.

A buddy of mine was in 3/75 when they jumped into Panama. He was on a motorcycle team. He said their job was to ride up and down the runway causing distractions & drawing fire away from the other landing troops. He retired about ten years ago as a LTC. Good guy.

My great grandfather Harold Wallum was kidnapped by a raiding party of Pancho Villa's men from his Mother's ranch in New Mexico. The story goes that two of the men were former ranch hands of my great great grandmother and recognized Harold. Taking pity on my great grandfather they covertly stashed him in a ditch they passed by on their way back to Mexico, keeping the mules they also took. He then waited in the ditch until after dark and ran home. Later in life he would run away from home and ride the rails as a hobo for a time before becoming a radio operator for the merchant Marines. His merchant ship would be sunk in WW2 and his crew would only survive because he went against orders and saved the radio equipment before the ship went down. He would work as a radio operator for the Southern Pacific Railroad for near the rest of his life marrying my great grandmother Winifred and helping raise my grandma Barbara and my great uncle Gene. He was a brilliant man that taught himself electronics and held the highest certification in HAM radio operation, essentially being a human broadcasting station. At the end of his life he was even teaching himself binary code! It's a pity I never got to meet him but his stories live on in mine and my family's memories.

You covered motorcycles really well in this video. As a biker, I appreciate where they came from during wars. Loved the tracked version the Germans used for hauling around carts and airplanes during WWII. Thanks for the history lesson.

The US Marines use the bigger Kawasaki KLR650, equipped with a diesel motor and larger 7 gallon fuel tank. The French used an interesting team of Vespa scooters for paratroops, one scooter mounting a recoiless rifle the rider actually sat upon, the second scooter carrying reloads. The Russians produce a civilian version of their BMW R75 clone called the Ural, and is still available with the sidecar.

Wonderful job with this THC, growing up my uncle had a Triumph that had once been a military bike, thanks for the memories as well.

In post-war America the term was "bobber" not chopper. Bobber for taking the junk off and bobbing the rear fender. The term chopper didn't come along until the mid 60s

Back in the early 70s, my younger brother was in the Marines. He told of being in an Army-Navy Surplus store, where they had some surplus Harley-Davidson military motorcycles still in the crates. When asked why he didn't buy one, he said he couldn't get it on base, or he would have.

I was hit by a moose driving my motorcycle this morning. How he managed to drive it is a mystery to me.

April 9th . . is a 2015 Danish war movie that really shows military bicycles and motorcycles in war.

You missed the most unique cycle built by H-D for the Army in WW2. The horizontally opposed twin was built 1 year for use in North African desert where the regular H-D would over heat.

My Dad was drafted in late 1942. His MOS was ‘Motorcycle Mechanic’, which really meant he was a messenger. He was assigned to the HQ company, 629th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The last time he rode a motorcycle was in Belgium in October or November, 1944. The roads had frozen muddy ruts. He had the tires in the rut and couldn’t steer out of it when a large truck met him going the other direction occupying the same rut. When he saw he couldn’t clear the rear dual tire of the truck, he jumped off the motorcycle. The truck mangled the motorcycle. The last he saw of it was a recovery vehicle picking it up off the road and driving away with it. Shortly after, all the motorcycles in the battalion were replaced with jeeps.

I learned to ride on a Peugeot SX-80, and old French army bike. Tough as nails that thing was.

It's funny how today's Ebikes look so much like some of the first motorcycles.

At 8:36, did you see all that oil that dripped on the ground under that old military Harley? Damn, that’s what it looks like under my NEW Harley. LOL🤣

An acquaintance of mine assembled a WLA from all original parts. (Except for the seat) I had a case of H-D blackout lights that I was tring to get rid of and he HAD to buy them all. That bike starts with just one kick, but you'll nevwr know which kick it is

Thank you, THG. (I know Isay this a lot, but it is true) for the broad summary of the world of military motorcycles. I love all the photos.

You mentioned the BSA M20 or WM20 in military trim during your WW2 section but you showed one at 6:59 while discussing WW1. They could be found in many armies as so many spares had been stockpiled- you could buy a brand new engine for them in the 1970s- as well as most other mechanical parts. It was possible to construct a new one- the "cycle" parts being rarer. I certainly bought a brand new barrel and clutch for mine- and other parts.. Some were still in British military use in the early 70s.

Thanks for the history of Military Motorcycles. I am a USMC & US Army Veteran 1974-88, I am also a American Legion Rider. I now ride a 2023 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT, Trike since I am also a Disabled American Veteran & have a problem holding up a 2 wheeled motorcycle.

I remember back in the mid '70s a gentleman showed me an old HD. I think it was WWII vintage. I remember it had a hand gear shift, and a spark arrestor. He said you engaged the spark arrestor during the kick start, because a backfire during the kick could break your leg.

Next, military bicycles.

I had a great uncle who was a motorcycle messenger in WW1 , One night he had to deliver a message to the front lines , while he was waiting for a reply there was a artillery barrage, on his return trip to HQ a bridge he had crossed on the way to the front was no longer there, so he drove his Motorcycle off the bridge into the void below. He lived, but it broke his back, and he got disability from the military for the rest of his life.

One of my uncles was a motorcycle instructor during WW2 in the Canadian army. He was supposed to participate in the Dieppe raid but was injured shortly before hitting a tree.

My father was in the 115 Horse/Mechanised Cavalry Regiment before WWII and rode motorcycles.

The history of the Vespa scooter is history that deserves to be remembered! After the war the Italians used airplane starter engines to propel the Vespa scooter. The shape of the frame looked like a wasp. And so Vespa was born. The Vespa was the motorized horse that moved war torn Italy. It had inmense in pact on the growing economy. But hey, The History Guy can bring us so much more info and detail I just can't wait for the Vespa episode. And there is more: The FIAT 500, 600 and ABARTH derived cars. Racy cars for the working class: the poor men's Ferrari. Not to leave out GIANNINI of Roma! All helped the legency of automotive Italy. ...History that deserves to be remembered!

Be it war or peacetime, necessity is indeed the mother of invention... And in the case of motorcycles, Uncle Beer had a hand in there as well!

Another great episode! During my time in the 2nd Squadron, 10th Air Cavalry At Ft. Ord California (1984-1988) our Scout Element (19 Deltas) had Camouflaged motorcycles and could be seen and heard racing all over remote area like the East Garrison training area, Ft. Hunter Liggett, and many others! The "Enduro" style Kawasaki motorcycles were a sight to see and WITHOUT QUESTION could travel across and through terrain that was simply impassable by other vehicles.

The U.S. Coast Guard experimented with motorcycle beach patrols during World War 1. Keeping the machines in running order proved difficult. This experiment probably influenced the Coast Guard's decision to stick to horseback and foot patrols during much larger Beach Patrol operations during World War 2.

I have a great old black and white photo of my grandpa in his WW1 uniform next to an Indian (?) motorcycle. Not sure of the exact date but probably around 1916 to 17.

Barber Motorsports Museum in Leeds, AL has an incredible collection through the entire history of motorcycles, including military and police models.

Considering that motorcycles are all about movement, the pics are all still shots. This slight oversight could have been remedied with an outdo featuring Steve McQueen flying the Triumph TR6 Trophy, (disguised as a BMW R75), over the barbed wire in the Great Escape. Love this channel!

I have photos of my grandfather, an MP in the 5th Armored Division, on a Harley-Davidson WX in the California Desert. His division was on maneuvers, and he told us that the dust kept destroying the sprockets and chains on their WLAs.

I used to see and hear a lot of these in my schooldays in the 1960s in England. I loved the sound of their slow, long-travel stroke; also I say a few of the tiny Corgis which could be carried by paratroops. I do not know whether the States also had an equivalent of the Corgi or whether it was American in origin. (Somehow I can never get used to the screaming, high-revving and with much pointless throttling of road bikes today).

Excellent, well researched episode. Thanks.

The sheer numbers of the weapons, vehicles, and other goods, including food, that the United States was able to produce during the First and Second World Wars, that was used to equip both our own military, and those of our allies, boggles the mind, and is something that can NEVER be repeated.

The Harley XA like the German machines where not only shaft drive, but had the horizontally opposed engine in a side valve version. The similarity ends in German BMW which had superior overhead valves heads with push rod operation from cam shaft.

My Grandfather joined the Illinois State Police in 1935 and was assigned as a motor officer and rode an Indian. He was exempt from the draft after America entered the war because of his job, being married, and being over 30 years old. By 1943, those things no longer mattered. Because of his civilian job, he was assigned as a dispatch rider for Army Ground Forces. He landed at Normandy on D+4. When the ramp lowered on the LCVT, instead of landing in a foot of water, he went right into a hole made by a large caliber shell. He made it ashore, but the OD Harley was gone. He soon was issued another bike and would deliver dispatches among various headquarter units, often riding at night. In early July 1944 while riding on a dirt back road in Normandy, he hit a landmine and he came to when being kicked by soldiers speaking German. With his parents immigrating from Germany in 1900, and it being spoken at home, he knew it was not good and he spent the remainder of the war as a POW. As by circumstance, I was assigned to the 9th Comm. Bn. 1st Marine Division in 1975. The following year the Marine Corps toyed with the idea of using motor cycles to assist in combating electronic warfare by carrying large amounts of low priority messages. We were very successful with a 100% message delivery rate. Because of this we were also utilized to deliver much needed items, like parts for mechanized vehicles, medical supplies, etc. It was something to participate in the same activity as my forefathers.

Love your presentation. Ft. Benning was renamed for Fort Moore in 2023. In 1970 I was grateful to get my AIT there without being deployed.

It's always a joy to ride my 2012 Ural Gear-Up, based off the BMW R-75 machines. The best part is the shaft driven 2 wheel drive, it's a locked diff, so it can only be used on surfaces that give way (ie: snow, mud, sand) but it's nice to get where other bikes dare not go!

I got a chuckle out of the picture of the WLA with the puddles of oil underneath it. About 40 years ago I owned an XA. Among other things, I believe it was the first HD to be equipped with dual carburetors.

My dad was in the ETO during WW2 in the US Army. He “found” a German BMW motorcycle after the war was over, and being bored while waiting for repatriation, borrowed the motorcycle and its sidecar for jaunts around Bavaria. A fellow soldier complained about him having a captured German motorcycle and he was compelled to turn it in. He said that he found it to be a wonderful machine and he enjoyed riding it very much.

I grew up in house full of WW2 vets, and uncle rusty had been a despatch rider with the Australian 6 Div in N Africa & Middle east. With capture of vast stockpiles of Italian vehicles, he found himself in possession of about a dozen bikes of his own (albeit temporarily). A major hitch was looking after them - they were considered superior in every way, even though he was an experienced truck mechanic, he needed help. So he turned to the RAEME (Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) But they didn’t have anyone who had the information he needed. Same deal with the Brit REME. Ultimately he and his mate Harry found some Italian mechanics & came up with deal : for some “supplementary rations” they had willing workers. And their personal mechanics had no intention of returning to hostilities. “You just keep the food, wine & cigarettes coming and we keep working on our beloved bikes”

The Soviet Ural and Depnr sidecar motorcycles were copies of the WWII German BMW side car motorcycle. These bikes had a reverse gear and the power driven sidecar wheel. This made them very well suited for the USSR's bad road season in springtime.

As a lifetime motorcyclist and long time fan/subscriber of your channel, I approve!! Thank you! I would love a poster of the fella at 5:46.

Through the 60's, 70's, and 80's the U.S. Army experimented with Motorcycles as reconnaissance vehicles. I knew several Cav Scouts who had done time as a motor cycle scout. The only problem was the noise. It was hard to be stealthy.

Ive been into WWII British military bikrs for years and they are very fun to ride.. and now getting expensive these days. The BSA M20 and M21 models are still plentiful but my favorite is the Matchless 40G3WO model..fast by many British WWII bikes and just a blast to ride... I always got plenty of comments whenever I rode it! Thanks for this episode on the history of military motorcycles!!🙂

It wasn't just dispatch. The motorcycles also made excellent scout vehicles. While noisy, they were agile and not restrained by territory, being able to go places no horse or car/jeep could.

A late cousin of mine was a US Navy supply officer in WWII. He was deployed to North Africa to work port logistics, but was provided no form of transportation. Being the typical enterprising American, he searched abandoned and salvaged equipment until he found a German Africa Corps BMW motorcycle. He got it running again and this became his personal bike. Imagine what a peculiar sight he made, a US Navy Lt Commander driving a German motorcycle around North Africa.

Well done for remembering the "Flea" parachute dropped bike.

As a motorcycle rider for over 30 years it boggles my mind why the military would choose a chain drive over shaft drive. In my experience chains are troublesome. They stretch and must be kept at the proper tightness. They get dirty and need cleaning. They need to be lubricated. And over the life of the bike they need to be changed for a new chain several times. Too much hassle. That is why I switched to shaft drive. Almost zero maintenance and ready to go whenever I was. And also, removing the wheel to change a tire is quicker and much less messy on a shaft drive bike.

Canada commissioned Harley Davidson to build the WLC for WW2. WLC had several upgrades over the WLA. The WLC was also supplied for service with the RAF and Commonwealth forces. The WLC Model, although very similar to the US Army WLA, differs in many details from its American counterpart. Front and rear wheels are interchangeable, front brake drum is the 'Big Twin' style, lighting equipment is quite different, throttle is on the left handlebar with ignition timing on the right, oil and gas lines are rubber, an auxiliary clutch hand lever is provided on the handlebars, later 43WLC have green plastic handlebar grips, a ride-control is provided on the front fork with an extra stand on the front wheel, the rear stand has additional 'Sand Pads'. WLCs were not equipped with a Submachinegun bracket and Ammo box at the factory. WLCs were mainly used by the Canadian (and Commonwealth) Armies, thus a correctly restored WLC should not have US Army markings* , just as a restored WLA should not have a WLC numbered engine.

I rode a Vespa Chiao during my high school years and loved that little scooter; it took me everywhere I wanted to go - even on mountain trails and the beach in several places. It got close to 100MPG and never had mechanical issues or failures. Really quite amazing performance for such a "cheap" scooter. I graduated to a Kawasaki KZ 900 that I bought new off the showroom floor in 1979, as a graduation present to myself, for having survived that ordeal. Today, at 63, I'm a bicycle only rider for health and a nice get-away from the noise of daily life in my head - its just breath and pedal, nothing else. Two wheels for life! lol

Thank you for the lesson.

might want to look into Air CAV Motorcycle Scouts.

Loved this episode. I had an '06 Triumph that I lived and while deploided to Kuwait for training in 1995, I found an '84 MZ that I was denied to bring back.😖 Keep up the great vids!

My Aunt & Uncle would tool around NYC in the 1920's on their Indian Motorcycle when New York still had dirt roads! My Uncle later served in WW2!

Great presentation! Love the scooters! Thanks for your efforts... Keep on biking!😁

The history of the Vespa scooter is history to be remembered! After the war the Italians used airplane starter engine to propel the Vespa scooter. The shape of the frame looked like a wasp. And so Vespa was born. The Vespa was the motorized horse that moved war torn Italy. It had inmense in pact on the growing economy. But hey, The History Guy can bring us so much more info and detail I just can't wait for the Vespa episode. And there is more: The FIAT 500, 600 and ABARTH derived cars. All helped the legency of automotive Italy. History the is worth to be remembered!

I had a Grandfather bought a brand new 1919 ? Or very close to that year model Indian Chief it disappeared in early 1960’s as the only grandson later was the oldest he always told me that was my motorcycle after his death. I guess they sold it. A little like 7 year old kid with that would been very dangerous.

I enjoyed hearing some of those older names, especially the ones who ceased manufacturing long ago. They're familiar to me though my father and his friends, who were all bikers as young men (cars were too expensive, but a bike offer an affordable route to freedom of the roads). The post WWII availability really drove the growth of bikes in everyday life (also there's nothing quite like riding a motorbike - no matter how powerful the car, it is never the same as riding a bike, a machine that you move with little turns and leans of your own body weight, shifting your centre of gravity, getting your knee out on a turn, nothing else comes close!)

Nice to hear Coventry Mentioned a few times in this video!!

11:58 This Italian motorcycle is similar to one that, after WWII made it's way into Fellini's La Strada. If you ever get the chance, take the time to see this film!

Good Friday morning History Guy and everyone watching. Have a great weekend...

Great, always deserves to be remembered

Fascinating story. I believe all the British & US motorcycles used by the military during WW2 had side-valve engines, which were simple to manufacture and durable in use. And also suitably low-powered - the thought of letting young soldiers loose on a machine that had any kind of performance doesn’t even bear thinking about…

FWIW: My first motor vehicle, from 1979 to 1980, was a 400cc Yamaha motorcycle. Great video, Lance...👍

Love your videos

The film Hell's Angels features a military motorcycle.

Very enjoyable.

I have two Harley Davidson. One I bought him years ago in a new one I just bought they are pretty great. I can go so fast for them, but I choose not to because I am not crazy and do not wish to lose my life and I always wear a helmet, and usually a leather jacket with padding on the shoulders and elbows.😊

An older friend of mine in Sydney Australia bought a crated ex army Harley Davison in the early 60’s. I cannot remember if he paid 50 or 75 pound for it, it kept him amused for quite a while putting it together.

I’m under 40, but one of my favourite movies as a kid(and to this day) is The Great Escape. Although that movie is not 100% accurate, because of it I always thought motorcycles as part of the war. Similarly, I also loved Indians Jones as a kid, clearly fiction, but again cemented my expectation of motorcycles being used by militaries. Now, as an adult, I’m a biker and I love learning the history of motorcycles and motorcycle clubs from that angle. Many of the VERY early clubs were racing clubs, and many of the post WW2 clubs were formed by veterans, and that trend continued all the way to the Vietnam vets who were rejected by their fellow citizens, but found acceptance among their peers. Not everyone has a father with a taste in movies like mine did, and not everyone grows up to be a biker(but are bikers really grown up; we still ride bike to our friends’ houses and ask if they want to go riding, as if we are 10yrs old again 😂). I absolutely love this video!

This was a really good one HG. I was about to comment that you left out the Germans & their motorbikes and quite literally started to talk about them. I did not know that bikes were used in WW I. Great video!

My father was a Canadian military policeman during WW2 as a scout who rode a motorcycle

In 1950 at Cottman, and the Roosevelt Blvd. 8,000 people watched a used Military Motorcycle Soccer game, played in a potato field for 4 hours. Dad said the referees all rode Indian Jr Sport Scout, for their speed and handling.❤

Have you done an episode on the Jeffreys Quad Track, the 4-wheel-drive truck that convinced the US Army to give up mules in 1912?

Dear "History Guy" The term "chopper" primarily came from chopping the large military fenders. "Bobbing" the sides and lengths of fenders down. Taking military gear like racking was an automatic thing!

Thanks for this, informative and enjoyable as usual. During the Falklands War the British made limited use of motorcycles for carrying messages on the battlefield and other purposes

Awesome information👍 Thanks!

My dad during WW2, rode an indian all around ireland. He was a supply sargent U.S. army. His task was to purchase paint from the locals to camouflage battle ships.😊

Great episode!

My uncle rode HD's in WWII. Post war he'd never ride an HD again, nothing but Hondas, at least 70's onward.

I Enjoyed This Story And I Thank You For This Information!

Great show! One of your best, and I'm not a big motorcycle guy. Well, maybe a small one.

Unfortunately Riders like the machines were considered expendable

Germany 59-61 I had a Sargent who had been a dispatch rider during WW 2 One of his stories about his training was how they laid down the bike and used the Thompson SMG We encounter a group of German motorcycle police all who were combat vets A tense moment when an armed German police officer realized he and Sgt Brandt had likely faced each other in Italy The tense moment was defused when Sgt Brandt demonstrated his American skills using a German POLICE BMW The Germans to a man shook his hand and asked if he could help them improve their riding skills.

Thanks!

3:10 Ah, yes, when the machine-gunner is a more highly trained operator than the motorcycle rider and therefore valuable enough to require armoured protection. Riders, meanwhile, are like the chaff of the infantry and can be easily replaced.

A chopper has a extended fork the motorcycle that was striped down was a bobbed motorcycle

The Ruski are the biggest users of motorcycles in the current NATO/Russia war. Some of those motorcycle assaults involve extreme bravery.

Another excellent history video. Please forgive me for picking fly specks out of black pepper but I must correct one thing you did say. No one drives a motorcycle. Ever. One RIDES a motorcycle. Thanks and best regards!