WW2 Motorcycles Only

From our Time-Life Corrsepondent - "Army Harley mimics Sherman tank to test newly-built Bailey bridge...Coprs of Engineers happy as the Sherman is probably lighter...."

 

its marshmellow man again on his LH throttle Harley

 

Just looking at that pic again; it's a VERY early-war training exercise...look at the background - "Down in the Bayou"!!!

 

Drew, that pic of the WLA rider leading off a convoy you've entitled "RAF"...is an RAF rider on a Canadian-built WLC leading off a convoy from Creully north-west of Caen (IWM pic) Note the hand clutch on the right (viewer's perspective) and the rider holding the bike on the front brake...conversely, American-built WLAs had the front brake lever confusingly on the LEFT !!! See for example the pic of the rider on the Bailey Bridge....

P.S. that rider - though in compartative UNdress - is U.S. Military Police - see the siren mounted BESIDE the headlight? It's mounted in addition to its conventional horn BELOW the headlight

EDIT: was doing some more research over the weekend; look back at the "messenger-boy" Harley pic. Yes, the U.S. army DID trial a couple of thousand WLAs with left hand throttles, but they weren't popular, and for the VAST majority of the production run (and almost certainly all those issued) the throttle returned to its conventional Harley position on the right (rider's perspective)...

Now - the THROTTLE twistgrip was an INTERNAL one, working on a quickscrew with the cable INSIDE the bar; it wasn't sprung-return, the rider had to physically "throttle back". This sounds clumsy, but it meant the throtle had a useful "cruise control" action, great for long-distance convoy work...and which is pertinent to the picture...

On the LEFT was a similar twistgrip for the ignition advance/retard; obviously to get this shot, the rider has left the throttle fixed at just over tick-over, and is retarding the ignition using the left-hand control for smoother low-speed, low-load running, to allow the pic to be taken. At a guess the truck actually passed HIM for the effect of the picture, rather than him catching IT up!!!

 

#154 is a Matchless G3. Does it have a caption ?

 

Hi Rich,

Unfortunately not. It sits within lots and lots of Life WW2 pictures I've been looking through. It was amongst some 'Western Desert' pictures that all appeared to be of British Soldiers.

Andy

 

Just looking at that pic again; it's a VERY early-war training exercise...look at the background - "Down in the Bayou"!!!

Their war, or ours? The M1 helmet was only introduced in 1942.

 

LOL "theirs"

 

Polish artillery units staging a demonstration during national holiday celebrations.

 

Nice pic! It's a Polish Sokol 1000cc M111, also known as a CWS M111. Always referred to as "designed" and produced in Poland...it's a mish-mash of cribbed designs from the Good Ol' USA! Frame and running gear were copies of other nation's items - visibly the Castle-style forks (specifically the I-beam type fitted to the Harleys they had run before that, with the addition of the friction damper on the side of the fork) - were direct copies of Harley items...while the engine was an out-and-out copy of an Indian!!!

Actually only 5% or so of parts were imported, and the Poles managed to produce a VERY reliable motorcycle - but it came at a price...literally! It marketed at the price of a period car!!!

File:Sokol 1000 cc 1935.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Looks closely at the pic - see the strange angle the "bed" of the sidecar seems to be at??? Sokol managed to produce a "soft" linked sidecar that was thus far quicker in the rough than a rigid chair, and that coupled with the bike's reliability made it a FAR better bike than either the contemporary Harley OR Indian!!!

 

#161 is a Triumph 3SW. The census number is one of a batch allocated to Canadian forces in the UK, as confirmed by formation sign on the tank.

It's a real 'sit up & beg' job, isn't it ?

 

The Motorcycle Corps taking a rest on the roadside.
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7565/8qcazubbxucag0ni0jca11k.jp

 

Quite a difficult angle. I think that the first bike is a Terrot from the early 1930s. My guess would be a late 1930s exercise.

Interesting how the trees have not yet grown enough to give shelter to invading armies. Perhaps replacements for an avenue lost in the First World War ?

 

No Caption with these 3.
img=http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5987/bike0.jp

img=http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5964/bike1w.jp

img=http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/5546/bike2fdu.jp

 

No Caption with these 3.

No caption needed. Fairly well known publicity photos of a rather useless little stinkwheel with no front brake that'd cost you about two or three M20s or 16Hs if you wanted one.

 

Female dispatch rider of the Woman's Royal Naval Service, commonly called Wrens, delivering a letter to a ship's Officer of the Day. 1943
[img=[URL="http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6243/f0cankb6x6ca9it2kkcaf10.jp"]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6243/f0cankb6x6ca9it2kkcaf10.jp[/URL]

 

Interesting how the trees have not yet grown enough to give shelter to invading armies. Perhaps replacements for an avenue lost in the First World War ?


Or a new road put in along the line of the railway in the background? The undergrowth on the camera's-view side of the tracks hasn't grown up anything much, no weeds on the shiny clean ballast, no coal/oil/rust staining the ballast either - looks like the line is relatively new too.

See where they're sitting? There's little piles of dirt that have been auger'd out of each of the postholes for the telegraph posts; THAT'S new too...?

No wonder the guy with the clipboard looks puzzled - the road mightn't be on his map yet!!!

 

img=http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/3640/b1cak37yfqcaknxf0ecavnt.jp

img=http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/777/wbcawirs7kcaola1hgcamoy.jp
Prague, Czechoslovakia. 1939.