Editing Harley-Davidson (section)

===World War II===
[[File:xa-600.jpg|thumb|Harley copied the [[BMW motorcycles|BMW]] R71 to produce its [[Harley-Davidson XA|XA model]].]]
One of only two American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the [[Great Depression]] (the other being the [[Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company]]),<ref name="Popular Mechanics Street" /><ref name="Ulti Moto 17">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Hugo |title=The Ultimate Motorcycle Book|year=1993|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=London|isbn=0-7513-0043-8|page=17|chapter=The World's Motorcycles: America}}</ref> Harley-Davidson again produced large numbers of motorcycles for the US Army in [[World War II]] and resumed civilian production afterwards, producing a range of large V-twin motorcycles that were successful both on racetracks and for private buyers.

Harley-Davidson, on the eve of World War II, was already supplying the Army with a military-specific version of its {{convert|45|cuin}} WL line, called the [[Harley-Davidson WLA|WLA]]. The A in this case stood for "Army". Upon the outbreak of war, the company, along with most other manufacturing enterprises, shifted to war work. Some 90,000 military motorcycles, mostly WLAs and WLCs (the Canadian version) were produced, many to be provided to allies.<ref name="wildthing">''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'' magazine, August 2003, pp. 34 – "Wild Thing", Robert F. Howe</ref> Harley-Davidson received two [[Army-Navy "E" Award]]s, one in 1943 and the other in 1945, which were awarded for Excellence in Production.

[[File:HD Liberator.jpg|left|thumb|Harley-Davidson produced the WLC for the [[Canadian military]]. ]]
Shipments to the [[Soviet Union]] under the [[Lend-Lease]] program numbered at least 30,000.<ref>[http://www.zr.ru/content/articles/318704-inostrannyj_legion_motocikly_po_lend-lizu/ Foreign Legion: motorcycles under Lend-Lease] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115348/http://www.zr.ru/content/articles/318704-inostrannyj_legion_motocikly_po_lend-lizu/ |date=April 2, 2015 }} // Moto, 2011 (in Russian)]</ref> The WLAs produced during all four years of war production generally have 1942 serial numbers. Production of the WLA stopped at the end of World War II, but was resumed from 1949 to 1952 for use in the [[Korean War]].

The U.S. Army also asked Harley-Davidson to produce a new motorcycle with many of the features of [[History of BMW motorcycles|BMW's]] side-valve and [[Drive shaft|shaft-driven]] R71. Harley-Davidson largely copied the BMW engine and drive train and produced the shaft-driven 750&nbsp;cc 1942 and '43 [[Harley-Davidson XA]]. This shared no dimensions, no parts or no design concepts (except side valves) with any prior Harley-Davidson engine. Due to the superior cooling of the [[flat-twin]] engine with the cylinders across the frame, Harley's XA cylinder heads ran 100&nbsp;°F (56&nbsp;°C) cooler than its V-twins.<!-- The conversion template from °F to °C is a conversion of temperature values, and does not work for temperature differences. More details are available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Flat-twin_engine/Archive_1#Temperature_difference_vs._temperature_value. --><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/classics/bike.asp?id=71 |title=Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum: 1942 Harley-Davidson XA |work=Motorcyclemuseum.org |access-date=February 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727003729/http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/classics/bike.asp?id=71 |archive-date=July 27, 2012}}</ref> The XA never entered full production: the motorcycle by that time had been eclipsed by the [[Jeep]] as the Army's general-purpose vehicle, and the WLA{{snd}}already in production{{snd}}was sufficient for its limited police, escort, and courier roles. Only ~1,000 were made and the XA never went into full production.