Five things you didn’t know Harley-Davidson made
Harley-Davidson is famous for its motorcycles, but here are five more unusual items the Motor Company made
FORECAR
The Motor Company’s first three-wheeled vehicle – the Forecar – was produced between 1913 and 1915 and used for commercial delivery. Offered in one model, it used a standard Harley-Davidson twin cylinder chain drive motorcycle with the front fork and wheel replaced with a delivery box over two front wheels connected to the steering head. The Forecar had a 600-pound payload capacity and carried everything from mail to groceries.
WORTHINGTON OVERGREEN LAWNMOWER ENGINES
Starting in 1929 and continuing throughout the Great Depression, Harley-Davidson began supplying single-cylinder side-valve engines to the Worthington Mower Company to power its Overgreen model lawnmowers.
LR-64 DRONE ROCKET ENGINE
In the mid-1960s, AMF entered into a contract to build small rocket engines for the U.S. military. The LR-64 engine propelled the AQM-37A Supersonic target drone used to simulate incoming ICBM attacks from foreign aggressors in jet fighter training exercises. The contract continued through the AMF Harley-Davidson merger era (1969-1981) and beyond, with the Motor Company producing the LR-64 engine for nearly 30 years.
UTILICAR
In 1965, Harley-Davidson debuted the Utilicar, based on the successful Model D Golf Cart. An electric model was made for use inside factories and a gasoline model was produced that could reach speeds up to 32 mph, intended for outdoor use. The Utilicar had a 750-pound payload capacity and five available cargo combinations: flatbed, steel cargo box, stake box, cargo stake box, and personnel carrier.
TOMAHAWK BOATS
Harley-Davidson purchased the Tomahawk Boat Manufacturing Company in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, in 1961 and produced Tomahawk fiberglass boats until 1965 when the focus shifted to making fiberglass components for other Harley-Davidson products including the golf cart, Servi-Car, and sidecar bodies, as well as motorcycle fairings and saddlebags. Today the Harley-Davidson Tomahawk Operations produces a variety of molded composite motorcycle components, including saddlebags, fairings, and Tour-Pak luggage.
First published in Issue 052 of HOG® magazine.
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