I need a reference for police motorcycles

[aquatroy]

specifically vintage police cycles.

Thanks
Troy

[saildog]

Some cool photos on this page that open up to display larger.
Police Motorcycles

By vintage, do you mean 40s and 50s?

If you need something along the lines of the 1970s do a Google Image search on KZ1000. There are tons of great pictures of that time frame.

[aquatroy]

Thanks for that link. I had seen some of those images when I did my own googling, but couldn't find a site dedicated to police motorcycles. Awesome. Thanks again.

I had read somewhere (I can't find the site again, sorry) that during WWII Harley Davidson ended domestic production and geared all their manufacturing might towards the war effort. Thus motorcycles that would have been used by civilian police forces were transitioned to military use. I would love to find an image of one of those military bikes that's been dressed for civilian police use.

[saildog]

Yeah, you would think there would have been a bunch of the military bikes picked up as surplus after the war and redeployed as civilian police motorcycles. I'm having a hard time finding any good picture.
("Harley-Davidson was called upon to build and ship more than 90,000 motorcycles for use during World War II.")Harley-Davidson Motorcycle History: How Legendary Harley Motorcycles Originated Developed, Since 1903

Check out these Cops!!!
1942 Harley-Davidson FL Knucklehead: Drill Team Photos

The FL was a civilian model. Harley did not cease civilian production, but production was limited and you had to qualify to buy one.(according to this link)1942 Harley-Davidson FL Knucklehead: About the Bike

[saildog]

There's a good photo about a quarter of the way down this page
Harley Davidson Police Motorcycle History.

[aquatroy]

Awesome! Thanks so much.

[thunderbolt]

What's Troy up to??? Maybe Spy Smasher???

[saildog]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you're up to.

[megocrazy]

Hey Troy, I think there was a cycle from the old Terminator toy line that had a bike like that. If I can find a pic I'll post the link.

Here's one from ebay if it helps.


http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-TERMINATOR-MOTOR-CYCLE-TOY-NO-MFG-MARKINGS_W0QQitemZ320315848416QQcmdZViewItemQQptZL H_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item320315848416&_trksid=p3 286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C2 40%3A1318

[gman]

Hey if you are looking for a 1/9 scale to convert from military to civilian use ----
Italeri US WWll Harley Davidson Military Motorcycle 1:9 - eBay (item 110300183242 end time Nov-14-08 10:33:20 PST)
here is a good base kit.... unfortuanately they are out of production and you do pay a premium... but I think they originally sold 25-30 so it's not that much more.

[aquatroy]

G. Were thinking along the same lines.



Above is the Italeri model. The original idea was to build the model with the idea of trying to figure out a way to make and cast sub assemblies so that I could fairly easily reproduce the bike and offer it with a Captain America custom (that I'm still in the planning stages on). Unfortunately, there's so much going on with the model that I don't think my original idea will be feasable. So, I'm going to keep it and use it as a prop for the custom that I keep.
I just won another Italeri model and intend to give it the 40's police motorcycle look.

[aquatroy]

Hey Troy, I think there was a cycle from the old Terminator toy line that had a bike like that. If I can find a pic I'll post the link.

Here's one from ebay if it helps.


http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-TERMINATOR-...1%7C240%3A1318

Thanks for the heads up. The dimensions given in the description match the 1/9 scale model I just finished. I'll have to give this a shot.

[gman]

Ooooooooo - Cap on a WW II Harley would be sweet!!! Can't wait to see him!!!

[thunderbolt]

Man, this should be cool to see. Is it going to movie serial Cap or 1940's Kirby Cap?

[aquatroy]

I'm taking a page from you, Bolt. It's my take on an ultimate WWII Cap. I'm planning on making a new body for it and I've got a lot of stuff to test and experiment with before it gets done. You all might see the new body on other characters before I get the Cap custom finished. I'm working on sketches of Wildcat, Black Adam, & Guardian.