War Machine The World War II that occurred from 1939 to 1945 cannot be denied anymore that's one of the darkest parts in the history of mankind that has drained a lot of blood and tears. But on the other hand, it seemed during the war period, as if it became a stage for each other to show off the superiority of technology applied to various supporting equipments for their soldiers on the battlefield, including motorized vehicles.
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| The Indian 841 in its original military trim was produced by Indian Motorcycle during 1942 to 1943 for the US Army. (Picture from: Silodrome) |
For example, when the BMW R71 motorcycles used by the Axis alliance-forces especially the Nazi German army, proved to be very tough and reliable in supporting the mobility of its troops on various mission operations in the desert so it was not surprising that in early 1941, the German's R71 was touted as ruler of the desert and overpowered the vehicles used by the Allied Forces.  |
| The Indian 841 after sold and owned by civilian with yellow-white patterns all over the body, and some leather ornaments decorated with tassels on the edges far out of the military props feels. (Picture from: Silodrome) |
How come? Because its twin boxer engines stays cool even the motorcycle used in hot weather thanks to the exposed head, while the drive shaft is never dirty with sand so that the R71 can run smoothly in the desert.Of course this worried their opponent, especially the United States. Even though at the beginning of 1941, the United States had not directly involved in World War II, they had supplied various war equipment for the Allied Forces. In short, then the US Army gave the challenges to several major American motorcycle makers such Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle to develop a motorcycle that could match the enemy's mainstay R71.
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| The Indian 841 used a simple girder fork for the front suspension and there were plungers on the back. (Picture from: Silodrome) |
Shortly after that, HD introduced the Harley-Davidson XA model in 1942 although in appearance similar to its predecessor Harley-Davidson WLA model, the engine was the same as the BMW R71, which both used a twin boxer engine complete with axle drive.
However, Indian Motorcycle takes a different and more unique approach. They designed a new 90-degree V-twin engine, using the same head as the Scout model. The compression ratio is reduced to 5.1 to 1 so it can run on lower quality fuels.
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| The Indian 841 is featured with unusual longitudinal V-twin has its head out in the airflow for better cooling. (Picture from: Silodrome) |
The Indian Motorcycle made engine was sat not longitudinally within the frame of the motorcycle, but in a transverse configuration, like the Moto Guzzi or Honda CX500, allowing the cylinders to protrude in the open, so it getting the same cooling benefits as the BMW R71, and also makes shaft drive easy to implement because the crankshaft is already rotating in the correct orientation.
As a result, this motorcycle then given the name of Indian 841, the name that for some people called was less special for a motorcycle made by Indian Motorcycle. Then the US Army commissioned the motor maker to produce 1,000 units of this motorcycle during 1942 to 1943 and tested it extensively along with the Harley-Davidson XA.
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| The Indian is powered by a 737 cc 90º V-twin air-cooled engine with the power was just 25 bhp and it was fed back through a four-speed gearbox to the shaft drive. (Picture from: Silodrome) |
Although in the end, the US Army did not adopt both motorcycle models as their official military vehicle. It could be said that the top brass of the American military at that time is like a man is amazed to the enemy's grass yard seen greener than in their own yard. Although in the end, they choose the typical HD WLA production motorcycle of efficiency and financial factors. And the remaining unused Indian 841 units were sold to civilian consumers.
Since the beginning it was developed by Indian Motorcycle which was not developed for general use (although in the end it had to be). Because they really wanted a pretty cool ride like this Indian 841 to be used by Captain America to hit the German Nazi soldiers and could be said that it's a unique two-wheeled vehicle prototype of the US military for special mission in the desert.
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| The Indian 841 has a weight of 528 lbs (240 kgs) when ready to ride, and as such it did suffer a little from insufficient power though this could be largely remedied by increasing the compression ratio. (Picture from: Silodrome) |
It could be a stark contrast to the Indian 841 motorcycle unit is featured in this article and also auctioned at Mecum at the end of April, 2021. As you can see, this unique motorbike looks very flamboyant, with yellow-white patterns all over the body, and some leather ornaments decorated with tassels on the edges far out of the military props feels. How did it happen?
Because after being sold to civilians, usually the new owners then repainted with various colors and decorated their motorbikes with various accessories, like other Indian motorcycles at that time. That's roughly how this former US Army vehicle gets a distinctive appearance. So no wonder if you probably won't be able to guess if you just look at the appearance.Kept spur your adrenaline on the power of the two-wheeled monster and
stay alive with true safety riding. May God will forgive Your sins and
so does the cops...... *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | ID.MOTOR1 | MECUM | SILODROME ]
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