Wartime Oddballs: Indian 841 and Harley-Davidson XA

Not many people are familiar with the Indian 841, or Harley-Davidson XA. See one in the flesh and you'd most likely mistake it for an older Moto-Guzzi or a BMW.

Both are unique in the profile of their respective manufacturers in that they use a shaft drive coupled with a transverse twin cylinder engine layout, and both were inspired by the well-known BMW and Zündapp military sidecar bikes used in great numbers by Nazi Germany and its allies.

While both the XA and the 841 were promising at prototype stage, neither bike saw large production numbers due to the introduction of the Willis Jeep which turned out to be a much better battlefield vehicle than any sidecar motorcycle.