Harley Davidson's long history with the police

That history goes back to 1908, a year before the commercial V-Twin, when the Detroit police department received the first Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson motorcycles were used in the pursuit of Poncho Villa in 1916 and shortly after, about 20,000 were used during World War I. Most of those were equipped with side cars and machine gun mounts.

Harley Davidson was named the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world by 1920.
During the infamous Roaring '20s state police forces were being formed and Harley Davidson motorcycles were being used in protecting rural areas from lawlessness and enforcing prohibition. The motorcycles handled the rutted out roads far better than cars.

In 1921 the Washington State Troopers began consisting of six guys on Harleys. Louisiana had a force of just 16 Harley Davidson motorcycles that troopers used to patrol the entire state. And talk about "old school"? Those were some hard core bikers! During the mid '20s as more motorcycles, cars and trucks were being mass produced and the lack of speed enforcement, traffic fatalities on the highways were increasing at an alarming rate. Being more agile and considerably faster than most vehicles, Harley Davidson motorcycles were on the forefront in an effort to enforce the speed laws and there by curb these fatalities. By the end of the 1920s over 3,000 police and government agencies were using Harley Davidson motorcycles.

The Great Depression didn't spare Harley Davidson nor did it spare most other manufacturers. All were hit hard with the drop in sales starting with the 1929 stock market crash and continuing through 1933. Harley Davidson continued marketing their product as "The Police Motorcycle" while actively supporting nation traffic safety campaigns. In 1931 the three-wheel "Servi-Car" was introduced into traffic enforcement and was very popular. For 41 years the three-wheeler served as a standard for Harley Davidson.

1940s began a new era and also World War II. 88,000 Harley Davidson motorcycles were manufactured for the war effort including 1,000 of the XA 750 model, a horizontally opposed two cylinder that was shaft-driven. It was never sold publicly. Harley Davidson Motor Company was awarded four prestigious Army-Navy "E" awards for its patriotic efforts. Harley Davidson Motor Company has been and is still as American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie!

The '50s brought in the hot rods or hopped-up jalopies and street racing which became very popular with the teens. It also was the beginning of the American icon of the motorcycle cop with mirror sunglasses hiding behind the billboard sitting on a Harley of course, waiting for those speeders!

In the 1940s Harley Davidson and the Traffic Institute at Northwestern joined together creating the Harley-Davidson and Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety. For over 60 years they have worked together to provide officer training.

These days, there are over 34,00 police agencies riding Harleys in the United States and police departments in over 45 different countries use Harley Davidson Motorcycles. That’s a dramatic increase from just 400 police agencies in the United States 20 years ago!