Military Bikes

I have a soft spot on military motorcycles. Mainly because they seems to be suicidal to me. The rider don't get much protection from anything(weather and bullets) and quite easy to be disabled.

Back in the early 1940s, the US Army asked Harley-Davidson to design a next-generation military motorcycle although the company was already producing the WLA, based on its traditional 45-degree V-twin engine. The army ordered a test batch of 1,000 XAs from Harley-Davidson. At the same time, the military also asked Indian to make a 750cc shaft-drive twin, and it came up with a 90-degree V-twin design.

The idea was to put both new machines through their paces, and award a lucrative military contract to the winner.

Eventually, the army finished its testing, and decided that neither new bike would be built. Instead, they bought several thousand more Harley WLAs. In the end, the military decided to hitch its hopes to a vehicle that could go through anything, didn’t tip over, and required very little training to operate — the Jeep.

Blame the Jeep. That’s why military motorcycles of any kind fell out of favor during World War II.

Yet, Kawasaki products that are modified by a company, Hayes Diversified Technologies has been used in US military for a while: an alternate means of transporting messages, documents, and light cargo between units. They may also be used to transport forward observers, military police, and reconnaissance personnel. The size and construction of the Kawasaki off road bikes make it highly mobile on all roads and cross-country terrain.

The M1030 and M1030B1 have been procured by the US Army, USMC, and the USAF. The M1030M1 is a program of the USMC. Since 2006, Hayes also produces the M1030M1E specifically designed for the UK and EU NATO countries.

Kawasaki KLR 250-D8, Operation Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia, February 1991.