Working for Harley-Davidson during the WWII-era must have been an exciting time. Harley engineers were building prototypes and doing small production runs of a variety of machines. Everything from military variations of stock motorcycles to dual Knucklehead powered tanks were being tested during this time.
An interesting example of one of these "one off" machines is the Model ELC. This was a Knucklehead powered motorcycle built in 1942 for the Canadian Armed Forces. A total of only forty-four units were sent to Canada.
At first glance, you might think this is just a standard knucklehead painted olive drab with some WLC accessories thrown on. If you look a little closer, you'll see that while some parts were borrowed from the WLC, there are also a lot of features that are unique to this machine.
Starting with the seating arrangement, you'll notice that the ELC features tandem seats and the sidecar is mounted on the left hand side of the motorcycle. The sidecar is also designed for quick exit, presumably when under fire, with the side cut outs which are absent on civilian sidecars. Also note that it has both front and rear stands as well as interchangeable wheels.
The engine is a standard 61 cubic inch Knucklehead mated to a three speed transmission with reverse. The air box looks very similar to a WLC except that it is mounted toward the front of the engine instead of the rear. This change was likely made to provide clearance for the the kicker pedal. Since WLC's are set up with the airbox on the left side of the motorcycle, they do not have the same clearance problem. The front forks are XA type with big twin rockers and of course the muffler is mounted upside down to help limit creating dust trails while riding. Like the WLC, it also has British style lighting and a front fender mounted tool box.
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