There are a few questions to be asked about this particular bike, and considering its price tag I reckon they’re worth asking.
Firstly, there’s the date. The ad can’t seem to decide whether this bike is from 1944 or 1947. The photograph of the title suggests the former: the final year of the Second World War. Americans would have already been returning to normal by then – which meant police would have been relying on motorcycles to help them catch overenthusiastic drivers – but many of this bike’s parts and styling aspects reflect wartime frugality.
The second question comes in exactly what engine police were using when it comes to this particular (probably) 81-year-old motorcycle. The ad suggests this bike has a 1200cc capacity, but it also describes this as an E model. It could be either.
In 1944, Harley offered two versions of its OHV “Knucklehead” V-twin: the E/EL with 61 cubic-inch capacity (989cc), and the F/FL model with 72 cu-in capacity (1210cc). Digging through the internets (Has anyone else noticed that Google search quality has dropped recently?), you can find examples of police bikes with both model designations.
If this is a 1944 E model, it’s a rare find. The E/EL Knuckleheads were first introduced in the late ’30s, some of the first new models to be made after the Great Depression. Many of them ended up being sold to the US and Canadian armies, but a very small number were sold within the US. One restoration video I’ve seen suggests that number could be less than 200.
Whatever the case, it’s certainly true that the asking price on this bike is steep. As of this writing, bids are at $41,110 with the reserve not having been met. Meanwhile, a Facebook post from earlier this year suggests that previous attempts to sell this bike have reached $60,299 – still without hitting the reserve.
The seller says the bike has been restored to “near original condition,” with only a handful of bits either being replica parts or coming from other-era bikes, those bits being: handgrips, handlebars, seat, tires, wiring harness, and primary chain.
With a claimed 250 miles on the clock (worth taking with a grain of salt, considering other discrepancies in the ad), this E model Knucklehead is for sale in Denver, Colorado, here on eBay.