The Hard Working Harley-Davidson Servi-Car of 1932-1973 (photos)
One of the longest running models Harley-Davidson ever made was not a pleasure cruiser, but the utilitarian Servi-Car, with 100 uses. Where did it come from? Why was it here? Why did it go away?
1913 Motorcycle Truck
The Ford Model T debuted in 1908, and rose steadily in popularity as mass production brought the price down, and people learned to trust internal combustion. Harley-Davidson invented their first motorcycle truck in 1912, in an attempt to sell more commercial vehicles. The truck was actually a trike, except it had a single wheel in the rear with two wheels in the front, and a cargo box fitted between the wheels. Their V-twin engine was revised the previous year, and now used a 2-speed with a high gear (5:1 gear ratio) and a low gear (10:1 gear ratio). This enabled the truck to carry a load of 600 pounds. In previous years, Harley had developed a good working relationship with the United States Postal Service, because their motorcycles were useful in getting to locations with traffic or bad roads better than the cars of the day. In 1913, the USPS motorcycle truck went into production and though mail carriers loved them, their advantage over 4 wheeled vehicles weren't great enough. They were discontinued by Harley in 1915.
1929 Harley Package Truck
In 1915, Harley followed the motorcycle truck with the package truck. A cargo box about the same size as the motorcycle truck was attached as a sidecar instead of in front of the rider - which made it much easier to build as most of the parts were common with the consumer motorcycle and sidecar. Harley offered custom lettering straight from their factory painted on the cargo box itself. Business owners liked the idea and took off with their own cargo box designs and logos. This versatility kept the package car in production until 1957.
1932 Servi-Car
Soon after the success of the Package Truck,Harley came up with a third commercial model in 1932, called the Servi-Car. This became the most successful of the three cargo configurations. A great marketing feature of the Servi-Car was that it had a hand-shift and a foot clutch like a car, so anyone who could drive a car could operate one. It also came with a special towing package that allowed it to be connected to a car or truck bumper. Service stations could hitch the Harley to a customer's car and tow it to their location, then unhitch and ride the Servi-Car home. The Servi-Car caught on and had the longest production of ANY Harley motorcycle, and stayed in production until 1973.
1937 Servi-Car
For the first 5 years of production, the old flathead motor got by with a total loss oiling system, which required periodic refilling. For 1937 the Servi-Car got the new motor from the model W, which had an upgraded recirculating oiling system. Though the W was replaced by an updated K model in 1952, the Servi-Car continued to use the same motor until 1973. The early years Harley's most useful bike offered both small (seen here) and large cargo boxes, until they were both replaced with a medium sized box in 1942.
1951 Chicago Police Fleet
Harley-Davidson's first commercial contract was with the Detroit Police Department in 1908 for patrol motorcycles. The Servi-Car proved popular for traffic control, and parking enforcement all over the country almost immediately upon introduction. Here is the fleet of Harley trikes from the 1951 Chicago Police Department.
1960's Police Servi-Car
Things changed slowly in the Servi-Car line, and that is the way fleet buyers like it. For 1958, the Servi-Car updated tot he same hydraulic forks used on the Hydra-Glide, and for 1964 it finally got an electric starter (the first Harley to have one!) Disc brakes only arrived at the very end of the line, for the 1973 model year, which was its last.
Servi-Car Choppers
In the 1960's, choppers were America's coolest motorcycles, and bikers chopped everything and anything. If you watch old bikers movies, there is always at least one guy in the gang riding a chopped Servi-Car. The flathead motor meant it wasn't going to be fast, but that guy was the one who you wanted on the job when it was time to make a beer run.
2015 Freewheeler
For a few decades, there was no official trike from Harley, but all that changed when the Tri-Glide touring trike was introduced for 2009. For 2010, they added the Street Glide for a few years, and then in 2015 a stripped down Freewheeler was introduced. This newest trike is very much a Servi-Car for the new century. Unlike the original, Harley is aiming these bikes at aging riders who have a hard time with their heavy standard two-wheeled touring bikes. Like all modern hogs it has a fuel injected motor and 6 speed transmission, and unlike the old Servi-Car, it has rear suspension.
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