Police at Nimbus!

For a few weeks now, there has been an original police Harley from the nineteen forties at the Nimbus Group Mock-Up in Stuttgart.

The machine was in the possession of the Stuttgart motorway police for over six decades and was then presented to the Stuttgart police headquarters in 2007 for its police museum currently under construction at the Pragsattel in Stuttgart. Restoration work went on for three years before the machine could once more be admired in its original condition. We are very pleased to be able to display this rare exhibit on our premises until the police museum opens!

The motorbike was in service for "Motorised Division 20" on the motorways around Stuttgart until the mid-fifties.
Following the total collapse of public order at the end of the 2nd World War in 1945, the Allies took charge of all police affairs. Increasing traffic on the motorways required police supervision and so the Stuttgart motorway police was established on 17.10.1946 as a result of a decree by the US military government. The new unit was based at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart Möhringen.

The Americans presented the state police with the Harley, a Pretzel Beetle and a small truck. On 27th May 1947, the US military government returned sole authority for police affairs in the US zone to the German police. The unit and the Harley moved to a new barrack-like building, where the Sindelfinger Wald motorway service station now stands.

Incidentally, there is a short anecdote concerning the bike: It is said that mid-wives used the Harley to get around Stuttgart before it entered police service. But with a weight of 300 kilograms, the machine was not really very practical for the mid-wives. And the (male) Nimbus team found out for themselves just how heavy 300 kilograms really is when they physically manhandled the Harley into the Mock-Up!

Here is the technical data on the Harley for all motorbike fans:
Type: Harley Davidson WLA
Year constructed: 1941
Motor: V2 45° Flathead, 743 ccm
Performance: 23.5 HP at4600/RPM
Gears: 3 gears
Top speed: 105 km/h
Price (1941): US $ 380