A MORE unlikely motorcycling rebel would be hard to find but Captain — later Major — F. J. Warr helped to revolutionise motorcycling in Britain. As a youngster, Frederick James Warr had fooled the recruiting sergeant into allowing him to join the Army in 1914. After action on the Western Front and in the Middle East, Warr was demobbed and in 1924 set up what is now the oldest Harley-Davidson dealership in Europe, based in the Kings Road in London.

It was his time in the Army that had introduced F. J. Warr to the Harley-Davidson and to its potential. Eighty years and three generations later, the dealership is still going strong. The modern Harley-Davidson is as much a fashion adornment as a practical motorcycle, but in the 1920s the Harley was a gritty, war-proven machine that made a lot of sense in an age of rare and expensive cars and appalling roads.

After all, Warr thought, if these bikes could survive a war, then surely they could surivive peacetime Britain? So, combining his love for a machine much used by American troops in Europe from 1917 with his need to make a living, Warr opened his shop in the Kings Road. It was a shrewd move as the motorcycle was booming in popularity and the number of machines on UK roads tripled through the 1920s. Among his early customers were other demobbed army types looking for adventure, cheap transport, and to reunite themselves with the Harley.

Warr ran the business through the 1920s and 1930s with his wife, Margaret, until 1939 when motorcycles and commerce again took a distant second place to patriotism and he again joined up. Six years later he was demobbed, this time as a Major, and once again climbed out of uniform and back into the Kings Road shop, soon to be joined by his son, Frederick, who had recently left the RAF.

Hundreds of young, would-be bikers got their first taste of two wheels astride a Harley-Davidson supplied to the British armed forces under the Lend-Lease scheme. The nigh-on indestructible machines again proved themselves, particularly in Africa, where the oil bath air cleaners and bulletproof build quality made them a favourite. After hostilities ended, thousands of the former military bikes remained in the UK and were auctioned off as government surplus.

Warr bought as many bikes and spare parts as he could afford and then “civilianised” the machines, which often involved removing the cowboy-style rifle holster that many bikes had fixed to the front forks. Today the business is run by F. J. Warr’s grandsons, John (managing director) and Robert (sales manager), while in the wings John’s nine-year-old son, George, already has two mini -motorcycles of his own and youngest son, Jack, 2, awaits his turn in the motorcycling world.

John Warr, 38, said: “I think it is something to do with motorbikes and doing what your dad or your uncle did, which means it runs in the family. My Dad not only ran the business but raced successfully and I spent ten years racing, too. The business is still family-owned and it is great to work here. I ride to work, spend all day with motorcycles, and if I want to try out the latest Harley I just pick one and off I go.”

The Warrs, and their dealership, like the Harley-Davidson brand itself, have survived through good times and bad. The bikes in past years have suffered from poor build quality and ageing design, as well as from the British love affair with high-performance, usually Japanese, sports bikes. But if you want a bike to cruise the Kings Road on, all chrome and laid-back style, then few can do the job as well as a machine such as the Harley V-Rod, which has not only won awards for its striking good looks and revolutionary design, but also drawn huge acclaim for its impressively modern engine.

Even John Warr will concede that in the past Harleys were not as good as they should have been, but he added: “There are bikes like the Ducati, which are fantastic bikes, but on a Harley you can relax, enjoy the scenery, but if you want to get the best out of them they will shift. Owning one does mean you belong to a club of like-minded people, and today’s Harleys have a deep quality to them. But perhaps I would say that, wouldn’t I?”

On your bike: Harley-Davidson trivia

Harley engines have pet names. Past bestselling Harley engines include the Knucklehead, the Panhead and the Shovelhead — all versions of the V-twin. If you want to replicate the Harley-Davidson engine note without buying one, mumble “potato, potato, potato” in a vaguely American accent.