These are a few great photos from one of the Harley-Davidson Enthusiast issues from 1939.   This special section in HD's monthly magazine was titled "A Visit to the Factory" and was included by the Motor Company to give their readers a glimpse into how America's top brand of motorcycles were produced.  In total, there were over a dozen images of various parts of the process of building the 1939 Harley-Davidson, including engine assembly, parts machining, chrome plating, painting and more.  Over 70 years later, they serve as a fantastic resource in gaining an understanding of the precision with which parts were made, the general working conditions of the HD plant at the time, and the overall sense of pride they had with the finished product.

This first photo is from the paint booth, where a batch of Big Twin Knucklehead and Flathead frames are getting a fresh coat of paint.

This next photo is a neat one --- the sidecar assembly division.  Here we see a room filled with 20 or so sidehacks being prepared for their role on the road.  This was the first year for stainless trim on the top and sides of the sidecar, and the folding windshield has only been installed on a few of them.  Interesting to note that almost all of the sidecars in the photo appear to be the same color, which looks to be Airway Blue -- one of three standard colors available in '39.  The five in the far back look to be slightly darker, maybe Teak Red, which was also available.