My 42WLA before and after

Military Motorcycles, and Other Military Two and Three Wheeled Cycles, Wanted, For Sale (NO AUCTION or EBAY) and Knowledge Base
rd.king
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Re: My 42WLA before and after

Post by rd.king » Fri Apr 29, 2016 4:03 pm

That bike at the museum is a bit of a mash up when you look at the details.
The serial # is 42WLA62480 and that makes it the very last type VI or one of the first type VII.
Along with the rubber mats and bike peddle it also has a rubber mud flap on the front fender
an odd offset air cleaner hose and the bracket is a 1430-49M used on 49-52 wla's, also an unpainted carb and a 31-41 shift knob.
not to mention the odd mix of hardware finishes cad and Parkerizing intermingled.
Donk your bike is looking really nice.


donk_316
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Re: My 42WLA before and after

Post by donk_316 » Fri Apr 29, 2016 10:39 pm

rd.king wrote: Donk your bike is looking really nice.
Thanks man, I really appreciate that.
GPW 112092 04-30-43 USA 20372531 (orig)

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RCASSIN
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Re: My 42WLA before and after

Post by RCASSIN » Tue Feb 07, 2017 5:00 pm

Hi Troy... Your bike looks great. Do you still have it? I had the Army Navy store in Highland Falls and we made a few deals. Do you still have that german relic that we traded for? I hope all is well, Rob
2000 USMC Kawasaki KLR 650
42 WLA Harley
41 600 Zundapp
41 M-20 BSA
76 Condor
42 Diamond T Halftrack
42 Scout car

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matt506
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Re: My 42WLA before and after

Post by matt506 » Mon Feb 13, 2017 6:59 am

Regarding the HD Museum WLA, the restoration curator is a friend of mine and I do not want to speak for him but I will say this. The majority of the bikes in the museum are #1 of the models saved for just this occasion, to be in a museum or archive. This bike is not number one and Harley never really saved number one because in a sense this was a subcontract to the Gov. and a off shoot of sorts of the 45 for Military use only built by Gov. requirements not HDs. It is also one of the ONLY times Harley used the same nomenclature year i.e. 42 WLA over a period of more than one year 43,44,45. thats why you see types I, II III IV not 43WLA, 44WLA etc. This bike was a gap filler for the collection and mostly assembled from spare parts and such. They really do not have a lot of time or info at the archives to make this bike 100% ( sometimes a lack of caring?) and I am always chiming in and pestering them but it only goes so far till I myself become a pest. DO NOT use this bike as a standard for restoration, because of this I want every member on this and other boards who have been so butt cheek tight on their restoration to be proud that you have gone the EXTRA mile on your bike and are FAR more detailed and caring of their bike than the original Manufacture.

BUT>>>……..one thing though. The HD bike was restored with NOS parts and they a lot of them. most the crates are full and they even have original G523 packing crates in the sales shop for putting display items and to decorate! Take a look when your there next.
SFC Matt Miller,
4-42 GPW,
M-6 81mm hand cart,
4-43 MBT,
4-43 WLA,
1961 M151,
M18 paracaisson,
"Find The Bastards and Pile On" 11th ACR

donk_316
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Re: My 42WLA before and after

Post by donk_316 » Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:19 pm

Hey guys just an update.

I sold this bike :( about 2 years ago now and I seriously regret it to this day. I had it appraised and I was offered a cash offer at full appraisal.

If I could go back in time I would have never have sold it. Lesson learned!

So if anyone ever sees this bike come up for sale again (its in Western Canada as far as I know) please let me know and I would buy her back.
GPW 112092 04-30-43 USA 20372531 (orig)


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