Quite a few amazing tales have been brought to light over the years, finding the obscure \”barn find\” appears impossible that any more could exist. The years have taught us a lot of lessons and none are common than the fact that history repeats itself. Naturally, given plenty of time, it\’s possible, even so the tale behind this \’42 Harley-Davidson WLC seems to be a one time episode. A genuine barn find produces a great tale, but a World War II Harley outlined in Honda bits and stored in a barn in a rural region in England? Well that just has a nice twist to it.
Builder Nick Gale tells us, \”I found it whilst visiting a relative 10 years/ten years ago. I got to talk to a local farmer when I was walking my dog one night and he said he\’s got a classic bike his old man had purchased in 1945 from a Canadian soldier at the conclusion of WWII. The local explained to me he thought it was a Harley, and that it is for sale. The bike had stayed inside the barn from 1945 until1981 he made a decision to make use of it and make it work.\”
Looking over the motorcycle, it had 18-inch front and rear wheels from Honda, a vintage Honda petrol tank, Honda fenders, a Suzuki headlight, handlebars from an lronhead Sportster, a hand clutch, and a big Vincent sprung seat. The farmer had coated the entire bike yellow, including all the nuts and bolts. Nick continues saying that the motorcycle had a long-expired UK registration and after checking the engine, forks, and frame ensuring they were complete, he sealed the deal for the equivalent of $1,200.
Nick adds, \”When I got it back home, I got the bike working and was pleased to see there were no crackling sounds, no smoke, and like several \’42s, once on the road, there aren\’t any breaks.\”
To set the Harley for its rebirth, it was stripped to nothing and thoroughly gone through bolt by bolt. New 16-inch tires were installed to exchange the Honda wheels and the first snafu was encountered. Running the front tire within the springer forks was simple enough, but the farmer had torched and curved the back of the WLC\’s frame to give space for the Honda wheel to match. With many telling him it won\’t workout, Nick decided to preserve the classic frame and just get a little jazzy with the rest of the bike.
Nick said, \”The drop seat concept happened when we cut the back off. We used most of the original pipe work and decided to shape the backbone too. And the frame was created. The most challenging aspect was making the seat plunger to enable us to use a new seat cut down by a good few inches from the original design. It spent four hours using a hammer to remove the existing seat post that was fused together.\” From this point the story goes stagnant. After owning the bike in 2001 and getting the frame remolded, \”custom biker wants\” have won and the old Harley was boxed and shelved for another day. That day didn\’t come for another decade. In early 2011 the boxes were and readied for work again.
Busting the 45-inch engine revealed another amazing discovery. To Nick\’s enjoyment, the inside was like new and with the crank open, the 70 year old grease spilled out. Looking carefully unveiled completely unmarked internals with matching numbers. After bringing the entire stock 750cc flathead back together, the Amal carburetor was rebuilt and topped with a velocity stack made from brass. The rest of the engine received brass accents over new paint and all oil and gas lines were created with hand bent copper tubing. The motorcycle included a battered and dirty clamshell exhaust. To conceal decades of abuse, the pipes were covered to disguise the marks and a curve allows the pipe to spice up a little for more style.
According to Nick, \”The gears are replaced by a smaller sized shifter we made which still runs clutch. All braking systems and clutch components are authentic as are all the switch gear, levers, and cables. Many parts were acquired as authentic or old stock which would possibly be similar as Harley would\’ve done decades ago. The motorcycle starts on the first or second kick not to mention the hill brake works just fine, well, sort of.\”
Body-work was basically not overdone and provides an original overall look, but that\’s when the similarities stop. The back fender began life as a triumph piece that had been modified with a specialized set of two struts and supported with a back light. Adding some across-the-pond design, the license tag is meant to appear like an old English pub signage. What would you expect from any self-respecting English bike builder? Peeking deep into the fuel tank, it becomes apparent some extra hard work was done.
Nick designed and constructed the unit into two interlocking parts identical to the original but with a little more flair and a bend more in accordance with the frame tweaks. The seat moves from the framework mounts to a spring within the classic seat post tube. All the rest of the parts are original \’42 Harley WLC or new old stock. A classic black paint was applied most parts of the bike with gold highlights painstakingly painted by hand. All that is needed is a classic motorcycle helmet to complete the WW II look of the bike.
Within just two days of its six-week modification period, the \’42 WLC was displayed at the South of England Rally and bagged its first trophy as winner of the Best Professional Category. 2 weeks later it made an appearance at the 25th anniversary of the Bulldog Custom show winning Best Classic. After stored in boxes for 10 years, Nick clearly understood that if he didn\’t find the time to do something with the Harley, it would have been another decade for the bike to sit and wait. It went from a must-do project into a labor of love, and then became an obsession. Nick concludes, \”It is a joy to ride once you get used to it. I love it to death.\”
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Rebuilding a Second World War Motorcycle Artifact
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