Harley-Davidson WLC
Welcome to our ‘Vehicle of the Month’ 2021 blog post series which we are continuing since August last year to share some of the most fascinating and remarkable car and motorbike stories, restoration projects and travel adventures of our customers.
Last month we shared the story by Ian and his Mister Softee Ice Cream Van. This April we're continuing with our ninth 'Vehicle of the Month' - our first motorbike story by Ross and his Harley-Davidson WLC named 'Betty'.
But before we dive into Ross's story, we have found this short video by Joël Stoppels Battlefield Tours to help us set the scene:
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In Ross's words:
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"I acquired Betty ( one early 1942 Harley Davidson WLC), from Zossen, about 25 miles south of Berlin, she was found in January 1946 in a ditch by a young lad. Him and his two friends managed get her out and back to Gustavs home, they put Betty into an out building and this is where she stayed, untouched, until July 2016, this is when I heard about this bike, tracked her down and managed to purchase her".
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"The markings you see on her are the marking I uncovered under hand painted green. This was and is, one of the most complete and original finds to date of a true war bike. Everything you see is either original to Betty or NOS, genuine WW2 military Harley parts. The exception to this being tires and tubes, battery and the leather on the seat".
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"The radio is an original and very rare radio set fitted to some Harley Davidsons , this is fully operational and fitted with a Bluetooth receiver so that original radio chatter can be played".
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"The panniers are original to Betty I saved them, as is the scabbard. Every single last nut, bolt, washer, is exactly right, including the parkerised finish. There’s two parts of Betty not restored, the gear link (original wartime paint) and the speedometer face, I like here where the face and showing her age/history, I do have an NOS face, but just couldn’t bring myself to change it".
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"So, next she is a WLC, made for the commonwealth contract for Canada, but, only 72 of the total 25000 WLC variant where made to the WLA spec, of this 72, she is the only one remaining".
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"WLC running spec with WLA tin/load out".