WLA Talk

Image 1 shows 42WLA40000, a typical Type IV.
Note the first pattern front fender, low Ammo Box and painted crankcase and cilinderheads....

Image 2 shows 42WLA63506; a Type VII.
Note the second pattern front fender and the engine breather pipe just visible to the front of the Leg Shields....

I had always had an interest in Harley-Davidson WLAs but a couple of events in 1985 really set me off on the hunt for my own Liberator.

Issue 11 of the Magazine 'Wheels & Tracks' featured a 42WLA built from scratch by Ray Walker.

And seeing this then freshly restored WLA at a Military Vehicle Meet in Hoek van Holland in May 1985 only strengthened my determination to get one.....

At the request of the US Army, Harley-Davidson built the 42XA, a 45ci opposed twin, shaft drive Motorcycle. The Army hoped that a shaft drive bike would stand up better against dirt than chain drive motorcycles. It was patterned after the BMW R71; the motor, transmission and drive train are nearly identical. Only 1000 were delivered in 1942, of which some were equipped with solid disc wheels for use in the desert. The US Army Registration Numbers issued were U.S.A. W614903 thru U.S.A. W615902. It was not put into mass-production and probably none made it overseas.... Today a complete 42XA is indeed a rare motorcycle.

Below are some rare WW2 images of the 42XA in use by the US Army.... All XAs shown belong to Armored Units which would indicate the majority, if not all, XAs were indeed supplied to the Armored Forces.

'Harleys and Scout Cars'

Photo from the Webmaster's Collection

No less than 4 Model XA Motorcycles are lined up during Stateside Manoeuvers early in WW2.
All are equipped with windshields with leatherette apron and at least two have nicknames on the tank.
Close inspection of the original image reveals the markings (both 34AR and 34/\)on the front fenders indicate these bikes belong to the 34th Armored Regiment. The 34th Armored Regiment was constituted at Fort Knox, Kentucky and assigned to the 5th Armored Division on October 1st, 1941. It's 2nd Battalion was redesignated as 34th Armored Bn on September 20th, 1943.
Note the early M2 Half Track and Jeep in the background.

Photos: US Army

Left: Lt John E Harley (son of W S Harley, Chief Engineer and one of the founders of H-D Co) served in the Armored Corps in WW2.
This picture shows him on an XA marked to the Armored Forces Center (AFS)

Right: A 2nd Armored Division Messenger fords a river during maneuvers in April 1942.
The bike is marked HQ 66 above 44 (66Armored Regt HQ...)
Although the cylinders are only slightly visible, it's identified as an XA by the top mounted BO marker light

Large leather waist or 'kidney' belts were a popular accessory for motorcyclists of the 1940's... It gave the rider support and protection of the lower back while riding the 'hard tail' motorcycles on bad roads for prolonged periods of time. They were not available from the Quartermaster Corps, but many riders acquired them directly from Harley-Davidson dealerships or other sources.

Photo: Chad Conway thru Kenton Falerios

'Gavin's Motorcycle Escort'

Corporal Chad Conway astride his WLA in the streets of a ruined Berlin in 1945. Conway was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division's Military Police Platoon and one of General Gavin's escorts.

The saddle of his bike is covered in fur and the handlebar grips are equipped with leather fringes.

The uniform consists of an 'IKE' jacket, wool riding breeches and high leather legging top 'Cavalry' boots. He is armed with a .45 Calibre M1911A1 Pistol, carried in a standard hip holster.
Conway tops off his uniform with a leather kidney belt adorned with a painted 'All American' Divisional sign, and both US and captured German insignia.

41WLA6854 and 42WLA49559 are both owned by Steve Gregori from California.
Both bikes were restored by Steve LeMay in Virginia and they look stunning!

'A Prototype Side Car?'

A member of the French Resistance transports an American Paratrooper without a Motorcycle Driving Permit shortly after the Invasion of France of June 1944.

The WLA is equipped with a prototype Side Car of which only a handful were made and even fewer remain...

;-)

42WLA60650 was up for sale at the October 2007 Show at Ciney, Belgium.
The bike was fitted with a number of early parts which did not fit the Type VI it really is. Notably the 16" rims, after market style horn, high Ammo Box, unpainted crankcase and cylinder heads, early style Data Plate and first pattern Front Fender were incorrect for this bike. By the time I saw the bike again in Normandy in June 2008, the new owner had fitted the correct parts and repainted the bike in a more appropriate olive drab color.
It looks so much more convincing than it did when it was sold....

William Witmeur astride his 42WLA in May 2005. In the background on the right image is the late Patrick Hulin's ultra-rare Chevrolet K51 Signal Corps Panel Delivery Van.
Patrick restored it in the early 80's before he was killed while disassembling Jeep Combat rims in 1984!!......

The 'Hell on Wheels Liberation Convoy' featured several nice MP combinations.....
(Tienen, Belgium, September 4th, 2004)

Steve Greenberg from Portland, OR discovered this super-original Type III 42WLA in 1995 in the same condition as it was left behind in 1945!! It was only missing minor parts and came complete with the wartime US Army registration plate showing the US Army registration number USA 627580
The complete story was related in the MVPA's Army Motors Issue 73, Fall 1995. I photographed the bike at the 1996 MVPA Convention at Portland, Oregon, USA.

Belgian collectors Michel Detrez and Eric Rouvez on their WLAs at Bastogne for the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1994)

October 27th, 2007	June 7th, 2008