Harley WLA BMX Inspired Custom Motorcycle

There was a time when you could buy a brand new army surplus flathead Harley WLA still in the cosmolene for a few hundred bucks. They were advertised in the back of comicbooks in the 1960s. all you had to do, after paying for it, was to clean off all the nasty goo and put together the major pre-assembled components and pertend you are a fll size GI Joe.Well a lot of those old 45 cubic inch Harleys were made and there are still plenty of parts to be had fairly cheaply. So we are not surprised to see a whol enew generation of motorcycle riders putting their own next generation spin into their builds. Here is one pretty far from the norm.  Every now and then, a truly original chopper comes along—like this BMX-inspired custom from Danny Schneider of Hard nine Choppers. They’re based in Bern, Switzerland, and yes, it seems an unlikely place to be ripping apart a vintage Harley-Davidson flathead. this bike started life as a WLA, which means it’s powered by a 45 ci flathead and it was one of 90,000 built for the US army. (It’s listed as a 1942 model, but apparently “All the WLAs produced after Pearl Harbor, regardless of the actual year, would be given serial numbers indicating 1942 production.”)The frame, fork and engine are original and restored, but Schneider has fitted Dell’Orto carburetion and a three-speed gearbox from a three wheel Harley Servi-Car. then he hand-made most of the other key components, including the gas tank, foot controls, air filter, frame guards, shifter and headlight.The bars and pegs are modified BMX items, and the oil tank hides a six-volt battery. The pipes are stock, but that’s not an oversight on Schneider’s part: Swiss regulations on what you can and cannot do to motorcycles are very strict. still, it doesn’t stop Schneider from enjoying his D’MX—it gets thrashed harder than most stock Harleys, let alone customs. and Schneider has the pictures to prove it. Tags: Harley WLA this entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 8:00 am and is filed under Classic Motorcycle, Custom Motorcycle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Harley WLA BMX Inspired Custom Motorcycle