Advice on finding a WLA 45

[colbymog]

Dear All,

My brother and I have always played with British bikes. We have decided that its time to play with something more American. Our dream ticket would be to find a WLA 45 that we could spend a couple of years tidying up.

So far we have advertised in the local press, talked to our HDRCGB rep and we have an advert going into OLd Bike Mart in August.

There seems to be a few bikes available that have already been restored but we are really struggling to find anything that needs work.

Is there anything else we should try to source one?

Kind Regards

Andy

[banquo]

They come up periodically on eBay, although after all this time, you may be looking at undoing someone else's customising or bad restorations. War Department sometimes have bikes for sale that need work. One on here for £4500... Don't know anything about them, so that's not a recommendation, but I've seen them advertising on here.

[colbymog]

The bike in the advert is 'not available' and the people at war department say they dont get bikes in that need work very often.

I like the idea of restoring a bike that has been badly restored sounds fun!

Thanks for the feedback

Regards

Andy

[banquo]

Originally Posted by colbymog

The bike in the advert is 'not available'

So why's it for sale on their website....

Hope you get some luck finding something anyway...

[Roger]

Originally Posted by colbymog

The bike in the advert is 'not available' and the people at war department say they dont get bikes in that need work very often.

I like the idea of restoring a bike that has been badly restored sounds fun!

Thanks for the feedback

Regards

Andy

Try Ian Clarke at Clarke's Classics 01322 383 431

[colbymog]

Many thanks thats one I have not come accross I will give them a try.

Kind Regards

Andy

[kevscrivener]

Andy

As you've probably noticed on E-bay, 45 prices are horribly inflated at the moment.

Even as a diehard owner (I'm on my second) I don't know why that should be so. They're not particularly rare, struggle to top 70 downhill with the wind up your arse and although the hand change/foot clutch is a doddle once you've mastered it, the 3-speed box don't exactly make for spirited overtaking!

Where to get one? Well they're very popular in Europe, especially Holland and Belgium; you could try leaving a message on the guestbook of HDC Old-Timers, who run the most popular rally for pre-65 HD's.

Link here;

H-DC The Oldtimers

I don't know if any of the members actually deal in bikes, but as the AA advert says, they might "know a man who does".

Prices? If you can get a half-decent runner for 6 grand you've done very well indeed. Not so many years ago you couldn't give the damn things away.

If you want to look into the costs of restoring one you should check out Jan Willem Boon - Obsolete New Old Stock parts for your Harley-Davidson motorcycle and American made replacement parts as he has a current price list on his site. Everything is available for 45's, that's one of the beauties of owning one, and they don't break easily.

One caveat; you will come across a lot of 45's which have been ruined by people wanting to be Captain America and injudiciously applying hacksaws and bad welding to the frames. Avoid them; you could well be buying more trouble than it's worth.

On the positive side, if you come across one with a British gearbox mated to it, it ain't necessarily a bad thing so long as it's been done right. There is a guy comes on here called 45 Brit who's forgotten more about these "specials" than I'll ever know so I'll leave all talk of that to him.

[colbymog]

From your description it sounds fantastic. My favourite bike at the moment is a 1954 Panther which will pull 50mph if you lie on the tank and put your feet on the rear footrests!

Thanks for the suggestion I have put a post on the guestbook much appreciated.

My experience of the EBAY thing is it just pushes prices up and I cant understand why. When I got into Panthers you could not give them away now they fetch silly money. Not anywhere as silly as WLA 45s though!

Thanks again

Andy

[BaZa®]

Originally Posted by colbymog

Dear All,

My brother and I have always played with British bikes. We have decided that its time to play with something more American. Our dream ticket would be to find a WLA 45 that we could spend a couple of years tidying up.

So far we have advertised in the local press, talked to our HDRCGB rep and we have an advert going into OLd Bike Mart in August.



Kind Regards

Andy

Andy who is your local rep why not come in here and say hello?

BTW.....................

[colbymog]

Baza my local section will be the Isle of Man. My local rep was very helpful and gave me a bunch of contacts to try. Non of the contacts knew of anything. Will keep trying though.

I will post something to introduce myself thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Regards

Andy