picked up my first harley project last fall and restored it..its a 1943 wlc..but im starting to wonder if it is a civilian model..the serial number is throwing me off.usually they have more than 4 digits from the ones ive seen so far.original grey paint under the repaint..the fenders and front brake are more like the knucklehead type...could this be a civilian model?...i read that there were 38 civilian bikes made in 1943 that were sold to various company executives..all came in only one colour..grey..

 

Can you put some pics up, bet everyone would to see it.

 

yes i will take some shots of it tomorrow when i have some daylight and figure out how to post them..im a good mechanic but im retarded with technology,especially when it comes to computers..please bear with me lol

 

IIRC, a "WLC" was a military 45" built for Canada. As for the serial number, I'm at a loss. However, being that it was built for a "foreign" government, I suppose anything is possible, and they may have used a different numbering system for them.

 

Soviet Union received 34,000 WLA motorcycles during Great Patriotic War (WW 2).

 

sorry folks,still working on trying to post pics but having difficulty as i am using my phone to do this.sent an email to myself with photos and attempted to forward them but no luck..im a military collector and restorer from manitoulin island,ontario canada and work closely with many of the museums here so ive been able to examine a good handful of wlcs and some wlas..some noteable differences between the 2 but the main one that stands out is the wlc had a footclutch and a hand clutch..no evidence that there was ever a hand clutch on this one..also my springer front end and bars are factory chrome..which was an option on the 38 that were produced

 

WLC is a WLA that went to Canada.

 

Are you saying there are only 4 digits in the number part of the VIN? If so, that matches the numbering scheme for that era. Is it something like 43WLC1234?

 

also,the old boy that i bought it from picked it up back in the 60s at a surplus auction and indicated to me that in those days the 45s were considered "the farm tractor" of harleys and considered valueless..he told me everyone including himself were more into the 'big twins' and these 45s were often just raided for parts..that being said it is highly unlikely that this particular bike has had any parts changed on it...as for the vin#,the wlcs that ive seen have a much higher range of digits and lower numbered examples will have a zero before the actual number

 

yes thats how this one is numbered..43wlc8911 in my case