In our Home of the Brave Museum, we have a 1942 Harley-Davidson Military Motorcycle on display. It is a model 42WLA-Solo edition and in pristine condition!
Harley-Davidson began producing the WLA's in small numbers in 1940, as part of a general military expansion. The later entry of the United States into World War II saw significantly increased production, with over 90,000 being produced during the war (along with spare parts the equivalent of many more). Unusually, all the WLAs produced after Pearl Harbor, regardless of the actual year, would be given serial numbers indicating 1942 production. Thus, war-time machines would come to be known as 42WLAs.
In early September we had the privilege of having Mr. Steve Honchar and his wife Cindy from Mineral, VA on board our tour. In his younger years, Steve worked on the exact same model motorcycles in his grandfather's Harley-Davidson Shop & was kind enough to share some of his memories in the museum during the tour! They recently mailed us his father's Operations & Maintenance Manual that will soon be on display with the hope that (with Steve's help!) we might someday bring the Motorcycle back to life.
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