Were army surplus Harley Davidsons sold in Australia in the sixties?

**Ian C** · 07-03-2010, 05:34 PM

I was always told as a kid you could buy ten unassembled WLA Harleys still in the crate from Army Surplus. Myth or truth?

07-12-2012, 11:57 PM

Hi Ian,

This question has been asked for years now and the question still sometimes surfaces.
In fact, it is partly TRUE if you were 'in the know'. And that was before Jack Johnson, a Harley dealer in Redfern NSW eventually bought every one of them, lock stock and barrel down to every last nut and bolt! I know this because I bought one from him in 1969. He bought about 200 of them unassembled, brand new, 0 mileage on the clock and I personally saw them in a wharehouse that he had. From memory you could buy one still in the army olive green livery for $550, or for $600 painted whatever colour you wanted. Mine was black with white pin striping with a fair bit of chrome and it really was a beautiful machine and to ride.
Even in '69 WLA's weren't everywhere like the modern Harley was and they eventually became quite sought after. Where could you buy a brand new 750cc bike for $600? So Jack Johnson would have made a killing - good luck to him.
There were earlier Harley's around at the time, in particular '36 - '38 Harley's which also were a side valve flathead, known as a 1012 of 1200cc, the largest of the flathead engines, but you couldn't buy a new one of these as they were pre-war.
The WLA was an identical bike with a smaller engine of 750cc or 45 incher for the war effort and Australia aquired 18,000 of them.

There is a particular procedure to starting these Harley's, which was, full choke, ignition off, throttle just cracked and kick it twice. Then it was choke closed, ignition on, a bit more throttle and kick it again, whereafter it would burst into life. I still think the side valve harley is the best sounding of any Harley.

If only I still owned it!

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