Motorcycle restorers Unsung heroes

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UNSUNG HEROES

Motorcycle restorers

Old motorcycles in running condition are almost impossible to find, you can sometimes find a frame here or a box of parts there but it is very seldom you will find the whole motorcycle in one piece. In order to restore a motorcycle you have to be part detective to track down all the pieces you need to finish the machine and in some cases you may have to search for years to find one or two parts to complete the motorcycle. The men that restore motorcycles are a special breed and in my books are the Unsung Heroes of the motorcycle world. Many different people get involved with building motorcycles for different reasons, the biggest reason people restore old motorcycles is to give that motorcycle life again. They can’t wait to get the oil pumping through its lines, the air and gas mixture flowing into those cylinders and to hear the thump, thump sound coming from its exhaust. The restorer might really like and look for one model of motorcycle; or he may have an emotional attachment to one particular bike because a friend or relative had one or he just might have happened to stumble across someone who had lots of parts for an old motorcycle and he decided to give it his best shot to see how it turns out. For many reasons some men start but never finish the restoration and then either the complete bike is again sold in pieces or someone else purchases the machine and tries to finish the project. It is admirable to take on such a project but woe to those who think it an easy task. Many who now own restored motorcycles have left it up to others to do the hard work and they came up with the bucks to pay them. There are many restored old motorcycles; you can see them at Vintage Motorcycle Club Shows, at some of the custom motorcycle or car shows and sometimes at some of the motorcycle rallies. As in most cases involving someone else’s motorcycle, look but don’t touch.

The finished product – a 1942 Harley Davidson WLC “45 Cubic inch”.

You had to be one tough son of a gun to ride one of these old Harleys down Europe’s dirt roads and fields during the war.

IN THE BACKGROUND BEHIND THE HARLEY 1942 WLC IS PIER 21

Halifax was founded in 1749 and celebrates 250 years of Democracy in 2008. Halifax is the birthplace of Democracy in North America and the citizens of this city are proud of the fact.

The port of Halifax welcomed newcomers first at the finger piers that lined the harbour and then in 1924 immigrants slowly began arriving at Pier 21. Pier 21 officially opened in 1928 and The New Amsterdam was the first immigrant ship to arrive there. Pier 21 was a complex of buildings that contained immigration services, Health and Welfare offices, offices for the Department of Agriculture, Customs, Red Cross Society, a hospital, a nursery, a detention centre, a volunteer room and dormitories. Many men arrived alone and they would find a job and then send for their wife and children. There was an assisted package scheme program set up by the Immigration Services that would help these families.

Almost 500,000 military personnel left for Europe thru Pier 21 and only about 450,000 came back. 48,000 war brides with their children arrived during the war years on every type of boat and luxury liner available. Displaced people with no countries to return to after the war began arriving in Canada thru Pier 21 in 1947

The Canadian Government had to adjust to a peacetime economy and find work for one million members of the Canadian armed forces and also new work for the one million people who were employed in the war effort. At first there was a problem with also finding employment for new immigrants but soon the thriving post war economy had jobs for almost everyone.

David Valley restored the old 45 Harley over the course of 5 years. David bought 50% of the bike parts from Wade Simms a local guy who sells Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycle, ATV and snowmobile

parts on E-Bay see his website; David purchased 25% of the parts from Restoration 45 located in Albany N.Y., some parts he purchased from the internet and the rest he bought from a guy in Cape Breton who said they came from the Harley Davidson dealer that was located in Sydney Nova Scotia during the 1950’s. When David purchased the parts from Cape Breton they were being stored in World War 11 dynamite boxes.

Earl Haggerty on the left and Dave Valley own Precision Powder Coating. The business is located in Burnside Park. website

Dave and Earl both own newer Harleys, Dave owns a 2001 Softail Springer and Earl owns a 2005 Electric Glide Standard (The Geezer Glide) and both are members of Central Nova Chapter of HOG website .

Earl is also a member of the Old Geezers Club.

Dave put lots of effort into keeping everything as original as possible.

One trick item is the LED brake lights.

During World War 11 Harley Davidson made about 70,000 WLA and WLC for the U.S. army and their allies. Enough spare parts were also made for 30,000 more bikes.

Used by U.S. and Canadian troops for messenger duties and Military Police bikes these motorcycles earned the name “Liberator” in Europe since the WLC’s and their riders were usually the first to arrive in the formally German occupied towns of Europe.

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