1943 Harley Bobber

Thank God There's Harleys...   So, let's show them!

Jib from Devon, England sent us these photos of his absolutely beautiful Harley Bobber which he affectionally names Elsie. Sweet Elsie started life as a Canadian Army WLC Flathead in 1943. She's quite young lady!

Jib: "Hi, here's some pictures of my 1943 Harley WLC. I bought this bike in 1996 as a tea chest case rather than a basket case, and rebuilt her in my mates spare room. When I got her she was raked out with a goose neck. The extended springer forks snapped the rear legs twice, so I cut the rake out and used some modern teles with a Sportster hub machined to fit with a disc and small caliper."

1943 Harley Bobber named Elsie

Jib: "Great site you have, hope you like Elsie as much as I do, as and when I find some old pictures of her when she was a long forker I will forward them on.
Regards, Jib (Devon, England)"

The WLC's were built by the Harley Davidson Motor Company for the Canadian Army during the years 1942-1943. Just like the US Army WLA model, the WLC had a 45 cubic inch engine with low compression for durability in the field.

Now, who wouldn't love to take Elsie out for a spin?

1943 Harley Davidson WLC Engine

Here's some close up pictures of the 1943 WLC Flathead engine and exhaust system:

Jib: "The engine has Harley KH cams and angle ground rollers in the tappets, the valves have been relieved to the KH pattern and the heads milled to about 6.5:1. The inlet and exhaust ports have been cleaned up and flowed. I'm running a Mikuni VM32 and modified radiused manifold. The mag is a NOS Joe Hunt Sportster one. The engine sprocket is a 33 tooth. The bike pulls strong up to seventy and hits 80 no sweat, cruising at 60 is sweet."

1943 Harley Flathead Engine

(January 2011)

Our Supporters: