British Motorcycle Gear

By Joe Berk

The Harley WLA at the National Infantry Museum was a lot prettier than any other WLA I had ever seen, but  I wasn’t impressed.  It was way over-restored, finished in gloss OD green (something I had never seen on a WLA before).  I couldn’t find anything in my research to show that any World War II Harleys might have had such a paint treatment.  I found a reference that indicated Army administrative vehicles were sometimes painted gloss OD, but nothing about motorcycles.

Can you say over-restored?
Fancy leather. I doubt anyone ever sat in this saddle.
The port side of the Harley 45.

I once saw General William Westmoreland’s Cadillac Sedan de Ville in Washington, DC, and it was gloss OD.  But WLAs had been out of service long before that, and in any event, when I spoke with General Westmoreland he didn’t mention anything about riding motorcycles.  If anyone out there knows anything about WLAs with glossy paint, please leave a comment.


Want to know more about Police and Military Motorcycles?


Join our Facebook ExNotes page!


Never miss an ExNotes blog:


Help us keep the lights on:


Don’t forget: Visit our advertisers!


Joe Berk

Recent Posts

The Wayback Machine: Aging Out

By Joe Berk A wise man once said there comes a time in every man's…

4 days ago

A Shift In Battery

By Joe Gresh I was going to do a bunch of stories on my solar…

1 week ago

Ray Price and the Legends of Harley Drag Racing Museum

By Joe Berk What I knew about motorcycle drag racing up until a few weeks…

2 weeks ago

Dos Ojos Cavern Dive – Mexico

By Mike Huber Introductory Disclaimer:  So as I have been writing these blogs the last…

3 weeks ago

It’s Miller Time

By Joe Berk On our recent visit to Milwaukee, we visited the Miller brewery.  It's…

4 weeks ago

The Big Dig

By Joe Gresh One of the reasons we got such a good deal on The…

1 month ago