t
ake a good look at the bike on these pages, you’d never know by looking at it now, but this 42 WLA went by the nickname of The Liberator by the soldiers who rode them in WWII because of the sometimes brutal punishment the bikes were put through. As a matter of fact, a lot of returning soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen picked up surplus WLA’s and enjoyed them upon their return home. The Motor Company made these in large quantities for the Lend-Lease program that President Roosevelt created to help the Allied
war effort. Some went to Canada as well as Russia, just a quick tip the WL’s that went to Canada were labeled as WLC’s. These bikes also saw a lot of time on the tracks as Harley-Davidson was very active in the racing field for many years. This particular 45 belongs to Chad Trayner. Like many before him, Chad had dreams of this being a racer. Chad started out like most people, in his early 20’s he got a 1990 1200 Sportster, and, in his words, he was hooked! After a few more bikes and just as many years in between he met up with the
Shadetree crew in ‘07 and things have only gotten crazier. This bike actually came to be because one of the Shadetree guy’s (Dave O) entered his WL in The Race of Gentlemen in Wildwood, NJ under the Shade Tree Racing banner. Dave and Chad had a friendly rivalry going between themselves, so Trayner decided he would enter a bike in the next TROG. The only problem was that he really didn’t have a lea on a ride. But as luck would have it one of the other Shadetree guy’s in Indiana, Scotty Murnan had recently scored this 42 WLA, but like most of us,
Article By: Roadside Marty Photos By: Melissa Shoemaker
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June ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
