Identification motorcycle engine Harley Flathead Discuss Identification motorcycle engine in the Classic Harley Motorcycles forums; Hello everybody, iam Arjan and iam from the netherlands .(sorry for my bad english ) Last week a buy a Harley davidson motorcycle , it was a WL ? i ...

[Arjan]

Hello everybody, iam Arjan and iam from the netherlands .(sorry for my bad english)

Last week a buy a Harley davidson motorcycle , it was a WL ?
i bought it from a family , the husband of the family starts the restoration a few years ago, but , he get sick and died last year.
So they sell the bike to me .

i have a few qestions now , how can i identificate the motorcycle ?

i think its a WL model , the selling family say to me that the bike was build in 1939.(they cant find papers or other stuff from the bike )

i read the engine number see pic) w?61716

Can anyone help me with this question ?

[Flatheadrene]

Originally Posted by Arjan

Hello everybody, iam Arjan and iam from the netherlands .(sorry for my bad english)

Last week a buy a Harley davidson motorcycle , it was a WL ?
i bought it from a family , the husband of the family starts the restoration a few years ago, but , he get sick and died last year.
So they sell the bike to me .

i have a few qestions now , how can i identificate the motorcycle ?

i think its a WL model , the selling family say to me that the bike was build in 1939.(they cant find papers or other stuff from the bike )

i read the engine number see pic) w?61716

Can anyone help me with this question ?

Hoi Arjan,

Maar even in Nederlands. Ik weet niet of je ondertussen al meer informatie hebt wat betreft het nummer van je blok. Maar als ik het zo bekijk is het ingeslagen motornummer niet origineel. De letters en cijfers zien er heel anders uit dan wat ik gezien heb ( en ik probeer elk nummer van een liberator te bekijken als ik er een zie). De letter naast de beginletter 'W' is onleesbaar en lijkt een beetje op een 'G'.
Als je deze foto`s op Flatheadpower of de 42wla yahoo-group zou plaatsen ontstaat er wel een discussie over het bloknummer. Maar een W uit 1939 met zo`n hoog bloknummer lijkt me dubieus. Aan de andere kant; ga je voor originaliteit of voor het rijden. Zolang het een zijklepblok is met 750cc, maakt het voor het rijden of de prestatie van de motor niet uit welk nummer er in geslagen staat.

Groeten, Rene, Zwolle

[JCourneyaP]

Flatheadrene: Care to share with the rest of us on the site in ENGLISH! If not next time send em a personel message. Kinda rude dont you think?

[evoKENevo]

I'm no "Nederlander"..and don't speak/read the language. But,in attempting to get SOMETHING out of all that "jibberish"..I found "motornummer niet origineel" Which I figure (not to be taken as gospil) means "motor number not original". And,futher down I found "bloknummer (same as above?) lijkt me dubieous". Which I figure (again) means/repeats that the block (eng.) number has me (him) leary. There's also some kind of reference to the letters W & G...and,in my own observation I'M seeing some pretty "dubieous" inconsistantcies in the engine-stampings too.

Sure would be nice/interesting to see it in the ENGLISH version,though..and GET something out of it !!
Like..uhh,WHAT-IS that sucker,anyhow ???

[Whopper]

I copied the text from the message onto the Dutch to English translator on Bablefish.yahoo.com. It is a computerized translator so the result is not precise but somewhat understandable. The respondent said that the numbers look bogus, they don't jive with any that he's seen previously and he doubts they what Harley used in 1939. He suggested the picture be posted on a website Flatheadpower or 42wla to see if anyone else had a clue. Then he says why not ride the bike and don't worry about it.