We caught up with new members, Glen and Shaun Moger, to give us a run-down on their build of a vintage Harley Flathead in the UK.
45BLOG: "So, what made you guys build a Flathead as your first project together?"
Shaun: "Glenn (Dad) has long been a fan of old Harleys, though the oldest he had previously owned was an early 70's Ironhead Sportster. His first proper taste of a flathead came when working on one at Red Max for Sideburn Magazine Editor Gary Inman.
He also found the bike we ended up buying whilst working at Red Max Speed Shop in another shop a few units up, but it took over a year for the bloke to actually make the sale.
The Bike is a ’42 WLC, which was demobbed and sent to the UK in 1947. The original owner had it until he died in 1999, his son then had it for a year, before selling it to the owner before us in 2000. We doubt it has been ridden far, if at all since the 90s.
Included in the sale was the original buff logbook and photocopies of other books, so we have quite a complete history of the bike.
The bike was in tatty but runnable condition, it retained many of its original army issue parts, though some had been lightly adapted to give it a road going big-twin look.
We thought that this was a perfect project to work on together"
45BLOG: "Every member has a 'story' about their bikes and builds - what happened on yours?"
Glen: "Well, the bike had some 'interesting' parts, including a smattering of replacement Indian parts, most notably the bars. Instead of replacing, we decided to keep them where possible because we like the look and the history.
We have kept all parts and not altered the frame at all, so it could be put back to ‘standard’ (whatever that means!) if we ever needed or wanted to. But for now we’ll stick with the loosely WR / bobber look which first inspired us."
Shaun: "All the paint and coating is new on the frame and tank, but we deliberately didn’t over-polish and smooth back the metal before chrome plating because we liked the authentic historic look to show through.
We heat treated the handmade straight-through pipes and original push rod tubes by heating them to almost glowing, then quenching them in oil to give them amazing colours that vary from bronze to purple and blue. It also makes them well protected and easy to clean with an oily rag.
Glen: "I rebuilt the wheels using all original rim and hubs which were powder coated and laced up with new stainless-steel spokes.
The rear mudguard is handmade out of aluminium with the original front mudguard light fitted with the glass lens painted red and lightly polished which lets the brass show through a little for a cool original finish look.
· Footboards were custom made to look semi-original using the original top plates as the rest was too badly damaged.
All leatherwork including the seat, grips, and battery box were handmade by me.
Shaun: "Reassembly of both the engine and bike was done by the both of us in the garage on weekends. The original Linkert carb was fully renovated by Pete Thompson and the handmade rear mudguard was by Dave Tucker. The re-bore was by OCS Services in Winchester. Paint was by Lee Cockram at Rooster’s Voodoo Paint, Pinstriping was done live at the Red Max Speed Shop open day by Joeby. Chrome was by Hampshire Plating, and Powder Coating by Trestan’s in Southampton - there, that's all the shoutouts done (laughs)"
45BLOG: "What about you guys, what brought you to Vintage Harleys?"
Glen: "I'm 59 and my first Harley was a '74 Ironhead Sportster, followed by a '84 EVO, and am a City and Guilds qualified mechanic, and also a bespoke motorcycle upholsterer at Glenn Moger Motorcycles.
My main ride is my Norton Commando 850 Mk1A, which I bought back in'81, and completely rebuilt the bike after it was bought as an accident scrap.
I have been building rides at Max Speed Shop since 2009, and thought that it was time to get back onto a Harley. The WLC took a while for us to get it bought, but it was well worth the wait."
Shaun: "I've just turned 25, but grew up loving bikes from day 1 due to dad’s influence. My first ride was aged 3 months in a sidecar fitted to the Ironhead!
Perhaps my first time ‘helping’ dad was when I famously walked around Sammy Miller’s Motorcycle Museum as a toddler, and whilst he wasn’t looking I collected every oil drip tray my little arms could carry to give to him!
My main rides are a 1959 Triumph 5TA/Speed twin and a 1978 Suzuki SP370 both customised to be a scrambler style and a BMW R100GS I share with dad.
Since 2018 I have started Shaun Moger Art, doing commission paintings of vintage motorcycles, and selling prints, mugs, and clothing featuring the designs.
From the age of 10 I have accompanied dad on Vintage Motorcycle Club events such as the Cheddar Trial, first as a passenger on his Norton, then as a rider from the age of 17 on my Suzuki and Triumph - so I guess vintage bikes have been in my blood since birth.
We both fell in love with the Vintage Flathead and were excited to work on it together - We're happy with how it turned out and now can't wait for Summer to ride it"