Staff Rides - Hear the story behind Kris' 1950 WL 

I doubt you will ever see more love and compassion for these wonderful machines than at wheels through time, if you ain't been, you gotta go.

Good to see them run, not collecting dust.

fun fact: i had captions on (don't know why) during the video and by the end, while the bike was on and nobody were talking caption keep saying "music"... how appropriate is that...

What a badass bike to own!

i could hear you guys talk for hours, thanks for sharing

nice 50', cant wait to visit WTT

I'm just jealous and drooling over that wonderful fifty. That would be so fun to ride.Enjoy it

Beautiful 45 , Actually the nicest stock looking 45 because of the Front Fender . It looks so much nicer to me than the other style that sits up high over the front wheel . The Bike is perfect Nice Black Paint and it runs great ! Thanks for sharing it with us ! Keep up the great work at the WTT Museum !👍

how you got that bike is how i always dreamt i would get a flathead myself. Glad it is your hands !!!!

It’s nice seeing that the flathead 45’s still have a lot of fans, my grandfather got one after leaving the air force a few years after it stopped being the Army Air Corps and bought a surplus WLA. He had all the military stuff kept in boxes and would get changed into military trim every few years for a year along with it usually being in civilian trim and a nice 50’s aqua blue color. He had some nice leather saddle bags which were original options and had beautiful studs and conches on them. What I wanted to say was that he ( & many wla owners ) used to put the 74” flywheels on there bikes to stroke them to ( approximately) 54”? Or 950cc ? ( wish he were here so I could ask him) . He told me it was a common way for 45 owners to get more power out of their bikes and that Indian scout owners did it as well, I know he had a bigger carb on it as well and again I wish he were still around so I could ask him. He’d have loved your channel Matt as much as I do and I wish I could’ve gone to see you guys with him. TY for another reason excellent video as it’s great seeing the people who work at the museum being reall classic American motorcycle enthusiasts, especially seeing a daily running 45 really made my day and brought back great memories. TY again and wishing you all many years of safe and fun riding

Awesome WL Kris. I also learned to ride a motorcycle on my Dad's WLC ( Canadian Military ) when I was 14. I've been riding for 52 years including Motocross racing and a Harley WL still holds a special place in my heart.

Dang, I was born in 51. Great old bike.

Knowing the staff is passionate and ride awesome bikes makes me even more excited to visit next month. The highlight of my week long trip for sure. 🤙

Your first Harley ! Man you hit it out of the park, congratulations. 👍🐷👍

What a cool story, being that's the same year his dad was born...awesome bike!. Love your channel guys

I always loved the old flatheads. Nice to see it being used.

Great bike, greater story. Love this channel. Looking forward to my visit in a little over a month from now!

Beautiful machine! Keep that old iron going & ride safe. Thanks for sharing.

Love all the great content,thanks.

My dad learned to ride on his cousin's Indian Scout which is similar more or less. At any rate, it planted a seed, and he rode until he was 85. My brother and I still ride at 64 & 65 respectively. Cool to see these old bikes being ridden.

I recently purchased Dale’s Channel and watched the restoration of this bike. Dale’s Channel is well worth the money and I would highly recommend it.

The imagery....Iconic.

WHAT A GREAT BIKE !!!!!

Love your videos. I'm so looking forward to visiting WTT again soon.

That thing is beautiful!

Super cool, good job gentlemen, keep up to great work!!

Kris is awesome, spoke to him this past weekend during the Minitruckin Nationals show!

I 'love' my 42 WL and it's one of the best harleys i'v ever had. Never any issue...

the stories and the history behind the bikes are simply priceless.... see you guys the week of may 10th,...coming in from Connecticut... home of The New England Motorcycle Museum...

Outstanding bike! Great story behind it and to know it's a daily ride makes a world of difference! Thanks for sharing it!

Wow amazing

That the most awesome thing ever!

Very cool 👍😎

Cool late type Panhead style 45 front fender. Didn't know KH cams drop right in.

Those WL are so cool. Oozing history.

Makes me wish I had kept one of the 45s that passed thru my hands back in the 50s up into the the 70s. They didn't have a lot of value back then, so sold and traded up on all of them.

Awesome. This is gonna be my 2nd stop after i ride the Suicide Highway!

Matt - good to see things are still moving down there .best of luck and keep up the good work , you had one hell of a teacher !

Sweet bike, thanks for sharing

I'm not even a harley guy but I think the history of some of the bikes are cool.

Beautiful ride

Lovely bike!

More staff rides! So awesome.

Awesome, Awesome, awesome.

Dang that bike is so rad!

Great story!

Seems like a cool man with a cool bike! Look forward to the other staff rides

I'm in southern Calif and I rode 45's (and other old Harleys) for 25 years including to northern Calif. WL's and WLA's. Even an early Servi-Car. Next to my iron Sporty, 45's were my favorite.

I love that bike

Awesome machine....Thanks guy's....!

Amazing motorcycle, but I saw you also have some cars. Is it possible for you to show us a few of them? Greetings, Jakob

I always planned on eventually picking up a UL, but with that simple KH mod, the WL suddenly makes so much more sense. If I ever find myself back in the States, procuring one will be my first mission.

Great bike bro !!

Another cool old bike !

Very Nice!👍

Excellent

Love it . That is my dream bike

Very cool man.

I remember my first suicide side shift, just got it back to gather took a ride in the back yard and got confused with the clutch. Ran into my grandfather garage and layed it over. Jumped off looked around to make sure no one seen what happened picked it up pushed it into the garage and took first offer I got

Great bike Kris!

That sounds like one mean machine and looks great

Nice bike that can go many years as a daily ride. Had a -30 DL as my daily ride from -64 to -66. With all improvements on the WL they can live as long as there is gas.

Nice machine, I think if I ever get another motorcycle, I want a Harley Flathead

Beautiful bike. Glad it is being ridden and not just looked at. I am curious what you museum guys think of those axle mounted rear wheel lifters or whatever they are called. To me they look like something that should be on newer bikes also.

Very cool

I would ride that every day.

Luv it!

Lucky man. You don't go to work get to go there... and please call the merchandise merchandise, it sounds lazy if you call it merch... love this channel 🤠

I’m so jealous

I thought he was about to stop there in the gravel and light up the back tire 😂

I've owned my 50 Panhead since 69 and I still ride her on a regular basis and for longhauls I Ride my 95 Roadking...... RIDE SAFE RIDE FREE MY BROTHERS

Love me a flathead, I’ve got a 42 and a 35 👌🏻

nice.. neat move putting the hot cams in

Nice

Can we get some more info on how you did the KH cams in the WL. Did you press new lobes on WL shafts or is there another trick you used. A 45 motor build series would be killer from you all. So much knowledge is lost over the years as the old riders pass. Having a good source of info on reliable performance gains would be a treat.

Not many men left that can keep these great bikes running. I've known a couple. Iam sure you have heard of bills old bike barn in berwick pa. Bill is retiring and selling out. I think he is keeping his museum open.

Nothing will help you love something better than sweat equity. I'd buy raffle tickets to have Dale's help to restore my 2005 FLHPI. Just turned 20,000 miles & could use expertise.

👍

I am enthralled about the Harley 45 flathead. Since I saw a WLA. Then found out they raced them. They say they built them for WWII even though they had a knucklehead already. So I don’t know why Harley would choose the Flathead over the Knucklehead for war production. But I guess reality speaks for itself. They are still racing these bike over 80 years later.

I'm loving it but for the foot clutch. That's one feature that never should've been put on a motorcycle. I know of a guy who launched one of these bikes under a parked car b/c his foot slipped. Happened when he went to look at a used one for sale, and took it for a "test ride". The owner of the Harley walked up to the prospective buyer lying on the road with the bike wedged under the car and looked down and said, "YOU BOUGHT IT!!!" true story, lol, happened in the 1950s.

a niece gold leaf lucky 7 on the fender would be sweet

Just nice that’s all

How can I donate my time just to be around the bikes being semi retired I think that would be pretty cool

I wish

Learned how to ride with this bike? You've got some big bearings!

Running for pink slips! Matt looks like or gettin another bike for the museum. Nothing about the bikes all with the experience of the rider

That is one beautiful lady. All American DNA genealogy with a twist of spice.

Ride my 49 year old flh everyday proper maintenance they run forever

I'd work there for free !

It would be daily Rider! (Driver would be a car or truck) Rubs

What’s going on with the break lever on the left side?

The bearded bloke has always greasy hands 😀👍

Daily driver ? Have you ever heard of metal fatigue ?

Too clean for a daily. Enjoy

Left Hand Front Brake, Left Foot Clutch, Left Hand shifter....It would take me a LOOOONG time to get used to that

You can kick this bike and not need a new hip in 20 years.