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FROM THE FRONT: Restoring a reconnaissance vehicle |
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STORY: Eric Thiessen
PHOTOGRAPHY: Douglas Little
Walking into Bill Briercliffe's Transcona workplace is like
stepping into a museum of the highest order, dedicated to preserving
relics of yesteryear for the ages of tomorrow. Along the walls,
history stares back at you everywhere. From the propellers from
the First World War, to original maps of the future city of
Transcona, to rubbings done on ancient European crypts, the
past bleeds off the walls.
It makes you forget that you're actually in a funeral chapel
for a moment.
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Briercliffe's passion for history, and the preservation of history
spans generations, as the massive family tree hanging on the
wall will attest to. Tracing his family's history back to the
time of William the Conquerer, it's not the physical dimensions
of the hanging that speak volumes of the mild-mannered man who
put it there, nor the abundance of nobility and great people
to have come from the Briercliffe bloodline. Instead, it is
the family motto, Tange Me Pugeris -Touch or hurt me at your
peril. These are fitting words for a man dedicated to preserving
and restoring one of the greatest motorcycles of all time; the
Harley-Davidson WLC-45.
"When I first got it, the seats were changed and there
was a lot of chrome and decals everywhere," Briercliffe
said. "And really, I needed a bike like a hole in the head.
But since I was lucky enough to get one, I decided to make it
the way it was supposed to be." Making it the way it was
supposed to be has become a way of life for Briercliffe and
his fellow military vehicle enthusiasts at the Prairie Command
and Military Vehicle Association but, he added, the process
of full historical restoration has some drawbacks.
"It's a very rigid ride, very difficult ride. The only
flex you have is in the coils of the seat, which is pretty rigid
as well. Plus, it has the old style suicide shift, and the original
handlebars came out like steer's horns," Briercliffe said,
adding that some compromises had to be made in the name of safety
to others when restoring the classic.
"I'm not hung up on it having to be totally original the
whole way, I wanted it to be dual-purpose. When you're in the
parades, the other vehicles are going so slow, and you're struggling
to keep it standing up," Briercliffe explained as he pointed
out the only modifications that weren't original to the wartime
model. "The original bike was hard to handle and flimsy,
so I went with the more modern curved handlebars, and put larger
tires on it."
The original WLC-45 was intended as a front-line reconnaissance
vehicle in the Second World War, but Briercliffe said due to
the fact it was taken straight from the Harley-Davidson production
lines, the bike was a failure on the battlefield.
"It was a poor choice for what it was intended for. The
British bikes of the era were much more suited for its purposes,"
Briercliffe said. "The Harley didn't have enough clearance
to really go off road much and would get bogged down."
Today, the WLC-45 is generally regarded as one of the great
historical bikes of all time, and Briercliffe takes a great
amount of pleasure in riding the bike during events where Prairie
Command's vehicles make a latter day show of force. But, Briercliffe
said that there were certain drawbacks to being one of the few
parade members with a swift moving vehicle.
"We started out with the trucks, but since they moved so
slowly in modern traffic, you become a real menace to other
vehicles. So, I began to think it'd be real handy to have a
vehicle that was a bit more suited for today," Briercliffe
said. "Being able to show it and ride it in events, it's
nice, but it's difficult to ride. When you're in the parades,
the other vehicles are going so slow and you're struggling to
keep it standing up."
Briercliffe's said his plans are extending beyond motorcycles
for the time being. When asked what his future plans were, Briercliffe's
eyes lit up describing his next restoration project.
"I've always had a hankering for a Bren Gun Carrier, which
was the original troop transporter. But I'm restoring a field
artillery tractor right now, which might be impossible to restore
fully (due to lack of surviving parts)," Briercliffe said,
undaunted.
"But I think there might be parts along the side of the
Alaska Highway somewhere."
FACTOID: HARLEY-DAVIDSON AT WAR
During the First World War, the U.S. military used approximately
20,000 motorcycles, the majority of which were Harley-Davidsons.
One day after the signing of the Armistice, Corporal Roy Holtz
of Chippewa Falls, Wis., was the first American to enter Germany
- he was riding a Harley-Davidson.
During the Second World War, Harley-Davidson dedicated nearly
all production to the war effort. By the end, it produced more
than 90,000 motorcycles for military use.
Source: www.harley-davidson.com |
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