This is Leon Auld's 42 WLA which he has owned for over 30 years. The
photo is hopelessly inadequate to do it justice as it was taken in
his garage at night with an instamatic camera. Better photos were
taken at the Maitland show and will be here when they are developed.
There are too many interesting features and history about this bike
to start to describe them.
As soon as Leon get's round to writing about it the whole history
will be posted here.
Well the better pics have arrived and are below.
Including the incredible pictorial history of this machine.
Now
here we have some better pictures.
This was taken at the Manilla Rally where it won Best Early Harley
and Most Outstanding V Twin.
This is another engine shot just because it's simply so good to look at.
Another bit of a close up.
It doesn't matter how close you get. It still astounds you.
Here it is in the living room stage.
And a bit later on still in the living room.
In the time before the Time Bandit there was the Other Thing.
Yes, Belive it or not. This is the same bike.
Then, before that, there was the Chopper phase.
An actuall used every day one.
Which really looked the part.
In another incarnation there was the chair! This is how it looked originally ! And that's not Leon standing beside it.
The only way I can tell the Time Bandits history is with a story!
I bought the Time Bandit in 1964 for 34 pounds 15 shillings ($69.50).
I was 13 yrs old. Untill I was old enough to hold a licence (17 yrs
old) I rode her in the bush. 6 months before my 17th birthday I
repainted her black.
In1972 I wanted a chopper. The front forks stayed at stock length but
I changed what I could. In Australia at that time there was no custom
parts made for Harleys, you made them yourself.
That year I got my call up notice for the army (draft). I stayed in
the army for 14 yrs. Late 78 a large plump of bog (body filler) fell
from the frame. After the eight stichers were taken out of my leg I
removed all the bog and changed the 21 inch front wheel back to an 18
inch painted her black and fitted a sidecar.
The sidecar stayed on untill I was discharged from the army in 1985.
Back home I had two other bikes on the road so I didnt need her for
street work. My first go at building a full custom was the thingie.
I got bagged too much about that one and the motor banged a bit so
in 1989 I pulled her down to the bare frame. As my only income is
from a disablity pension (I was hurt bad in the Army) I rebuilt her
part by part detailing each part or unit before moving on to the next.
Starting with the front forks then the mag wheels. The gearbox took 8
monyhs to polish by hand starting with 80 grit sandpaper finishing
the sanding with1200 grit then polishing with paste. I had to wait a
month or two before I could rebuild the gearbox as my fingers had to
heal. They blead a bit. I made the beaten copper inserts in the
living room while watching TV. The bike was there so Icould fit them
properly. What do you think, Is it ok ?
Leon