45` WLH dutch Military police bike - ever heard about that?

[Lib45]

Here's another post-war Amsterdam Police WL(C..probably..) pic.
The plates on both car and rig are pre-1952..(socalled 'provincial plates' which in 1952 were changed into national plates).
As mentioned before: the dutch police were very happy with surplus/left-behind Harley's left by the canadians..

[dstewart]

Hi All, New here, i picked up this 51WLJ from a guy that bought it 1975 in Jakarta, have just started a restoration, not sure what the Dutch used it for in Indonesia, maybe Police, it has been repainted and i am trying to track down what its original color may have been, what options and colors did the Dutch order.... the older photo id from 1975 and as far as we know it maybe the original color and is what was
copied when it was repainted. I will be on the hunt for a few items, Bags, Tail light lend (glass), front fender trim, i assume these would be very similar or exactly the same as the 51WLA ?IMG_8777.jpgScreen Shot 2019-04-01 at 3.01.42 PM.jpg

[Lib45]

Nice bike, congratulations!

Let's get one thing straight; the 1951 WLJ was not ordered for or by the dutch!
By the time the WLJ could be ordered Indonesia was no longer part of our Royal Kingdom...
The Royal Dutch-Indie Army (KNIL) was dismantled on july 26th 1950..after accepting Indonesian's independence in december 1949.
The dutch were withdrawn to New Guinea.

Although there's no hard proof, according to surviving former KNIL-members, the dutch were forced to hand over all their equipment to the New Independant Indonesian Army (APRI, later back to TNI), but did so reluctantly.
Both camps or bases were only a few miles apart, and some (if not all) vehicles were given the 'handful-of-sand-in-the-oiltank' treathment before riding them to "the other side".

Again, this is just hearsay, no actual proof, but it could explain why the indonesians ordered the WLJ so shortly after being 'given' the motorcycles in use (both english and american makes from former surplus-dumps).

There is very little known about the WLJ;

- it was ordered in little numbers,
- they only emerge in Indonesia, Holland (or via Holland in Europe) and some asian countries...likely with an indonesian source.
- the 'J' probably stands for Jakarta (being given its own name after some 300 years being renamed Batavia by the dutch) or Java.

[Lib45]

Also read Palmer's book on the subject

[dstewart]

Thanks !

Learning the history is going to be fun thats for sure, has there ever been any indication on what color options they had for the WLJ that you know of ?
The bike has survived the test of time well, actually still (well did) runs, but years of repairs in Indonesia and a tours around the world by the previous owner has seen a lot of the hardware replaced with metric bolts and odd bits and pieces, but its 95% complete with original parts, i even have the early 70's registration and plate so all in all it will be a fun restoration

[Lib45]

My best bet, looking at the pictures from posts #169 and #175, a glossy light OD (QM-ES 362 / 24087 ?)
Although it's not been proven these pictured bikes are actual WLJ's...they look new and the dates fall well into the WLJ-production...