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Stenciled text on petrol tank


rewdco

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I have seen similar markings on ex BAOR motorcycle tanks before, they seem to have been “common”…

 

Does anybody know what they mean? I guess it's the date and the type of rebuild that the bike went through, and maybe the date that it was laid up?

 

Thanks for your help!

Jan

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The Reliability Class is based on the age of the vehicle in service irrespective of any time in storage.

 

Class 1 - for first 60% of planned life

Class 2 - for next 40% of planned life

Class 3 - over planned life

 

Planned Life for B Vehicles was set in EMER MANAGEMENT N 523, I have got this EMER but not to hand.

 

'73 B VD' looks like 73rd B Vehicle Depot, part of 7th Vehicle Group HQ Castle Donnington. I'm afraid I don't know the location of 73rd all I have is that for 72nd & 75th.

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Thank you very much Clive, that's very interesting!

 

I forgot to add that this bike also has a brass MoS rebuild plate. This plate states that it was "overhauled" in July 1953 in Workshop B145. Unfortunately the text on my correspondent's tank is a bit vague (see first pictures in this thread), but it looks as if there's a 1953 and / or a 1954 date there. Would that mean that this bike was overhauled shortly before it was being laid up as a Class 1 vehicle (in 1953 or 1954)?

 

Thanks for all the input!

Cheers,

Jan

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Yes it looks as if it was overhauled before going into storage. I don't know where MTRS Workshop B145 was, but some of the these places were civilian companies contracted by the MoS. I think there was one garage in Weston Super Mare that did work on a lot of Champs.

 

It wouldn't have stayed Class 1 indefinitely as it would be modified with time as I understand it worked like this.

 

Say a vehicle had a Planned Life of 10 years & it went into storage after 4 years this is in the first 60% of PL so Class 1.

 

After say 8 years it would be into next 40% of PL so becomes Class 2.

 

After say 11 years it is beyond PL so becomes Class 3.

 

There was a change in casting policy that included a mileage age, so the Planned Life was computed from charts that adjusted the age that allowed heavily used vehicles to "age" more quickly & vehicles with a fairly light service life to live longer in their Reliability Class.

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I don't know where MTRS Workshop B145 was, but some of the these places were civilian companies contracted by the MoS. I think there was one garage in Weston Super Mare that did work on a lot of Champs.

 

 

Clive,

The MTRS Workshop at Weston-Super-Mare was B269, it was Henlys who were Austin main dealers, I think other Austin military vehicles also went through their workshops.

 

Richard

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I was discussing the meaning of Class with Richard as he felt that it was more likely to be related to the recent rebuild. My description of Class was based on definitions of vehicle depot processes in the 1960s/70s.

 

However I happened to be perusing (as one does when there is "nothing on the tele") Regulations for Army Ordnance Services, Volume 2 - War, Pamphlet No.9. It gives quite a different take on Class & as this was issued in 1949 is going to be much more likely to be applicable to your markings.

 

Of note is that the difference between Class I and II is determined by age & mileage, but unlike the later Class system it was not wholly related to that. The later system was exclusively for marking vehicles in storage that were fit.

 

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Hello John,

 

Thanks for joining this thread!

 

As can be seen on the "rebuild plate" (post #6), this bike has frame number and "duplicated frame number" (on the engine) 4723. The factory ledgers show that this one left the factory gates on 06/09/43, as part of military contract S/1945. Your bike (frame number 11115) left the factory gates on 23/10/45, as part of military contract S/7112.

 

Does your bike also have a "rebuild plate"? If so, what was the post war registration number? (03 YA 10 in case of #4723).

 

Jan

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