Le Prof

Hi @REME 245 You are quite right, the original poster isn't talking about a BSA parabike, since he mentions Raleigh. (it may not even be a military bicycle) since he doesn't say). Sirhc mentioned Michelin as a source for parabikes, (incidentally, Michelin was an original supplier for parabike). I was just adding another source for a traditional tread pattern which may also be applicable to a Raleigh of the period if he can find the right size. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @MartinN Parabike tyres are 26 x 1"3/8, and I usually buy Raleigh Records for them which are easily available. I can find Raleigh Record 24 x 1"3/8, but not 24 x1"1/8, which seems to be only available as a modern BMX size. Are you sure of the tyre size? Best Regards, Adrian

Thanks @sirhc So much better (-:. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @Nikitas Thanks for the photos. That does look nice and complete. A translation into English with acknowledgement to your website, and another couple of photos: Ιστορικά στοιχεία: Η παραγωγή του οχήματος διήρκεσε από το 1913 έως το 1922 και έμεινε σε υπηρεσία έως και το 1940. Ο Ελληνικός στρατός χρησιμοποιούσε άγνωστο αριθμό από αυτά, μάλλον από την περίοδο της Μικρασιατικής εκστρατείας. Πιθανός μερικά να υπήρχαν σε υπηρεσία έως τα τέλη της δεκαετίας του ’30. Πρέπει να χρησιμοποιήθηκαν σε δύο διαφορετικούς τύπους, φορτηγό και ασθενοφόρο. Historical facts: Production of the vehicle lasted from 1913 to 1922 and remained in service until 1940. The Greek army used an unknown number of them, probably from the period of the Asia Minor campaign. It is possible that some were in service until the late 1930s. They must have been used in two different types, a truck and an ambulance. I'm not in a position to take this on (I wish I were!), but I hope I've helped, and wish you the best of luck with the sale. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @Nikitas, and welcome. With great respect, knowing which country the truck is in will help determine a place value. As would photos, etc. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi Nick, You probably already tried to see if it's still registered. So not currently registered. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @SRD I have a soft spot for these, being as they are the first 'old fashioned' vehicle that was ever identified as such to me, when someone in the early 1970's bought me the 'Models of Yesteryear' version: I regret that I won't be bidding, but I'll quietly envy the new owner (-: Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @Enigma RAF Type 1900, RAF designation for a jeep. More details here:

The stencilling under the paint is for a box of five of these.

Hi Rob, PM sent.

Hi Rob, I don't know if it's of use to you, but there is one sitting by a garage in south central France, where it's been for some years. It was there in September 2022 when I last passed through the area. I have no idea if it's for sale. Let me know if you'd like further details. Best Regards, Adrian

Actually, it is slightly better for me now. The advert at the bottom of the page which would slide in and out seems to have gone. But I still have the large ad at the top of the page, and the occasional ad interspersed into the text, which look like a reply to the topic, and so can lead to non sequitur moments. Thanks for resolving what you have, but do we know the reason for it? Will it ever get back to the previous (better) format? Best Regards, Adrian

Hi, thanks for trying to resolve it. My screenshot is somewhat ironic (-:

Hi @John Bradshaw Sorry for the delayed response. It's a bank holiday here (14th July), giving me a chance to catch up on my post. I have fingers in too many pies at times. (-: Thanks for the additional information. I appreciate you taking the time. For research, no I have not seen your images from the 1979 BSA company records, and would welcome a view. I understand there is very little paperwork remaining from BSA, but some wartime production minutes and other documents are stored at University of Warwick. I keep intending ordering the files one weekend when I'm over there toread through, just to see if there's anything of interest. eg, "minutes of the meetings of the Research and Design and Management sections, 1944-1952; copies of the minutes of minutes of the Sales, Research and Design and Management meetings, 1944-1945;" https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/BSA I suspect ythese are too late for what we are interested in, but I can't find anything else, and you never know. (-: Best Regards, Adrian PS, please see the Personal Mail I've sent you through the site.

Hi John, Thanks for that. (-: It looks like I'm going to have to rejoin facebook. I've been avoiding it, but there must be a few frames I've not seen on that chat. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @John Bradshaw We've all been there (-: Thanks, I'd not seen the parabike in the link. Thanks for pointing it out. (-: Sadly, no S/N, (when researching, this is really frustrating, I have seen literally hundreds I couldn't get a S/N for) but it must be quite close to yours (ie, in the around R21500 to 22900 range) because of the BSA wingnuts, making it a rare frame type. However, at least the wheels, handlebars, brake levers and saddle are all incorrect. I don't do Facebook (perhaps I should rejoin), but another friend tells me that R31999 has just turned up on the Parabikes forum. The nearest survivor to that I have listed is R31935, which is one of mine (-: Best Regards, Adrian

Hi John @John Bradshaw Oops, better luck next time (-: Best Regards, Adrian

Hi All, Looking for advice. For many years I have owned a 1941ish Willys MB jeep, and 1944 SS Cars 'Airborne' trailer. They were originally registered in the UK, but I moved to the French Alps 20 years ago, which is where they are now, French registered. I still have all the UK documentation. I damaged my spine some 10 years ago, and I am now not able to drive a jeep any real distance, so jeep and trailer have been sitting in a garage almost untouched since. I was hoping things would get better, but time passes quickly, and I realise now it is best for the vehicle to go to a new owner rather than sitting like that. The jeep is registered as a 1941, but is ex British Army, and has been rebuilt many times, so that I can say the majority of parts are WW2, and in quite good condition. The 1941 dating comes from the brass postwar British Army overhaul plate, it does not have original dataplates. I know the original WW2 M series number. Literally 'ran when parked', but after standing for that time will need at least all the fluids changed, the battery changed (it is on 12v), and the tyres will need to be assessed. It has original WW2 one piece wheels, slat grill, small neck fuel tank. But the body is a bit later, with panelled over glovebox aperture, and the Willys scripting in the rear panel is hand done (though I have a separate original Willys scripted panel I intended to fit one day). It has the brass The trailer is complete, no data plates, but has the post war British Army number stamped on the frame, so I know the original X series number and last unit. The floor is perforated with pinhole rust, I used it like that with no problems, but another person might want to replace it. What do you think is the best way to sell these? Ebay? Milweb? here? As a pair or individually? I only have a rough idea of value, I'm not sure how originality, or lack thereof would change this value. All suggestions welcome as to how to proceed. (-: Thanks for your help. My jeep in happier days in the sun (-: Best Regards, Adrian

Hi All, Apparently the remains of eight Hurricanes originally supplied to Russia have been found buried outside Kyiv, Ukraine, where they were disposed of after WW2. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65955365 Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @garys39 Thanks for the photo. (-: Do you know if the the lighter green one, second from left, is earlier or later than the dark green on right? Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @Enfield1940 The red square on the helmet is proabaly the Drop Zone /Tactical Recognition Flash (DZ/TRF) for 1st Batallion Parachute Regiment (1 Para). Below looks like AT/(?), which could be Anti Tank platoon. The buckles are sometimes dated. Best Regards, Adrian

Thanks for your kind words, John. I really wanted to use preantepenultimate, since I've never had cause to. But not this time.... (-: Best Regards, Adrian

Thanks, John. I have it noted correctly on my listings, my mind must just have been thinking of you. So yours is the prepenultimate Brown listed (-:. I need to think about the paint changes. It is obvious that stocks of paint would be used until exhausted, and stocks from different sources may exhaust at different times, so there will be a lag behind order changes. Also, BSA's have been noted with brown and green components. Whils this might just be from army servicing, it is also likely thatparts were painted seperatly, so leading to mismatch in the colour handover periods. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi Again, John. Thanks for the colour information. I need to work through it to see how it relates to observed colours on the bikes. Resolving the colour question was one of the primary reasons for collecting information. So, I can say this from observation: The earliest frame I have details for is Lex Shmidt's R923. It is evident that this is in it's original green colour. Photo Credit: Lex Schmidt All subsequent frames where I can see the original paint are also green. This appears to be true for all early 'Twin tube' frames, and the beginning of the second pattern frames, up to at least R10779. The first Brown frame recorded is T13439, which is one of mine. The T number is so far unique, and it also has a Gold BSA transfer, although this could be due to the transfer oxidising in soeme way (I have seen two other original 'Gold' BSA transfers, both on a lot later bikes). Brown with the occasional green is predominant to about R21047 (which is brown). After that Green becomes more dominant with occasional Browns. R29967 is the last brown I have recorded, your R26135being the penultimate, and both surrounded by Greens. After R29967, I only record Greens until the last known surviving frame (R62836). So, generally: - R923 to around R10779 are Green. By around T13439 to around R21047 they are mainly Brown From around R21047 to around R29967 they are mainly Green From around R29967 to the end they are Green. So, as a rough estimate, around 10,000 frames of the early Second Pattern bikes were Brown. It has been suggested to me that the Green used that the start of production, and that at the end were different Greens. But, honestly, I don't have enough good unweathered early and late examples to try to make that call. Can colours be used to date the bicycle production seequence (which is still unknown)? One clue is the well known image below of a soldier with an early First Pattern bicycle. This is from the archives of the Imperial War Museum in London. This is from a series of photographs taken on 29th August 1942, and other photos in the series show more examples in use, so this is not a prototype bicycle, and production and delivery must have started a short while before this date. Photo Credit Lt. Spender. From observation, this bike was green, and was painted before August 1942. How does that fit with the colour discussion? This is the appendix from British Standard 987C, 1942, British Standard Camouflage Colours. You may find the official descriptions a bit.... British? (-: This is where the Tea and Coffee references come from. I havn't yet found a good copy of the right side of this appendix page, but you can see the colours. So, both the Green and Brown were suggested colours by 1942. I'm out of time for today, I will get back to this later in the week. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi @mcspool Thanks for republishing that. Do you know the original author or source for the listings? I have reorganised the listings into the more useful table below, which can be shared freely with acknowledgement. Below is a detail of the registration on RAF 261179, and Armstrong Gent's bicycle currently for sale on Milweb. I am currently unable to access the site, but will add the owner's name later. Best Regards, Adrian