79x100

Only in French as far as I can see. Today's press release from the Préfet de Calvados :- http://www.calvados.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/DP_final_30avril.pdf There are no traffic restrictions outside of 6th June. Quite a large zone on the morning of the sixth with a smaller area after 14.30 hours. Vehicle passes will be available to (temporary) residents at the town hall on presentation of registration documents and proof of hotel / campsite residence. There is now a website link in English http://www.le70e-normandie.fr/dedicated-areas/traffic/?lang=en Those staying outside of the zone will have to show a reason for being there which might be more difficult. 'Accreditation' for specific events is a separate matter of course.

The book pricing can be due to the 'Amazon algorithm'. If two sellers have the same item and want to pitch in slightly higher than the cheapest. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110425/03522114026/infinite-loop-algorithmic-pricing-amazon-how-book-flies-cost-2369865593.shtml

For news agency images, these are far too expensive. They're unlikely to be unique and will also be found in archives. Some buyers think they're buying 'copyright' which of course they aren't.

There was a fantastic exhibition of Saroleas at Berlare in 2009. I don't think that your middle picture is from there but there were military swd models present. The organisers may be prepared to forward a letter to the owner. http://www.sarolea2009.be/

The article talks about (w)indscreens splintered by (Ger)man kids' catapults and German Spivs. Could it be (Ham)burg Docks, prior to shipment back to UK ? It was a major port for post-war vehicle movements.

Those trucks have quite distinctive high sides to the bonnet with full length vertical louvres. Morris-Commercial CS11/30s ?

Alex, if there is enough of those Nortons visible next time, distinguishing points for the India Office machines are the grab-handle front mudguard stay, the extra-wide sump bash plate and the rear mounted air filter (although the British Army also had these fitted during 1937). If Thistlegorm didn't take on extra cargo at Cape Town, then I'm at a loss to understand how it came to include motorcycles supplied prior to mid-1939 to the Indian Army or the British Army in India (it's a complicated piece of colonial history). Glad to see Ted on the thread by the way. This is going to be one of those that there is much to learn from.

Well done Alex. A worthwhile project and one that should have been undertaken earlier in my opinion. Broadly speaking, your differentiation of front brake to the left or the right is a useful guide when distinguishing the side-valve motor cycles. However, at the time Thistlegorm was sunk, there is little evidence that the new Matchless 'Teledraulic' 41/G3Ls were being sent to the Middle East and photographic evidence of the campaigns (rather than of later in the war) appear to show only the earlier G3/WO model and these had the 'girder' type forks (with drum brake on the left, but laced into the wheel rather than bolted on to the outside). I'm not sure that I've recognised any Matchlesses in the cargo. The Matchlesses have a taller overhead valve engine so should be distinguishable. If still present, Nortons had the horn clamped to the nearside front downtube and it is recognisable in a number of the photos. Exhaust pipe line is also a useful guide. The M20 is much more rounded and exits to the front. Nortons had an old-fashioned Edwardian-based engine with an exhaust pipe that pointed almost straight down before curving backwards. Your first Norton picture is interesting and shows a feature that I have noted earlier from this wreck. The rear view shows a clearly upturned silencer outlet. This is something which was not fitted to machines supplied to the British Army but was a feature of the pre-war India Office contracts. This, together with the fact that the bikes are complete on their wheels suggests that they were not newly-built. Did Thistlegorm take on extra cargo when it stopped over at Cape Town ? There were units of the Indian Army in the Middle East. Is it possible that their transport used Cape Town as a staging post before moving on to Alexandria ? By late 1941, the British Army in India was being supplied direct with standard equipment and I can't imagine that India Office machines could have been loaded in the UK Ministry of Supply contract details show that new motorcycles were crated on a large scale for export. This was primarily a space-saving measure. Although war diaries often refer to motorcycles being loaded into unit transport, this would generally be those which had already been issued. These ilustrations from a period publication show how Nortons were crated :- I imagine that if there were any crates such as these, the resulting concretion would be very difficult to identify. In some ways, I'm relieved that the material is in such a bad state. It saves me yearning for access to a huge spares stock.

You're right, it is indeed close to No.97 Khaki Blanco. Flash photography does odd things and is now making it all look yellow...

Sadly, although European politicians profess a devotion to the free movement of goods and services, this only extends to helping their friends in multinationals arrange cheap imports and exports and to hold the cost of labour down. When it comes to any form of freedom of choice which might deplete their national coffers then there are laws against it. If Europe did what it says on the package, then we'd be able to choose which country we registered in. This is a problem which I feel acutely here in Belgium as I am compelled to ride a seventy year old motorcycle with a reflective rear number plate and which will shortly be allocated a new type of reflective plate that will even look wrong on 1970s machines. UK, Netherlands and France have all managed to evolve a system which allows at least a plate which looks more or less old-fashioned.

I photographed that Norton tank and the colour under the kneepads was definitely KG No.3 but slightly oxidised. The pigments were not stable and the colour changed on exposure to air and light. The best example that I found of the 1939 colour was where it had been trapped between my brake drums and hubs. In effect an air-tight cavity for seventy-odd years. It could still have degraded though. As Ron says, it's an odd colour. Brownish in some lights, greenish in others but most definitely not olive drab. It looks as if Mr Whitely lost his nerve with the Indian girders and found an unsuspecting mug. http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=508284&Searchpage=3&Main=46878&Words=girder&Search=true#Post508284

As you've addressed me, I'll reply. I did read the posts and I did make it clear that I had only carried out the process in the other direction. However, this does not alter the fact that the European system is designed to make documentation acceptable in all member startes. You've stated that you neither know nor care about 'modern' vehicles but any vehicle registered in the UK effectively has an age-related number. Do you consider the cut-off for 'modern' to be 1960 or 1973 or indeed a later point ? This is what DVLA say they require:- "...A non-GB registration document or certificate for your vehicle and any other papers you have relating to the vehicle, or a dating certificate from the manufacturer or other acceptable source..." They clearly state "or", not "as well as" Obviously, the MVT and other clubs have a vested interest in insisting on exclusivity. Without such a requirement, membership levels and income would likely be considerably lower. I fully understand and support thorough and comprehensive club enquiries when dealing with undocumented vehicles, but one imported from another EU state with correct documentation is not the same thing. It may well be 'easiest' for the OP to take the belt and braces approach and I have no wish to persuade him otherwise. It's his choice.

I'm not clear why DVLA would require a UK dating letter for a vehicle with an EU registration document showing the date of manufacture. I've only done it the other way round (from UK to Belgium) but there was absolutely no difficulty in accepting the UK V5 as evidence of age. The whole point with all this EU complication is surely that it's not necessary to go through duplicate procedures in each member state ?

I don't think that there is a straightforward answer to this and it will depend upon the type of vehicle and the age of it. The wonderful threads in the WW1 sub-forum have shown what can be achieved using an original chassis, a period engine and as many period parts as possible. The body work is pretty much 'replica' but I don't consider the finished vehicle to be a 'replica' but a 'restoration' Once we move into the period of complicated body pressings then I feel that a vehicle needs to contain more 'factory' parts to avoid the 'replica' label.

That US website is quite amusing. It gives the impression that it was an American invention but it seems as if they adopted the British system. I've never seen the numbers referred to as 'POM's in British documents. Are you assuming that the marking here relates to shipment by the Americans ? I have quite a lot of details relating to BEF units but that doesn't help with 11th Armoured. Would the AoS '63' indicate 3 Monmouthshire ? Was the photo taken in Belgium or later ? If the colours do relate to the movement serial then it should certainly be the same colour top and bottom. It doesn't look far off the yellow background of the formation sign.

I believe that the stamping on the carrier relates to the carrier manufacturer only. Frank Ashby & Sons of Bournville Stamping Works, Charlotte Road, Stirchley, Birmingham 30. They are listed in the MoS ledgers as supplying Carrier Kits for Mk IV and Mk V Bicycles. A 'Google' shows a number of pre-war patent applications for carrier-type bicycle accessories.

I really hoped that this thread was going to have a happy ending. At the very least, some hardy soul in thornproofs ought to get in there and record the army registration and chassis number for posterity !

Magic, Wally. I'm just out on my 79x100 once the sump-full of oil has drained....I'll post a reply later.

Wally, I do appreciate you posting this stuff. Even when the vehicles are not my particular obsession, the lists are still fascinating to look at. It's interesting to see that there was plenty of "early' stuff still around to be sold off post-war.

Don't forget that for the first year or two of the war, masks were improvised with black manila paper. It doesn't come easier and cheaper than that. The motoring press regularly had letters from private motorists complaining that they'd been reported for non-approved masks whilst the army continued to use paper on existing vehicles.

There will almost certainly be no details in the UK on this number. 4970101 - 4990100 are listed as 'Middle-East, Various Makes' which makes it almost impossible to pin down even a period.

Ron, did you get it ? A bit expensive but you couldn't get one made for less. I wouldn't have posted it on the forum if I'd known you needed one.

I'd be a bit worried about shimming behind the sleeve gear bearing, especially as there is no corresponding shim behind the layshaft bearing. The Convex washer used by Norton pushes the mainshaft tight to the sleeve gear, with end float being controlled by the bronze thrust washer (yours does indeed look pretty well unworn). Although the parts books always refer to the smallest gear on the layshaft as 'layshaft 4th', it's really layshaft 1st, 2nd and 3rd as it takes the drive in the lower gears. In 4th, the sleeve gear is locked to the mainshaft. It sounds as if the fact that your sleeve gear has now been positioned inwards might be stopping the mainshaft third from disengaging from it. Thin shims between mainshaft 1st and the small mainshaft bearing would get chewed up so I'd be inclined to try shimming behind the bearing in the inner cover. This will indeed push the clutch outwards but it will be where it is supposed to be. The chaincase can be adjusted and in fact moving the whole thing outwards will keep it away from the final drive chain and there is often too little clearance there as well. I haven't actually had to try this so usual disclaimers apply.

I thought that I had one, but I can't find it, sorry. They seem to have appeared in the parts book around 1940 but few boxes seem to have one in and often it won't fit. Does your box have an 'H' stamped on it anywhere ? There is an odd reference in the factory ledgers which makes me wonder if there is a connection. You can tighten things a little by using something like 'Yamabond' instead of a paper gasket. Where are you thinking of shimming ? Outside of the mainshaft bearing ? How much end-float have you got ?

In wartime Ministry documents, 'SAS' generally seems to refer to the Small Arms School at Netheravon.