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79x100

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Everything posted by 79x100

  1. Nice to see anyway Tim. What period of Dennis is it from ? I assume that oily orifice is where the diff was removed ? Recoverable or not, I think it would be ever such a jolly jape to pull the chassis away one night :evil: If you find any motorcycle frames under people's floors, do let us know, won't you ?
  2. Wow Tim, You must really need to have your ear to the ground to find something like that :-) Those art nouveau spring hangers are wonderful ! It all looks nice and dry. Are those the original deck boards ? I suppose the question is how to tow it away carefully one night without waking the sleeping inhabitants upstairs !
  3. 79x100

    Markings

    Hello Graham, Well done on the MOT ! Since we last corresponded, I have spent some time in the IWM archives looking for BEF motorcycle pictures. I did find one Royal Enfield which is a Side Valve model WD/C. It was used by a Captain Keating who was an official photographer and took many of the BEF pictures in the IWM. http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6720/rewdcc68144c51071940capfb0.th.jpg[/img] As you can see, the bike had no markings beyond its census number on the front plate and the Royal Enfield logo on the tank. Pictures of WD/COs are a little few and far between. They missed out on the early war need for morale-boosting photographs and there is a suggestion that the oil tank placing was considered to make them a bit vulnerable to damage if used off-road at the "sharp end". By the way, have you been in touch with Jan Vandevelde in connection with his "machine register" ? He has been carrying out some primary research on the engine, frame and contract number information and is starting to make sense of the rather confusing contract sequences. Does yours have the Albion or the Burman box ? Rich
  4. Was Bolero an MV event or a "Bucket Pride" event ? The name has gained tacky connotations of ice-dancing and too-tight lycra so perhaps it attracted the 'other' crowd ? :-o The organisers of "Wings & Wheels" had better make sure it's not over-run by Faeries !
  5. Rob, Generally speaking, the three Brigades within an Infantry Division used Red, Green and Brown backgrounds. According to Hodges & Taylor's "British Military Markings 1939 - 1945", 147th Infantry Brigade had a Brown Arm of Service colour and would have used the numbers 94 (for Bde HQ), 67 (11 Royal Scot Fus), 68 (1st Leicester) and 69 (7th Duke of Wellingtons).
  6. Have you chaps got access to a Messerschmitt Taifun that could stooge around pretending to be an FW 190 ? Not forgetting of course that you'll need a Piper Cub painted olive green and another one in grey 'cause then they look just like Fiesler Storchs. If you need someone to demolish a road block with a sidecar outfit and end up upside down, I can do that with my eyes closed (and they certainly will be !)
  7. Is the significance of swinging a canvas bucket at the front the same as mounting one at the rear ? :whistle: The Fordson appears on this Belgian site :- http://blhaphotoalbum.theclannet.com/pages.php?id=1447
  8. Johan Willaert has added some WLC pages to his WLA site. Have you seen them ? I suspect that he is the man to ask if you have any specific queries. http://www.theliberator.be/ Clive Law's Service Publications are bringing out a book later in the year which will include the WLC I'm looking forward to this one. http://www.servicepub.com/
  9. I found the website useful for noting which of the various series I needed to look through. There are far too many albums to look at in one day and the index cards are not really directed at vehicle researchers. Make sure your credit card limit is OK as well :-)
  10. Perhaps a silly question, but have you looked at the IWM on-line archives ? http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/qryPhotoImg.asp They probably have lots more as well. I visited to look at BEF era motorcycle stuff and there are lots of images that I have never seen published. The resoloution from those old glass plate negs is phenomenal as well (The web copies are very poor). Rich.
  11. I'll stick my neck out and suggest that dark green is probably a bit post-war. Most M20s saw some post-war service. Broadly, most bikes early war were khaki, then service brown (best described as half-dried kooien stront!) and then olive drab which was very close to the US colour but not quite the same. You can get away with quite a shade variation, even on the same bike. eBay is the best place for period literature. It quite often turns up from non-specialist sellers doing house clearances and things. I would recommend logging on to ebay.uk for all things British motorcycle. I'm in Belgium and if I let it log on to eBay Belgium, I miss most of it. I've just bought a Norton contract C.7353 Instruction manual for £5 but the going rate for most parts / instruction books is probably £12 - £20. Of course you'll need the correct one for your bike as they were overstamped with contract details. A good start might be a copy from Elk Engineering. http://freespace.virgin.net/elk.engineering/manual.htm
  12. Hello Zooropa, No problem with your English if you use words like "tinker" - I think you've got the idea already. I'm a compulsive tinkerer and it really is necessary if the whole thing is to remain a pleasure ! It's going to be a bit of a change from riding the Fazer. First thing to do is sort out some linkages and cross-over shafts to swap the Yam's rear brake and gear pedal over to the proper sides. You don't want to get confused while high-speed bend swinging on the M20 :-) I think that the best advice is to buy the best that you can afford (although it won't necessarily be the dearest). If you have any interest at all in period originality then that will be cheaper in the long run. Don't let me talk you out of "autojumbling" though, it's a great part of the hobby. More cross-over with the civilian "oldtimer" people than with more dedicated MVs. Although 70 year old side-valves are low tech, a major difference with modern stuff is that the parts often need "fettling" whether original or pattern. When you say "waste", I assume that you're translating "verbruik". Fuel consumption on side-valves is actually not all that good as they're not very efficient. The ohv 350s are better. I think that you could find that an M20 is worse than the Yamaha but then you're going to be thrashing the poor old M20 everywhere ! Good luck with your search and research.
  13. As a dyed-in-the-wool Norton man, it rather pains me to say it but I have to agree. The M20 saw long post-war service and has by far the best NOS parts availability. It also has the virtue that it can be used in almost any rôle and was used by front-line units from 1939 through to 1945 although there were of course detail changes. My suggestion would be to do lots of research first. Orchard & Madden's "British Forces Motorcycles 1925 - 45" is a good starting point. What is your brother's motorcycling experience ? Have a look at Henk Joore's WM20 website http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/ahum/ and also Rob van den Brink's Norton WD site http://home.tiscali.nl/wd16h/ They both have their virtues and will give you an idea of what to look for. Matchless G3Ls also turn up regularly and are not too expensive but are a bit less forgiving of abuse than side valves. Triumph 3HWs tend to be a bit scarce and parts are less common. Royal Enfields were generally used for "behind the lines" work Ariels are nice but hard to find. I assume you're discounting 2 stroke lightweights ? Miss-matched engine and frame numbers are not generally considered a problem with WD bikes but be careful because there are some dreadful "bitsas" out there with post war and bodged parts.
  14. Glad you liked it ! Just been rummaging through the pile again. http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/517/motorcycling1841940gv8.th.jpg[/img] This is an earlier cover and shows 4th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers exercising in Northern France during the "phoney war" period. They went on to take part in the Arras counter-attack. The censor has obliterated the "TT" of 50th Division but it remains visible on the IWM originals.
  15. I think that His Reverence will be very interested !
  16. I say Chaps, there's a WD canvas bucket on ebay at the moment. Ideal for keeping on the closet or, if you want to come out with it then you know where to keep it :-) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANVAS-BUCKET-EX-WD-OLD-but-UNUSED_W0QQitemZ280106810920QQihZ018QQcategoryZ4721QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
  17. Marty, I think that you've made the right decision. Keep looking for those relics though ! The important thing is that thanks to your efforts, this particular vehicle is now known about. If someone, somewhere is looking for those parts then it may yet contribute to another restoration. Far better than that it should rust away in anonimity. If you have no personal interest in the vehicle and the owner is prepared to sell then it might be a good idea to place contact details.
  18. It says Ford on the front panel so that's a pretty good clue :-) As Mr Enfield says, Maple Leaf Up is where the CMP fanatics hang out. In fact I expect they probably already know about this one ! Definitely a shortened chassis and it looks as if it's been used as a donor vehicle already. With the best will in the world, I can't see this one forming the basis of a viable restoration. It might just provide a few parts for another project.
  19. The Royal Logistics Corps Museum say that they have the ex-Beverley records. I don't know how good access is. http://www.army.mod.uk/rlc/rlc_shop_museum/museum_archives.htm Rich.
  20. Tim, Does this page from the Sherman Register help ? http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/apckang2.htm Rich.
  21. Viton "O" rings are found more commonly than one might suspect, particularly where there is contact with solvents and fuels. Amal motorcycle carbs often have viton-tipped float needles (and, of course they never catch light :-)) It produces hydrofluoric acid when burned which causes nasty and continuing chemical burns. I would certainly think twice before dismantling a fire-damaged vehicle. We probably shouldn't forget either that most of the NOS brake shoes and pads that we deal with are not asbestos free. They still turn up on ebay but presumably they shouldn't any more. Does anyone happen to know if the old Smiths instruments were originally luminous ? My speedo certainly isn't any more.
  22. Thanks Neil, I'm now trying Firefox and will see how I get on. If it all ends in tears, it'll be your fault !!
  23. Doh. It's strange but my schoolteachers always used to say "Read the question boy !" Does this help ? Rich
  24. Thanks Neil, I'm curious / interested. What do you mean by more secure ? What are the problems with IE (to someone who's never known any better ?) Rich.
  25. Isn't it Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" as used in the chopper scenes in"Apocalypse Now" ?
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