fcortese

I have a new question: did I paint in the correct way the insigna of the 51st Infantry Division (Highlanders) and the 61st infantry anti tank regiment (they served in Sicily)? What I mean is: I was told that the "rule" was to paint the insigna Division on the left side of the fuel tank and the regiment one on the opposite side. A friend of mine has a not restored Royal Enfield that shows this scheme but, to be honest, most of the pictures you can find on books or net represent motorbikes just with commission numbers on the tank and insigna on the front mudguard.

Fantastic: how many things I'm learning on this forum! 1000 times thanks!

Thank you! I did my best in order to restore it in the best possible way (according to my possibilities...). For example I avoided rubber parts according to the disposition of that period and I painted it in the "matt brown" that was the second color option up to '43. I painted the exaust in black high temperature paint.

Thank You all for the infos: as a matter of fact here in Italy it seems to be a bit easier to find a 3HW (or part of it). After WWII all the militar relics left by Allied & German/Italians were sent to special areas called "ARAR" (Aree Raccolta Alienazione Residuati) that more or less means "concentration and alienation surplus area". In those places vehicles that couldn't be used any more because too damaged were disassembled in order to recover metal or, in case they could be used again, sold to people who needed them. Thanks to this some italians could start a transportation businness using for example GMC trucks and those who needed a motorbike could buy there one. This businness lasted up to the beginning of '50s: my Triumph comes from one of this ARAR camps (may be in the area from Asti-Alessandria) and I was told that the cost of a motorcycle (complete but not working) was about 4 month of a worker salary. Even if in the abyss in which Italy felt in those years, this was a businness opportunity too: many workshop started their activities thanks to "civilization" of military motorcycles. They used to paint them in black color, chrome the tank and, this is interesting, modify the rear rigid frame assembling a suspension in order to improve the confort. Benelli restarted its activity after war selling these suspension in kit adapted to the different models. Due to good engine performance, Triumph 3HWs were preferred for race (motocross too); engine was tuned and front suspension was taken from telescopic Matchless. Here is my 3HW: it was built in April '43 (under seat is written "TEC443"), frame is marked TL37887 and engine 3HW47887. It took me 3 years to rebuilt it (it was just a mess of pieces...) but now it runs fine.

Hi everybody, I restored a Triumph 3HW: very nice and pretty powerful model! I found all the original technical documentation (workshop manual, spare parts list, etc.) but I miss original pictures in WWII. I've found some photos on the net (I think the most common) but I would like to find others: is there anybody that can help me? Thank You all! Fabrizio

Hi everybody, just want to introduce myself: I' m Fabrizio from Turin/Italy and this is the first forum I join; I decided this due to the fact that it looks so interesting. I' m interested in history in general and, of course, I focus my attention on WWII period (I'm a modest militaria collector too). Hoping that my English will be strong enough to support the communication, I send all of You my kind regards! Fabrizio