question BSA Para Bike

[Ian L]

What colour should the BSA Para Bike be painted ? Brown of Green ? the 1 that I own is in origional green but I quite often see them in Brown at shows or strapped to an MV. did BSA paint them in both colours for different theatres of war or were the brown ones earlier ?

[Tony B]

The one I have is an original green, so is the BSA Mk V. I wonder if the brown is the wrong?

[David B.]

The one I have is an original green, so is the BSA Mk V. I wonder if the brown is the wrong?

 

Ian - the answer is probably both were correct. The last of these bikes that I had was original brown with the transfers over the paint. If you speak to the motorcycle experts they will tell you that bikes came from the factory for a period in Service Brown. I think it was something to do with a shortage of certain pigments.

[RAFMT]

Surely they would be subject to the same colour regulations as other vehicles?

As colour schemes changed, the paints used for the older schemes were declared obsolete and removed from the vocabs. Therefore it wouldn't make sense to issue brand new bikes in a colour the army depots no longer have in stock.

 

And yes the forces had to move from green based colours to brown ones due to shortages of the minerals needed for the green pigments iirc. It should be in Mike Starmers book on NW Europe colours.

[Maurice]

BSA folding bikes and infantry bikes can have 3 collors , service brown , a green collor like some ammo boxes have too , and , an olive drab collor. This also aplies to the Ammo boxes, for example the 25 Pr boxes are also deliverred in brown or green . WD marked jerry cans from 1943 for example are almost all in a dessert yellow , the 1944 marked ones are almost all green , water cans black or sevice brown .

[Ian L]

BSA folding bikes and infantry bikes can have 3 collors , service brown , a green collor like some ammo boxes have too , and , an olive drab collor. This also aplies to the Ammo boxes, for example the 25 Pr boxes are also deliverred in brown or green . WD marked jerry cans from 1943 for example are almost all in a dessert yellow , the 1944 marked ones are almost all green , water cans black or sevice brown .

 

Thanks Maurice that answers my second question about the colour of ammo boxes & Jerry cans, I have 3 1944 WATER Jerry cans to go with my Water Bowser and was going to paint them green.

[Tony B]

I have two Jerry cans that came from a Normandy barn a few years back. They are yellow. Do look odd on a brown vehicle and keep getting told 'There wrong!'. But as I know the full history, no, that's how they got to Normandy.