Don't think it Maas sold off like that by the army, maybe an earlier restoration I think.

Cheers,

Lex

email (option): welbike@welbiXX.net ( Think about this please)

Hi
Lex, any idea why you think the army would not release it like this? Is there something they did to them before being released?
I am a bit worried about the history I have been given now
Regards steve

email (option): Johnsonsteve386@gmail.com

The formation badge on the tank is the 6th Armoured Division, they served in North Africa and Italy during the war, so it would be fine if it had been left in that state prior to the end of the war and not touched again.

6th Armoured Division was disbanded at the end of the war and only reformed in 1951 to 1958 when it served in Germany with the BAOR where it would not have been in that colour but green.

It has a post 1948 registration painted on and its history is recorded in the keycards and by its rebuild plate so it can't be left in pre 1945 desert paint.

So it must have been repainted desert colour after 1958 when the 6th Armoured Division was again disbanded.

So all the evidence is pointing to an early restoration after its release sometime 1968 on.

IMHO

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

This bike has been referred to several times in the past. It seems to have had several owners on the forum.

http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3155626639&frmid=16&msgid=1234305&cmd=show

It occurs to me that repainting a motorcycle completely is a fairly major job but that applying a transfer to the fuel tank isn't...especially during a period when many old bike shop owners would have been ex-services.

I think it's the 6th Armoured connection which is unproven. The Mediterranean finish could be how it was demobbed. I think there was quite a lot of sand paint used on Cyprus and a late 1968 disposal could well fit with the withdrawal from Aden.

It will probably never be known for sure but it does really highlight an old adage often applicable to militaria...Buy the object, not the story....

Yes you are right Rik, it could be original desert paint if you ignore the formation signs or maybe original formation signs if you ignore the paint which would be slightly more difficult to achieve.

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

When the bikes were sold off, by auction, there usually was a lot No. painted on the bikes, and the Military reg. No. was crossed out or painted over, not always though, maybe Henk has any pictures of bikes like that?? I can't find any right now.

I will be adding a box full of (early) postwar sales catalogs to my collection soon, and will try to digitalize all the bikes in there, but the info in there is sketchy at times, see sample scans.






Another clue would have been, to have looked if there was green paint under the tan?? the army would have never stripped the bike to bare metal, so if there was green under it, it's more likely to have been original tan coloured from the army, if not, the bike was totally stripped, and painted tan, so that points more to a later restoration.

Cheers,

Lex


PS, I do have a lot of info on postwar bikes like Thriumph TRW and BSA B40's.

email (option): welbike@welbi(XX).net (think about this!!)