BOOK No 101/A1.3C was probably issued in late 44 early 45.




Below.Wiring loom is now coloured cables instead of black cable with coloured sleeves.

Below.Some earlier manuals 3A,3,and 2, has any one got 101/A1.3B

The IWM has a 'Catalogue of B Vehicle Literature' but unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the Ariel part....The Norton listings are all over the place...They had 101/NC-1, 2 , 3 and 3A but never got beyond that and some earlier contracts were using 3 or 3A while later contracts were still being issued with '2'....I'm really not sure that they knew what they had or superseded with !

I wonder actually, although the print doesn't look like it if the Ariel books are actually 'AI' for Ariel and not 'A1' as all the other makes used two letters and no numeric.

S6287 (Delivery from January 1945) seems to have been the only contract that referred to the tank top air filter so you're probably about right with a late 1944 print date.

The Vokes filter was only fitted to the last two contracts of M20s, with the contract before that fitted with the 'cut off' tank but not the filter...So no Vokes filters in the desert as original fitment at the time the desert war was taking place...

I've only seen one photo of a Vokes equipped bike in the European theatre and that was in Italy...Some probably made it to the Far East in the latter stages but all in all it seems they were less common on M20s then than they are now...:laughing: ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Good old DME circulars again

When necessary

B.101, 19/5/41, Fitting of W.D. panel air cleaner for Mid,East, B.S.A.M/Cs
B.101/1, 7/6/42, Amendment to B.101, B.S.A.M/Cs
B.257, 15/5/42, Fitting panel air cleaner in Mid.East, Norton M/Cs

It seems unlikely they would be making a modification to something that never happened?

No mention of Ariel's, are there any pictures of them early in the N.Africa theatre?

And we have discussed this picture before.

Rob

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

[' original fitment..'] Those are the key words from my post...The filters were fitted earlier to Nortons and may well have been fitted to M20s by REME workshops along with others such as the 'canister' type...There are pictures of M20s fitted with '4 wheel vehicle' air filters as well...

M20 parts lists detail the fitment but not in 41/42...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

They were certainly fitted 'in theatre' in the Middle East and some machines from there went on to Italy...but I agree with Ian that there is little or no evidence for their use on the Home Front or in NW Europe prior to very late 1944 or 1945 production motorcycles.

They're another one of those warry must-haves that don't actually reflect wartime practice.

Stt Rik, this is not good for trade!!:wink:

email (option): wdmotorcycles@gmail.com

:laughing:

Don't worry, Bastiaan, no-one listens to me. Like the Densison smock, the Vokes filter will never go out of fashion.

There is a set of photos of an early Big4 with a Vokes fitted and a windscreen on the sidecar, probable an experimental trial machine, but it does show that photographic evidence can't be relied upon too much. Its also of note that to the War Office there was probably no difference between a Vokes and a Talflow, they were both a "WD Panel Air Cleaner" suitable for a motor cycle, they both did the same job but were available for fitment in bulk at different times, much like the adjustable spanner in the tool roll which could have been supplied by a variety of companies but all had the same part number or the split Lucas and Miller electrics fitted to some Matchless contracts.

Ian is quite right there is a difference between factory fitting and official retro fitting and unofficial retro fitting, but none of them are necessarily wrong when it comes to a restoration.

That's why I love this hobby.

Rob

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

There were extensive pre-war trials of tank top filters and as per the rear-fitted filters used by Norton in 1937, they worked well in terms of performance and economy...but they weren't made a standard fitment and I can't find any evidence of why...it's most odd.

By 1940, even the rear filters seem to have been removed.

These are some pictures I have with Talflow filters fitted. Location is far east, Burma etc. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

I'm happy to engage in a bit of 'artistic license' as I don't really build anything to a full 'rivet counter' specification myself...
Practical issues apply sometimes as well.
For example, the webbing 'ring piece' seen on many WD bikes these days to prevent marking of the petrol tank paintwork evolved into its current neat form based on a single photo I saw, a number of years back, of a very roughly cut piece of webbing applied to a Norton tank. That seemed like a good idea to me so I tidied it up and fitted one to solve a problem...It seems others agreed... (if only I'd bothered to copy that picture!)...Not historically accurate though, or widely used it seems. Just another rider modification perhaps..
Canvas saddle covers are another thing that comes to mind...I think we concluded after much discussion they were intended for a self propelled gun, not a motorcycle...Now, that's not to say one was never fitted though... I've seen them fitted currently...
Green canvas bags...Late war or postwar?...A hard one to prove definitively...There are in fact numerous examples along these lines...
Regarding air filters it's clear the WD experimented and it's equally clear REME used a wide range of filters 'in theatre' to mitigate an obvious problem...
Despite all the rules, circulars, parts lists etc. etc. it seems nothing was cast in stone once the bikes went into service and who could argue against using 'non standard' fitments recorded on photographs in theatre?...(Like the Canadians liberal use of foam rubber seat modifications)...
Today some want a completely correct bike in every way and others aren't really concerned beyond the general look of a WD machine...The latter is fertile ground for 'specification creep'..
The point of my (light hearted) comment was only to illustrate the danger of 'accepted practice' or if you prefer 'artistic license' becoming regarded as the original specification when commonly seen...Many desert M20s are presented today with full Vokes equipment fitted, including the 'cut off' petrol tank..That is not historically possible...In fact I fitted one to mine when I finished it in a 'desert' colour because I incorrectly thought at the time it was supposed to have it...
Is it a true statement that when it comes to original specification the only quick reference that can be relied upon in most cases, without extensive research, is the manufacturers parts list?...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com