Hi everyone. Having finished and enjoying the 1939 M20, and as usual as a new project may be happening with a 1946 XM20. I don't know if these are of interest here but frame number 2234 is I think a 46, but minus forks. Green paint on black. No W stamp before the M20 frame number. This is the interesting bit, the mudguards have MP thereon, the rear has a narrow vertical number plate with MP at the bottom and a military number 01 YE 71. The way things are this may relate to a M20 that was in Germany etc. Any help would be appreciated. I'll attach a pic if of interest.
Many thanks Dave.
The frame and engine numbers should have a prefix...WM, XM etc...What is the engine number on this one?....XM20 was used for 1946 and '47....I'd have to dig deeper to determine which of those years 2234 is....O & M British Forces Motorcycles don't record a WDM20 with that frame number...
XM20s of those years were essentially civilianised military bikes with appropriate finishes, that had some changes made but retained many of the military components. Some military components were replaced with civilian types as stocks ran down, for example, the WD footrests and the 'side mounted' WD speedo bracket. I restored one of these years back and think I still have the details of what military parts were retained....The M20 wasn't really changed to a fully civilian post war spec. until the introduction of Tele forks in 1948....The rear frame section had a single sidecar attachment lug on the left hand side...
The XM20s were all black (including the wheel rims) with a dull silver, unplated, 'non cut off' WD type tank with black lining and black BSA logo applied...The (WD type) handlebars, levers etc., the kickstart and gearchange levers, headlamp rim and oil and petrol tank caps were chrome plated....Ian