Jan

The census number of your bike was C5890489. These are bikes from the same contract (same spec, with short Acumen pillion seat):





Jan

email (option): andijonesdavis@gmail.com

email (option): andijonesdavis@gmail.com

email (option): welbike@welbiXX.net

Every time I am amazed by the colourful stories people conjur in the attempt to make their motorcycle or whatever else they are selling "special".
Unfortunately people with little knowledge and insufficient pre-information on the subject are easily conned.
I have seen the most fantasic histories of machines here in Holland by some traders. They are found around the Nijmegen and Arnhem bridges and usually also saw action in Normandy. Although in actual fact built up of different parts long after the war as the previous owner informed me.
Also beautiful original specification bikes restored to the highest standard with lots of post war replacement parts and a mix of parts from different years.

I assume this sort of conning is common over the ages. Will have happenend since eternity.
I also assume it happens to everybody once in a lifetime. It happenend to me as well when I ignorantly bought my (WD)16H Norton in 1977.
I could make the excuse that there was very little information available at the time. No internet and emails and Norton books were basically limited to the race versions.
Mine was not sold to me with military wartime stories as those were not interesting in those days but it was sold as 1939 MC which it was not with hindsight. Just a version of a post war civilianised WD16H. The first clue I had that is actually had been a WD16H and not a civilian one was when I found an M&I manual by pure luck at a Norton dealer who was willing to sell the book, one year later.

I think presently it is not necessary to jump in the dark. I do however warn that what you see on facebook and other social media is less likely correct than dedicated websites. These websites are not without faults but usually based on hard facts instead of opinions. Social media can be helpful in case of generic maintenance problems and getting parts.

For what it is worth,

Cheers,

Rob

email (option): wd16h@telfort.nl

This frame number was despatched under contract S7218 (dated August 1944 with deliveries scheduled at 1500 per month, commencing May 1945). The war in Europe of course ended seventy-eight years ago tomorrow and it soon became obvious that the war against Japan would end sooner than expected. Rather than the 10,000 ordered, the contract was curtailed at 5869 machines.

The last contracted army machine was WM20 122687. If BSA were on target with production, 121398 would have been produced around August 1945 and presumably sent to BAOR as a replacement before forming part of the batches bought at surplus sales and sent to the US in the late 1960s

And reply sent by email.

Lex

email (option): welbike@welbiXX.net