Peter has sent me the numbers of his bike: frame number WM20.26181 and engine number WM20.96341.
The frame (WM20.26181) was despatched from the BSA factory in September 1940. It was part of military contract C/7287, which was a contract for 17.000 motorcycles. The census number was C4342773. Here's a picture with a close number:
At some time during the war this bike underwent a “major rebuild”, where frames and engines were all mixed up. And because of that, these “rebuilt" bikes received a new census number. Peter's bike (or Peter's frame to be precise) was now wearing census number C1451460. Here’s a picture of a civilian workshop (George McLean’s workshop) that undertook “major rebuilds” for the Army. See the BSA in front, with another "rebuilt" number (C1461573):
After the war Peter's bike (or Peter's frame to be precise) served in the BAOR, where the war time census number (C1451460 by now) was replaced by the post war reg. number 18YE52. Here's a BAOR picture with a close reg nr:
The information above comes from the KeyCards. Please contact Lex (who’s the custodian of these cards) for a hi-res scan of this card. It is part of your bike's history.
Peter's engine (with duplicated frame number WM20.96341) comes from contract S/1048. This was a contract for 15.000 bikes. Production started in early June 1943, at 2.000 bikes per month. Peter's bike (or Peter's engine to be precise) was made in April 1944. This engine may have ended up in the above frame during the war time "major rebuild", but it may also have been fitted to this frame during the BAOR period.
email (option): wd.register@gmail.com