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Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Very nice bike, Mark.
I bought my first motorcycle in 1974, an m20.
Still got it and I learned to love it, even more and more over the years.

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

They are a different animal
I keep my foot on the gear pedal untill the clutch is fully released & I feel the bike changing speeds . sooooo easy to miss a gear
Rigids are very sensative to tyre pressure so experiment a bit to find what suits you.
No 2 riders seem to like the same tyre pressures even when using the same tyres
Also be careful with the steering & fork dampers, again very easy to over tighten them. I found that out the way that hurts .
The fork gamper is really only there to stop rebounds and once I learned that the front wheel going up & down like trousers in a brothel was the right way to have them M20 & I have been getting along much better
LED's are pathetic in the large DU 42 reflector , no matter how much time you spend with the reflector out trying to fcus the beams you just will never get a good light and in my case that is with a freshly silver plated reflector .
If you have gone up to 12 V then the new double dipper with 4 x 3V CREE LEDS looks like it might work as it uses 2/3 of the reflector on low & all of it on high.
I popped an acorn style led ( 24 elements ) in the pilot light & it gives a better beam than my £ 40 original 6 V double dipper ,

And remember that whenever the forks move the wheel base gets longer and applying the rear brake lift the front & makes the wheel base shorter, the exact opposite of a swing armed teleforked bike so if you are used to tapping the rear to stand the bike up as you exit a corner the opposite happens on your M20

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

As for daytime visibility, the bobbing effect of the light source with a girder forked bike tends to make them quite visible on the road. But I don't always run the headlight during the day & you should NEVER rely on being seen because of it.
I keep my forks & damper nipped up fairly tight. Mine has a steering damper but I don't use it. It depends on the road surface too, of course.

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Hi Mark

Your bike is looking good. I can't wait to get mine on the road. It will be my first time with a BSA of the era, I am more familiar with the later BSA Unit Singles and Twins (late 60's / early 70's). It's useful to me to understand your experiences, thanks for sharing.

Hi Bob

Regarding the headlight on the girder forks, as the headlight is fixed to the fork blades which are fixed to the front wheel, won't the bobbing of the headlight be experienced by the rider and not the oncoming traffic?

email (option): steve@bsa-inc.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

That is exactly the case Steve. I remember one guy asking if the speedo cable he was about to order should be long enough to allow the movement between wheel and speedo. Of course the two points are fixed and never move apart. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Hi Steve
As the entire girder & wheel assembly bounces up & down over road irregularities the quickly moving light source tends to grab one's attention. If the headlight was mounted on the mudguard of a telescopic forked bike the effect would be the same, I suppose.

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

The roadholding on mine is fine as long as the front tyre pressure's around 17psi. The clutch is excellent, the gear change positive and it's not at all cumbersome. It's really sweet with a whiff of throttle at 45 using a 19 tooth engine sprocket, and tops out over 60mph, but then mine's a 16H.....

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Another test ride last night, I didn't get a chance to address all the issues I found on the last ride.
The bike is stored at home now, no room so I don't gat a chance to look at it.
What I did manage to do is fit a 60/55W halogen bulb.
Current drain is awful, but I could see.
I also tightened a few fasteners I forgot!
I'm getting better at the gear changes, but I still forget and change to fast or at the wrong time.
Still a work in progress.

Mark

email (option): pes.sales@btconnect.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Mark, presumably you've fitted the longer post war 60W dynamo with an MCR2 regulator? Even so with that bulb and the tail lamp and the occasional use of a 21W stop light. It will struggle to keep up.

LED's are the way to go, if indeed they can give a correct pool of light for night riding.....Which I avoid like the plague.

https://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/led-bulbs-especially-for-motorcycles-shop.php


Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Due to peer pressure I have become a reluctant anorak Ron. (please excuse the pun)
So I decided to use the short dynamo with the MCR2.
I was happy with the rebuilt magneto, so I sent most of a short dynamo to Armoto to be fully rebuild as 12volts.
I'm running the lighting on a 12volt lithium battery with no charging.
I've ran for over an hour now, and still a bright headlight.
If I can find a new original lens and reflector I might try an LED again.
The Wassell (cree) was very bright, but light everywhere other than my direction.
Still the compact rear LED is not bright enough either.
I'll have a good look at the link you posted Ron, as it's not clear to me as to what I require.

Mark

email (option): pes.sales@btconnect.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

I've ordered wrong bulbs from his confusing array of bulbs before. But he's more than happy to talk you through what you need.
Click on the Ariel Sq 4 link for our classic bikes. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Last night I tried the snow run at night test.
The snow was a disappointment, slush was more interesting around corners.
Deep unexpected flooding no problem, I managed to get the throttle shut as the wave went over me.
It coughed a bit, but soon recovered.
Going slower at night exceeded my lighting range, so I had to phone home for recovery.
Conclusion, it was happier in the cold and wet than me!

Mark

email (option): pes.sales@btconnect.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Now using a rebuilt 40W Dynamo by Armoto.
What is a surprise is that the 40W Dynamo is this charging with a 55W halogen headlight bulb.
So I'm very happy with that.
I managed to find a little time to advance the ignition timing.
Still not happy as the timing light is so sensitive that the slightest pressure changes the light.
It's a bit more responsive, but I'm not happy.
Any more that half throttle make no difference.
I think the answer is to put a TDC mark on the crank sprocket and use a digital strobe to check it.
Big shock was how much water was in the engine.
I had no idea it could get in so easily.
I noticed this morning that a drip I think was from the gearbox was also gray.
Better drain the gearbox and chaincase.
Lets hope the water resistant grease I used is doing it's job.
So a warning, the M20 is not amphibious!

Mark

email (option): pes.sales@btconnect.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

I just use a marked pencil to get the timing right and then adjust by feel if needed, but then this is my third M21 [and came with the timing out]. Having knackered four batteries using a far east regulator, due to a reverse bleed; I now use an English made DVR and one of Goff's excellent 6v LEDS. I got a 12v LED from him for my Enfield 535 and that was a vast improvement too.

email (option): jeremy@clogmaker.co.uk

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Not such a good trip to the local BSAOC Thursday.
All seemed ok and I set off with it still light.
I ran with the sidelights on and the led in the front is very bright and white.
The last section through some trees I never noticed if anything happened when I switched the headlight on.
In the darkness I found I had no lights!
As the rear brake light is on a different circuit I just swapped fuses and I had lights again.
Not charging though?
As I've been used to riding without a functioning dynamo I thought I'd get home on the battery.
I didn't get very far and I lost my lights!
Fortunately a club member stopped and had some fuses with him.
Lights again.
Friday, work was suspended whilst I searched for the fault.
No signs of any shorting, no wiring damage?
No life from the dynamo either.
By lunchtime I had given up, Anita phoned Armoto and they agreed for me to visit in the afternoon.
Confirmed, no life from the dynamo.
It seemed like the armature was open circuit.
Stripping it confirmed this, though no sign of the windings overheating?
The Armature had thrown all it's solder!
Armature repaired, dynamo rebuilt and tested. All good.
Armoto's thought were that it suffered a short circuit and recommended using a DVR3 that has current limiting.
Sadly since being taken over the lowest current limiting device was 8 amps.
This morning I fitted a 5 amp fuse in the dynamo.
That should protect it from a short between it and the regulator.
The wiring in the battery box was scruffy and not easy to work on in the dark.
A simple and quickish solution was required as we're off to Cassino in Italy next week.
This is the result and it seems to work.
Again the brake light is on it's own fuse.



Mark

email (option): pes.sales@btconnect.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

I took the WM20 to Cassino in Itay to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the 3 month long Battle.
This was not the end of the Italian campaign, many more horrors were to come.
Sadly American propaganda has almost erased this from history.
I'd have liked to have done more riding, but work trimmed the time we could spend away.
One picture shows Monte Cassino Monastery in the background coming down from Hove supply dump.
The other is outside our hotel.





Mark

email (option): pes.sales@btconnect.com

Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

Well done, I rode my M20 there in 2001, its a fascinating place.

Rob

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Re: 1943 M20 Road Test

23 years ago Rob! Blimey where did the years go? Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

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