Anyone have a firm date of when the universal pannier racks and bags were introduced? John

email (option): tinley@btinternet.com

According to O&M in their text on the Ariel W/NG.
1942 was the start year for the introduction of the universal pannier frames, bags and the new rear carriers. Pillion facilities were also specified for that year.
No doubt Rik will give the exact date, the name of the bloke who gave the order and his inside leg measurement Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

one of the trays on one of my M20s is dated 1942.

email (option): m20wc51@yahoo.com

Enfield was already testing the pannier frames in early 1941, as this April 1941 advertisement in MotorCycling shows. But the panniers were first used on the last motorcycles of the WD/C contract C/8732 (November 1941 onwards).





Jan

email (option): wd.register@gmail.com

The fitment of pannier racks seems to have varied a little from manufacturer to manufacturer. The list of DME circulars shows the date at which instructions were sent out to retro-fit panniers to the various makes.

31/3/1942 - Norton
10/5/1942 - BSA
12/6/1942 - Ariel
23/2/1943 - Royal Enfield.

In terms of factory fitment, photographic evidence shows that they were not fitted to Norton contract C7353 (this was the one that started off with the twin tool boxes).

I have no photos from the small C9062 contract but they do appear on machines built under C10217 which commenced delivery to Chilwell on 3/6/1941. Interestingly, there was at this time a price increase from £55-5s-11d to £64-17s-2d. Could it be that this increase reflected the inclusion of pannier equipment ? The C10217 records also state 'Information from Norton letter 17/4/41' This probably also suggests some specification change.

Orchard and Madden mention that WM20 contract C9310 had 'Bag racks fitted' Although the contract date was as early as December 1940, the Chilwell records show that delivery commenced on 22/8/1941.

It may well be that the bags actually appeared mid-contract somewhere - many changes did, but it seems significant that the gap between fitment to new bikes and retro-fitting was nine months for both Norton and BSA.

I would suspect that it would have been late 1941 / early 1942 before the racks became a common sight in service.

Very helpful information. Many thansk John