Hi Bob,
What you have is a WWII motorcycle with a replacement frame. This frame number is in the keycards, this card gives information about the bike during it's post war military use at BAOR in Germany. It also gives a C1434758 tank number, a C14 tank number indicates its rebuild during the war. This is one of the bikes that saw a very long military use, as you can see it's sold in 1970.
Henk
email (option): ahum@quicknet.nl
That's interesting Bob. A number of the M20s which US dealers imported in the 1960s and 1970s still bear Belgian customs seals so were probably also from Olen sales.
One of the reasons that there are quite a lot of M20s and 16Hs in Belgium is that the former sidecar-crosser Leon Liekens had a business which sold many ex-WD bikes and spares at Wiekevorst which is about 8 miles away. I have heard that he had very good connections at the depot.
The machinery stored at Olen would have been very much reserve stock and was sitting there waiting for the Russians to invade. It was probably the M20 deterrent that put them off.
Some photos would be great !
'It was probably the M20 deterrent that put them off'....I doubt it Rik...I owned a Russian sidecar outfit and after that, stopped worrying about a Russian invasion of Europe...They would all have broken down long before reaching the channel..
..'The Russian Nightmare' as I jokingly called it due to the multiple problems encountered before the crank snapped at approx. 10,000 miles from new..Material specs, bearings ,machining tolerances were all to forced labour standard, done on a particularly chilly day in a Northern Siberian Gulag by a half starved ex 'Hero of the Revolution'........Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com