Just seen the June edition of The Classic Motorcycle front page has photo of a WM20 with Once army surplus now in demand.I can remember a time when no one wanted these old bikes and they could be had for next to nothing.My father used to drive a old ex army van and I remember him buying several old M20s plus loads of spares which filled this van for less than £20 (early 1970s) who would of thought now these old bikes would command a high price and interest in motorcycling circles.I have had several high offers for my own 41 WM20 but couldnt bring myself to sell. Dave

I bought my 'main' M20 from an ex.DR largely because he couldn't sell it but remembered I had expressed an interest..So he came knocking on my door one evening...That was 28 years ago..At the time everyone wanted a nice shiny 'civvy' bike..
In fact when I restored mine the first time with all the correct dull chrome and cadmium plating my mates thought I had gone mad 'wasting' all that time and money on an old army bike...
At the time there were virtually none 'restored' in that way....Times and attitudes certainly have changed...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Thats's right. I remember one of the first BSA club meetings in Holland around 1975. There were a number of m20's, most of them in a very poor state.

http://magazinesubscriptionsdigital.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416262807&o=int&prev=si

email (option): noam10@gmail.com

Shame they didn't come up with a better example... ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Now I noticed that there is another one (Front half) with a blackout mask,
On the right, partly hidden by the front mudguard of the front bike,
And also, I when you magnify the photo, you can notice a bad Photoshop work:
The angle of the rear stand is add, and the bike is kind of twisted, not straight,
The gear shift lever is straight without the horizontal part to actually shift gears, and more..


Noam.

email (option): noam10@gmail.com

My first M20 i bougt it for 30 gilden if you see on the picture there was no transfer markt so i painted the BSA mark even on the oil tank on the top of the petrol tank i painted an flying hors [first specialpainting or airbrush] people remember it as the M20 pegasus. Later i restore it as a bike i always want to have A giderfork OHV 500 cc if you see the next picture it is a bit overdone but as a painter it must be shining. a frend of my makes the engines now i do it myself Gr Theo

email (option): oldbikes@kpnmail.nl

this is the same M20 as the yello one when i bougth it it was bleu metalic then yello and later BSA greenThe fish tail exhoust makes it complete later i sold the bike to buy a Harley libberator but now i own original 500 OHV pre war BSA so strange wil it go Greating Theo

email (option): oldbikes@kpnmail.nl

Its not just the M20's of course. Back in the early 70's I bought a 16H for £60 of a guy who had bought it off the army in 1948. He had put it in his garage and NEVER used it, It was so original I wish I had it now!

I brought my first one in the 1970s for £250 it got tucked into the back of a shed buried under loads of bits and bobs never got restored sold it a few years ago still with no brakes

email (option): roger.beck@node6.com

My first girder fork M20 was a 1946 ex AA sidecar outfit..I splashed out a heady £35 for the privilege of becoming the new owner.. ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I got my 1950 ZM20 in a deal for a TRIUMPH T150V I was selling the buyer tryed to knock me down £50 but gave me his ZM20 instead.I still have ZM20 Dave

A ZM20 instead of £50?!!!...He saw you coming... ....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

True enough...I had a MK11 Rocket Three...Exotic (for a British bike), highly desired by many and sounded lovely when hustling along...Have I still got it?...No..Have I still got the M20 and B33 that I owned at the same time?...Yes.....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

My first single 500cc BSA was mounted in a Norton wideline frame, along with all the other goodies a young hooligan needed. (note the bent headlight rim, had dropped it a few nights earlier!)
I also had an ex AA M21 outfit prior to that, as a confirmed hoolgan, I managed to turn it over, bike over the top of the chair whilst trying to slide it around a tight right-hander. wearing a white T shirt, ice blue jeans and white pumps (No helmet - didn't need one then)
I remember paying £20 for the outfit, it had a bushman double adult sidecar on when I first bought it, the AA box came later.
I paid £250 for the Goldie (part-ex'd a BSA Starfire) silly thing is, I couldn't afford to buy it back now if I ever came across it again.

Hi Vincent...Amazing...I don't think I have a copy of that myself!...I'd completely forgotten about it... ..Was it a good read?..Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Yes, Ian, well worth the read! Some good pictures too, I'd only had my M20 a bit over a year at that point, before getting married (I took my soon to be betrothed on a road trip to Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee to see Elvis's house on that trip, stopping along the way to pick up the M20 (that I bought on e-bay for $1050) in Missouri. We got engaged at Graceland in front of the mansion. Wife is a big Elvis fan still. M20 is soon to be finished (I hope) but back then things were a bit busy.. marriage, 3 kids later, new house. I don't even know if I read the article then, seems unfamiliar and sheer coincidence I pulled the magazine from the files in time for our anniversary weekend. Here's the cover, the scanner cut off the top but it's Classic Bike Guide June 2004

email (option): vinver-at-ns.sympatico.ca