Hi All
One for the BSA boys on eBay Aus ....item no. 331298910329
Cheers Stu

Not just BSA Stuart. They were universally fitted to most makes of WD bikes towards the end of the war. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Thanks Ron !
Were they fitted because of problems encountered in certain conditions ?
Cheers Stu

Stuart I haven't studied the subject in depth, just some general knowledge. Tank top filters were being added to bikes from as early as 1939(Norton's for one) I guess they were added as and when the conditions required. Like the Talflow filters fitted to BSA's for India etc. At some point during the later part of the war, there was an idea to try and standardise things a bit. Universal handlebars, levers, saddles, filters etc. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

An old housemate had a Bantam with a Vokes fitted.
Looked like an original unit or at the least a period modification.

Most ex service Australian Wm20's had the Vokes removed when we changed emphasis towards the Pacific theatre as in the tropics the filters quickly clogged and grew fungus & moulds while you watched.
If that did not kill them the crushed coral widely used for surfacing would form a crust around elements.

We had a member (now deceased ) who did a lot of time in New Gunea and he used to tell us stories of these boxes having so much mould in them you could not see any of the elements so they generally ran without any filter at all.
This caused coral to bake on to the top of the pistone till eventually it fouled with the head at the top of the stroke.
Apparently they gave up trying to scrape the coral off & simply fitted new pistons.

email (option): wariron@tpg,com,au

Thanks Ron and Trevor, very informative!
They were quite large with the tank mount and tube, obviously a filter mounted directly to the carby wasn't enoug!
Cheers Stu

I don't think the design of most motorcycles left much room for a decent pancake filter, although the B30 for one did have some fitted. It was simple to fit a large remote filter connected by a hose. There was a canister type mounted by the rear wheel, which was cleverly located to pick up all the shite the rear wheel could throw into it The small gauze bell mouth fitted to carbs of Royal Enfield and some other models would obviously work as a bit of a filter, but it's main aim was to act as a flame retarder to stop the bike catching fire after flash back through the carb Ron
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email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

The pancake filter shown in the photo of my WB30 was standard fitment for that year and a Burgess..Very similar but not identical to the Vokes equivalent..

I bought a NOS Vokes pancake filter at Stafford this year which I'm planning to fit to my M20 now I have got rid of the incorrect (for 41) Vokes tank top filter...

The Vokes 'pancake' isn't correct either (though there is a photo of an India office bike with one on I think) but I'd rather have a filter than not for carb and engine longevity.

That will allow me to use the correct tank for the bike (non cut off) and is a bit less intrusive than the tank mounted filter...

These were only fitted to the last two contracts of the war, though the cut off tank was fitted for the last three contracts...

No doubt tank top filters were also 'retro fitted' to older machines when required...Ian

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

Interesting photos Ron ! I assume that's padding on the second pic.
Ian that filter I started the thread with is now $450 aud with 8 days to go !
Cheers Stu

That is correct about the padding Stuart. I had them copied from an original that Mick Holmes lent me. Frank Brown makes them in green/brown/sand should you ever fit a filter and feel like protecting your wedding tackle
I've seen good original filters sell for well over £300, so that one might have a way to go yet. The correct carb elbow adapter can fetch as much again, if you can ever find one.

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Hi Ian,
You may need to add your old filter to my growing list if it is surplus to your requirements !!!

First dibs

Darren

email (option): dwrudd at lineone.net

This Vokes filter is up to $511 already with 4 days to go!!!
cheers Dave.J.

Here's a Burgess air filter I found years ago for my M20-it was sitting on a table at a swap meet, and it looked like it might fit. Turned out it fit like it was made for the M20-it screws on to the carb mouth, then it can be rotated to tuck in close,without fouling the oil tank.

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email (option): m20wc51@yahoo.com

. . . considering the price and rarity of originals, wouldn't it make sense for some enterprising young man (Ian?) to commission some well-made pattern ones for those of us who are priced out of the NOS market?

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Somebody DID make excellent copies of the Vokes-Cornucopia Enterprises. I bought one years ago-I'll bet it could fool most people now, and I'd beware that someone wasn't selling one of those repops as an original. I don't think they make them now,though.

email (option): m20wc51@yahoo.com

This item sold for $1525.00 aud !
Cheers Stu

email (option): stuartcameron66@hotmail.com

That's got to be a record price...£855

Years ago I bought an M20 just because it had an original vokes filter fitted...The bike had been bought back from Malta (I still have the Maltese registration plates off it I think)...I paid £800 pounds for the filter and the bike... ...

I wonder if it will end up on a bike that would actually have had one fitted originally?.....Ian

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

At that price I doubt that it was bought to be fitted on a daily commuter or even a "concourse" restoration. Most likely we will be seeing copies of this item on the market soon.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

I can't imagine anyone paying that sort of price just to copy it, when you could easily hire or borrow one. Peter Long at Cornucopia sells excellent replicas. No doubt they are 400 - 500 quid? Bearing in mind the amount of work to reproduce them accurately under modern engineering costs. They are a bit more complicated than first impressions imply. Ron
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email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Is anyone making the filter tubes?

email (option): iron_ariel@yahoo.ca

I made my own...They are made of felt in a tubular form...
I bought some felt sheet of the same thickness and sowed it into a tubular shape...It worked fine...

The felts are held by the clamp at one end and are held to the metal tubes with metal clips at the other...Ian

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

What did the metal clips holding the felt tubes look like?

email (option): m20wc51@yahoo.com

Thanks Ian :-) good idea.

email (option): iron_ariel@yahoo.ca

Thanks Ian :-) good idea.

email (option): iron_ariel@yahoo.ca

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com