The exterior is quite rough (!!) but the engine turns over smoothly. The front fork spring is broken. I'm sure I'll be posting questions as I get to know it better. The carb mounted incorrect but I have the right one and I have replica kneepads.

Looks pretty complete and original

If the post war registration is 98YD04 the key card says it had the frame number WM20 93979 and the wartime serial C5214993 which doesn't quite add up, as we all know 93979 should have the serial 5127379, so it would be interesting to know the Frame and Engine numbers.

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

The eng # is 70285 and the frame # is indeed 93979

How did you know?

Its all done with Smoke and Mirrors Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

Ahh... I thought maybe you have access to a registry or something. Any other info on this machine your smoke and mirrors may offer to tell you I'd be interested in learning.

Rob, C5214993 ought to have been on WM20 104293 from S2603, didn't it ?

Did that one survive long enough to appear in the smoke and mirrors cabinet ?

No that's not in the post war key cards.

I think we will need some more clues from the actual machine, is that a rebuild plate on the engine tappet cover, are there any numbers there that could help?

Does the frame number look "altered" has it been filed off and re-stamped at some time?

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

Whether it's been filed or not, whatever happened to mix up the numbers occurred earlyish in its post-war service life.

I see quite a lot of Nortons with filed numbers that match either rebuild plates or key cards and I'm coming to the conclusion that it may have been standard practice in many Auxiliary and Base Workshops to routinely re-stamp frames to match the paperwork of whichever machine was due out.

There remains a suspicion in my mind that the true identity of a WD motorcycle is dependent upon a mudguard tailpiece with contract plate. Nothing else mattered !

Yes Ric,
Precisely why rivet counters give me a belly laugh.
A military motorcycle that had any sort of service life will not have;-
the engine the factory fitted
The gearbox the factory fitted
The girders the factory fitted
the dynamo the factory fitted
the magneto the factory fitted.
These simply due to service practice of swapping major parts.

Then we have the ops bits.
Headlights, guards, handlebars, wheels, levers & tail lamp, all parts that get damaged beyond reuse when the bike is no longer traveling with the rubber bits lower most.

Then we come to things I have no idea about.
Were bent or oval wheels repaired on bike, or again replaced with an overhauled item during routine service ?
What about saddles ? New springs & covers in the frame or swap for a refurbished one ?

Now this leaves you with nothing other then the two frame halves & perhaps the engine plates.

Original something of a myth, rather like grand fathers axe

email (option): bsansw1@tpg.com.au

Indeed.
And what about their lives after militairy service.
These bikes where rebuild to choppers, tractors, butchered, raped and left outside in the garden.
It's only recently that they are restored and used well. Unfortunatly.

I'm a rivet-counter, Trev. Feel free to laugh away ! There is enough misery in the world so if I can raise a smile on the other side of the planet, I can only feel chuffed

The M01 thread is probably a case in point. 99% of those reading it won't give a damn but if the remaining 1% learn something and are saved from buying an incorrect bearing, it won't have done any harm.

It is true that most machines which served for any period ended their days as complete mongrels but it was a progressive thing and if we wish to portray a particular period (in my case the early part of 1940) then it is necessary to either undo later modifications or at the very least avoid buying later parts with the idea that they are correct.

There is a difference between 'original' and 'original specification' Machines which are meant to be maintained will inevitably have parts replaced but to my mind that doesn't mean that everything a previous owner has ever done hs to be left untouched.

I like motorcycles to be 'in-period' and I apply this to my seventies bike as well. An alternative Lockheed brake set-up is fine but upside-down forks from a GSXR1100 reduce the historical interest.

Repeat a 100 times..'Nothing is real'... ...

Nice M20 on this thread by the way...Ian

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

Very cool bike, D. Bakker.

Good luck with your project, would love to see an update from time to time.

email (option): paulscutler@gmail.com

Just a question: where did this one turn up? Can I make a guess, in the USA, just like so many original BAOR bikes?

Jan

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

Yes, Jan, the bike is in the US. Rob here is picture of the engine tappet cover rebuild.

I had a death in the family and for the last couple of years my garage was filled with decades of memorabilia and old furniture. But I've cleared that away and finally begun work in earnest on my M20. I'm replacing the cables and have on order a fork girder spring.

I am interested in the 'dating service'. (TBH- at first glance I thought this was an obscure matchmaking thing!) More than happy to donate. Once again- Frame No. WM 93979 (looks clean and unaltered to me but what do I know?) and Eng. No. 70285. Tank No. 455

email (option): moatjon@aol.com