I bought this picture last week, I assumed it was a captured British Army machine but having showed it to a couple of people it was suggested it could be a pre war civilian machine, any thoughts?
Thats strange i have a M20 from a frend in Germany who have the same speedo meter sprocket on the left side. Never seen this one before. I can not post pictures on this site.
The Army had a batch of some 1500 M20s in 1939 being KM 20s rather than WM20s + two other contracts for KM 20s totalling around another 800 machines.
Those machines I believe took the speedo drive from the brake plate side unlike the WM20 series which took the speedo drive from the other side of the front wheel. The cover plate over the top of the front engine plates is something which I believe was only applied to the pre-war and very early WM20s. The KM20s and early WM20s also had rubber mounted handle bars, rubber knee grips and rubber footrests finished with a large steel washer. By the way the knee grips are a BSA pre-war pattern.
I think what we have here is a captured military M20 probably a KM20 which has received a German speedo measuring Km/hour as opposed to mph and recording distance travelled in Km rather than miles and to do this they have improvised a new speed drive and speedo mounting with a German instrument.
The M20 was accepted for military use in 1936/7 so I would think some early examples went to France with the BEF....They were quite different to the more common type we all know and shared few mechanical parts as well as having a different frame...Ian
Nice!, and yes, must be a military M20 deLuxe. A civilian deLuxe would have had a panel tank.
Think it is a 1940 WM20 as the floatchamber is on the outside of the bike. From what i know the 1939 KM's all had long reach floatchambers on the inside.
Hi - I was trying to identify which bike a Cowey Model B speedo would have come from when I happened across your thread. I found (a rather tatty) one of these with drive gears and gearbox in my father's garage.
I believe his dad had a Scoot, and my dad had a Francis Barnet, a B31 and a Comet, but all of those seem a bit new to have had the Cowey fitted.
Where would be the best place to try and sell this so that it goes to someone who would make good use of it?
Thanks
Chris
P.S how do I upload pictures here - I can't find an option .
email (option): cxxxsclamp@free.fr - xxx think about this too
Wehrmacht Div. marking for the 71st. Infantry Division (Clover leaf..'Kleeblatt')...
In France 1940/41. Russia late 41, Belgium early 42, Russia for Barbarossa...Stalingrad...Reconstituted post Stalingrad...Italy '44, Destroyed at Monte Cassino, remnants captured in Austria '45..Ian