Sort of
Thanks for checking .
I know it is not in the ledgers as I have downloaded them all and printed out quite a few pages at A3 size for easier reading but when the previous request was made we were talking about the Aust army ledgers and no mention of factory frame records which I always thought were destroyed during one of the bombing raids on the factory which is why I asked this time .
So it retains it's mystery bike provenance
When I finally pass it on some other poor sod will be worrying about returning it to an "authentic appearance" in the mean time I will just keep on riding it cause that is what it was made for , not for looking at .
The only interesting thing is that the registration papers list it as a 1943 model so way back in 1946/7 when it was disposed of some one must have known it was a 1943 bike.
And this is also a bit strange as all of the bikes I have come across that have been continiously registered since the end of WWII are recorded as being 1946 or 1947
Bikes that have not been continiously registered seem to have their original manufacture date.
The first B40 I registered a week after I bought it had to be registered as a 1982 model as I had no proof it was made in 1966 that the registry would accept where as the 2 ones registered latter under historic registration got 1966 as their model year .
['When I finally pass it on some other poor sod will be worrying about returning it to an "authentic appearance" in the mean time I will just keep on riding it cause that is what it was made for , not for looking at ...']
They can still be ridden when they have an 'authentic appearance', the two things are not mutually exclusive...Ian
All the Triumph factory records were lost in the Coventry blitz but no other factory seems to have suffered to the same degree. It's not clear why the surviving BSA factory records suddenly stop, but they're more complete than Norton who only have most of 1939 and one book from 1940. The most likely explanation is that the records served initially for guarantee purposes and then later for spares and technical enquiries. BSA had to be able to supply the correct parts to a dealer who quoted pre-war engine and frame numbers...but at some point it was realised that 20lb book after 20lb book listing machines with no differences and only one customer - "War Office, London" simply weren't worth the shelf space.
The fact that your bike is not in the Australian Army records and has a correct year of manufacture would suggest to me, certainly in a British context that it was probably delivered to a government agency who used civilian rather than military serials and registered immediately. Maybe fire brigades, coastguards, that sort of thing.
['When I finally pass it on some other poor sod will be worrying about returning it to an "authentic appearance" in the mean time I will just keep on riding it cause that is what it was made for , not for looking at ...']
They can still be ridden when they have an 'authentic appearance', the two things are not mutually exclusive...Ian
Depends upon who prisy you are about the original appearance
Know lots of riders who will not to 20 yards on any road that is not sealed
Their bikes & their decision but not for this little black duck.
When we laid the new water pipes to the house, the M20 was perfect for packing down the trench back fill
