Ex-Army bike - finding the history!

[v15ben]

Hi there
First post so be gentle!!

My grandad and I are trying to find out more about a bike he is currently starting to restore.

The bike is a 1940s BSA M20 used in active service during World War II

The plate is FKY 288E or 288F (the paint has come off the last letter on the plate!) and the chassis number is 94-851.

All we know is the name of the council worker who found it whilst clearing a house in Kirkless (Leeds area) in c.1970/71.

Apart from that we are stumped! We would love to know more about the history of the bike, previous owners, photos, anything and everything we can discover really.

I am new to this bike geneology business so I am not sure where to start searching. Can you point me in the right direction to find info about ex-Army bikes and specifically this one?

Thanks
Ben

The

[33d6]

Thats a fairly easy one to follow up.  All WD bikes were made to contract and there are several enthusiasts who have made it their business to track all these contracts down.
They have been pretty successful and should be able to give you a lot of early info on your bike from both the frame and engine number. It is sometimes possible to find out where it then went, and what unit used it.
Its quite possible the engine in your bike is not the one that it had leaving the factory. Army maintenance systems were organised around keeping machines on the road. If need be it was quicker to change an engine with a rebuilt one from stores rather than have the bike sitting there waiting for its original engine to be fixed.
I would suggest you contact the Vintage Motor Cycle Club who will point you in the right direction.
Cheers, Bob

[v15ben]

Thank you so much for the advice. I will contact the club and also get the engine and frame number from my grandad.
Thanks again,
Ben

[TriSpec]

Ben,
I cannot find any frame numbers with a hyphon, such as 94-851 but if it is 94851 according to 'British Forces Motorcycles 1925 - 1945' by C.J. Orchard and S.J. Madden it was one ove 15,000 supplied between 24th September 1942 and 3rd November 1943 under contract S1048. That lot carried WD numbers 5115218 to 5130217.

Regards, Peter.
VMCC Triumph Specialist

[v15ben]

Hi mate

Thanks very much for that information. The number is displayed with a hyphon on the bike, but I am not sure whether that is the official way of reading it!

I will pass on the info to my grandad and hopefully he will be very happy with it!

Thanks
Ben

[RichP]

It might be worthwhile having a look at Henk Joore's dedicated WM20 website.

http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/ahum/

Rich.