bsa m20 colours / tank

[maximus79]

Hi all, can anyone tell me for definate that any bsa m20 wd that had a cut away tank,  was painted in sand colour only for foreign dessert use?

im told that any painted other than sand colour with the cut away are the wrong colour?

ta

[GLENN]

Cut away tanks are late war contract but were not all painted desert camo.  In fact I think that no M20's left BSA in desert trim and that any that were painted indesert trim were painted once they reached their destination.  I'm currently working on a late war contract M20 with cutaway tank that was painted green from new.  All the best, Glenn

[Dr_Pinky]

Hi. Take a look at the recent thread about paint colours on the WM20 site www.wdbsa.nl

I was surprised to learn that a majority of WM20s were painted in brown, not the earlier Khaki No. 3 green. Seems to be because some paint chemicals became scarce, prompting a change to War Department directives for military vehicles. I'm building a WM20 -slowly-  from an early 1940 frame, so will keep to yukky green rather than yucky brown.

[GLENN]

Henks Military motorcycle site is great!  I do like the M20's in brown, SCC No 2 looks well i my opinion.  KG number3 is a hard colour to match.
One point to consider is whether you would build your bike to be 1940 or later war specifation, after it was rebuilt and repainted in the late war green.  1940 parts are expensive - early tank (balloon tank) commonly go for £400, early levers are expensive, valanced rear muguard, 8" headlamp, early forks with the rubber handlebar mounts and steering damper are all expensive parts and hard to obtain.  Late war bikes were a mash up of different parts. All the best, Glenn

[Mike Farmer]

 

I passed my bike test in Aden (desert) on a WM20. It was green. I don't recall if the tank was cut away but I don't think so.

Mike