History of W/NG

[doug.pearce]

Can anyone provided a guide to how I might be able to find the history of my W/NG, frame and engine number match which is a starter.
This will assist in trying to portray the bike in its war time unit markings, more so as I am part of military re-enacting group.
Also any photos that show the W/NG in RAF service during WW2 – have all the ones I can find on the internet.

[john.nash]

I have a 1940 Enfield.

One thing you should be able to get is the contract number, which is what the War department would have used to order a certain number of each machine. They are dated to a month and year. So, my Enfield was under a contract placed in November 1940.
Engine/frame numbers would be associated with these contract numbers.
Contract numbers usually get attached to bike, often painted on the tank.

Post war, you are still reliant on still having the original number and being able to trace it back through vehicle records. I know mine was registered in West Wales in 1946, as I have the original plate.

I found the guys on the WD forum really useful:

http://www.wdbsa.nl/

They are not just BSA focussed.

I have a couple of useful books with more pictures of military bikes:
Motorcycles at War - Gavin Birch:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorcycles-War ... 805&sr=8-3
British Forces Motorcycles 1925-1945 chris orchard/steve madden :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Forces- ... 886&sr=1-3

The second book has a list of contracts vs engine/frame numbers in the back.
send me yours and I'll see if it's listed

cheers

[nevhunter]

If you are lucky there will be a brass tag attached to the rear mudguard which has the references to it's order date and the configuration of it on delivery and where, and when it first went into service. I have seen extracts of the lists of bikes and they are very complete, and should be still available. If someone on the forum has a very complete list I would like to identify a bike that I have which came from Malaysia. It has numbers that are way over the normal war-time ones (up to about 42,000), and I think it might have been for police or ceremonial use. ALL WNG's have no speedo drive from the gearbox being driven from a gear inside the front brake. The gearbox has the weird spacing of the 1938 ISDT ariels from which they are derived, having 3 close gears and then a big jump to top gear. Nev.

[john.nash]

I have the lists, as I said, that are in the British Forces Motorcycles 1925-1945 book.
Need the engine/frame number to see if it's there ....... if not, you'd need to track down a ww2 motorcycle anorak....

[nevhunter]

Thanks John. ( post double sent This one deleted). Nev

[nevhunter]

Thanks John. I have looked there.
The numbers are:
Frame...XG 82100.
Engine..BH 661488.
Gearbox.XIC PBC 90396.
My guess is that the bike was assembled sometime after the war in a batch for Malaysia. Anyone familiar with the way that ariel stamp their numbers would agree that these are original unaltered numbers. I would be very pleased to get some information as to what the situation is with this bike, As I have stated before, I rather like the W/NG's and would like to contactt others who have them . Nev

[john.nash]

Sorry mate,

Both your engine and frame number are later than the lists I have, which terminate in 1945.
The latest engine nos run to BH48100 and the frames to XG57520

You need someone with a later, postwar, set of lists and/or more knowledge than I

[nevhunter]

Thanks anyhow john. Maybe someone will pickup on it. Does Draganfly have anything to offer in this matter.
I also have a new unused 1940 350SV royal enfield motor, presumably WD. Nev

[john.nash]

I have THREE 350 enfield sidevalve motors (wdc) up in the loft.
They are cheap and very easily obtained (over here) as nobody wants them.

How about a chassis to go with your engine:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vintage-royal ... 8736454670

(this one is missing the speedo and speedo gearbox - maybe £300-400 - and the mag & dynamo). Shouldn't sell for that much.

You can get a CO engine into an early C frame BUT you will need a CO tank (with the cutout): that's the hard part.
Luckily the CO (early model G) hasn't spiralled up to ariel or BSA M20 prices. My engine was £80 plus maybe another £50 in bearings and rings and some oil pump bits.
The crank, bearings, crankcase (although the CO case is a little more braced) and alot of other parts are common with the C; which is why I kept mine.

[nevhunter]

I did try some years ago to source some Enfield parts to make up a bike. I had no luck whatever in australia with the frame etc, so gave up on it and concentrated on the W/NG's.. The SV Enfield is no performer. I understood that the gearbox is exclusive to the SV, with the engine plates being closer together than the model G. I had a 1947 Bullet when I was young and It got along OK after I put a roller bearing big end in it, although there was some porosity in the cyl head casting. regards Nev