BSA were already tooled up to produce a military motorcycle in the volume the Army needed.В BSA built more than 125,000 of them for the services and the M20 became the longest serving model in the history of British military motorcycling, not to mention becoming the type most produced for the War Office. But the War Department decided the motorcycle the forces needed was the WM20, which was something of a volte-face as it had only scraped through the selection process when tested in prototype form in 1936, the military preferring the Matchless G3L and a side valve twin designed by Triumph.Д«ut when war broke out Matchless couldnвЂ™t produce the volume, and the Triumph designs, prototypes and tooling were destroyed in a German bombing raid. Meanwhile, the M20 was a general-purpose motorcycle while its bigger brother the M21 was to be given other workaday roles, hitched to a military sidecar.В After Dunkirk, with the nationвЂ™s survival on a knife edge, the Government decided against BSAвЂ™s advice to cancel the order for B30s and plumped instead for the M20, which BSA felt had poor ground clearance and was too cumbersome and slow for use in the field. The War Department had been impressed with the B30 and ordered 10,000 of them. Meanwhile, BSA had created a new mount for the troops, a light and nimble machine, the B30 OHV 350cc single which would work well in poor conditions, something considered vital as many military minds were convinced any war would be fought in similar environments to the trenches of the First World War. BSA had sold the Government a batch of civilian B29 singles, but they were mostly left behind on the beaches of France.

There were front and rear wheel stands and the solo M20 could just about reach 70mph, eventually, cruising at around 45-50mph while drinking a gallon of fuel every 56 miles.Д«SA realised that war was on the way as early as 1935, restarting weapons production before the Government asked them to.В Although enjoying solid sales in civvy street, the M20 and its military version the WM20, might not have had an illustrious future had it not been for Dunkirk. It had a tank top instrument panel, valanced mudguards and BSAвЂ™s crinkle hub QD rear wheel, which continued in production until 1969 on many BSA models. The M20 also got a bigger oil tank in 1939, a new toolbox and a new chrome and green petrol tank.

Although side-valves were slow, ran hot and were thirsty, they were also bulletproof, would run on very poor quality fuel and didnвЂ™t have a great deal in the way of moving parts to go wrong. The brakes were excellent for the period, for a solo, making the M20 a respectable and practical choice for anyone not in thrall to the gods of speed. With the M20вЂ™s massive flywheels and low compression ratio the BSA would pull away from a standstill in almost any gear, and once into top would plod along at a respectable rate.

Bsa bicycles models and prices