Airforce motorcycle paint schemes of WW2

[Admiral Beez]

Rather than the olive drab of most War Office motorcycles, the RAF sometimes had a blue paint scheme for their bikes. Below are BSA and Royal Enfield side valve singles in RAF blue, plus an overhead valve Triumph.

Did other air forces in WW2 have bespoke paint schemes for their motorcycles? What was the intent of the blue on the RAF's bikes?

 

[Airframes]

The "blue" was RAF Grey, a greyish blue similar in shade to the RAF uniform colour, and was the standard colour of all RAF vehicles pre-war and up until about mid 1940.
At that time, most vehicles were camouflaged in either Dark Green, or the same with the "Micky Mouse Ears" pattern in black, or very dark, almost black, green. Dark Earth wave pattern could also be seen.
Post WW2 the Blue colour was re-introduced, up until the late 1960's/early 1970s, when NATO Green became the norm.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The "blue" was RAF Grey, a greyish blue similar in shade to the RAF uniform colour, and was the standard colour of all RAF vehicles pre-war and up until about mid 1940.

Interesting. This Velocette looks nice in the blue scheme. Is that a low viz head lamp?

 

[SaparotRob]

Those motorcycles are beautiful.

 

[Shortround6]

Painting the motorcycles blue slowed theft by the Army or US forces.
Speed of theft depended on the trying time of the new covering paint.

 

[Airframes]

The headlamp is fitted with a black out cover, which covers the lens and has a slot to allow a narrow beam of light, with a cowl above the slot deflecting the beam of light, to reduce visibility from above.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Painting the motorcycles blue slowed theft by the Army or US forces.
Speed of theft depended on the trying time of the new covering paint.

I belong to the CVMG and many of our bikes do not have ignition keys. Of course most today have no idea how to work the manual ignition timing, valve lifter, manual choke, carb tickler, TDC kickstarter, and possible magneto switch of the many single cylinder British bikes made up to the early 1950s. We laugh that you're better off picking it up if you wanted to steal a wartime bike today. Here's the starting (and stopping) procedure of a 1939 Matchless from the owner's manual.

http://archives.jampot.dk/book/Owners_manuals/1939_AJS_All_Models_Instruction_Book.pdf

I can see why military bikes wouldn't want keys, since you'll be looking for them in a crisis. Do modern MBTs have keys? Or planes, can anyone climb into a F-35 and steal it?

 

[z42]

The "blue" was RAF Grey, a greyish blue similar in shade to the RAF uniform colour, and was the standard colour of all RAF vehicles pre-war and up until about mid 1940.
At that time, most vehicles were camouflaged in either Dark Green, or the same with the "Micky Mouse Ears" pattern in black, or very dark, almost black, green. Dark Earth wave pattern could also be seen.

Interesting. Was this change due to some hard earned wartime experience or tests with blue vehicles being easy targets to spot for the enemy? Or just some general precaution?

Post WW2 the Blue colour was re-introduced, up until the late 1960's/early 1970s, when NATO Green became the norm.

Also interesting. It's not like the threat of attack had disappeared in case some war had broken out again.

Those blue painted bikes do look nice, though!

 

[z42]

As an aside, are all these bikes hard tails with no rear suspension except for the saddle. Isn't the handling on bumpy roads bad, to put it mildly?

Also the front suspensions look quite different than on contemporary bikes. Why do they need these forks with several rods, is that somehow part of the front suspension too?

 

[Airframes]

All military vehicles, buildings, structures, factories etc were camouflaged due to aerial attacks on Britain from the BoB onwards. Even the surfaces of airfields, for example, had hedges painted over the grass.

 

[cvairwerks]

As an aside, are all these bikes hard tails with no rear suspension except for the saddle. Isn't the handling on bumpy roads bad, to put it mildly?

Also the front suspensions look quite different than on contemporary bikes. Why do they need these forks with several rods, is that somehow part of the front suspension too?

The bikes are all hard tails, with the seat being sprung. The front of the seat is on a pivot, while the rear is supported by a pair of springs.
As to the front suspension, the bikes in the photos all use small diameter tubing in a truss design for supporting the front wheel. The spring is attached to the top section of what one would call the "triple tree" these days, and is connected to the bottom of the tree via a pair of levers. That configuration allows some fore and aft movement of the front wheel assembly when going over bumps and potholes and the like. The rest of the small tubes are simply for supporting the fender.

 

[Admiral Beez]

As an aside, are all these bikes hard tails with no rear suspension except for the saddle. Isn't the handling on bumpy roads bad, to put it mildly?

It's surprising how long it took to introduce swinging arm rear suspension. Cantilever and plunger rear suspension had some pre-ww2 application in fancy Vincent, Brough Superiors, Matchless and Ariels, but it wouldn't be until well into the 1950s before we saw oil damped coil rear springs. WW2 aircraft suspension gave the bike firms their impetus.

Also the front suspensions look quite different than on contemporary bikes. Why do they need these forks with several rods, is that somehow part of the front suspension too?

Girder forks. Lots of info here The Evolution of Motorcycle Suspension Systems: Past, Present and Future – Veritys.co.uk.

As long as you can make it oil tight, a British hard tail low compression single is a lot of fun…. at low speed. Like this 350cc 1949 Matchless G3 below. At reasonable speeds a lightweight hardtail bike like this rides no differently than a bicycle. You just need to be cognizant that the rear wheel will bounce and reduce contact on bumps when cornering.

 

[SaparotRob]

A beautiful bike.

 

[z42]

As long as you can make it oil tight, a British hard tail low compression single is a lot of fun….

An oil tight British motorcycle?

 

[Admiral Beez]

An oil tight British motorcycle?

Indeed. That's why I traded my 1969 Triumph for a 2023 Royal Enfield. You get the same simple rideability and classic lines, but keep the oil inside.

New Int650 bags & pipes?

New member here and I just got a 2022 (just 1,600 mi) Interceptor 650. First thing I want to do is get some sort of pannier/saddle-bags and a bit louder slip-on exhaust. Whats the best value? Trusted supplier?

www.royalenfieldowners.com

But the old Triumph was fun when she worked. Here I am in 2014.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03rsbVldKTk&feature=youtu.be

 

[GrauGeist]

Years ago, a friend of mine had an early 40's Norton which was all original.

It was fully restored (where needed) and it's original paint scheme was over-all Khaki, which he kept.