Gusbucket13

I must admit collecting roman artifacts is one of my other passions, it all started with 7 roman coins purchased off eBay UK and escalated - Archaeologists frown on eBay sellers, as in just about all cases all context of the finds is lost when they are dug up only to sell for profit, and to archaeologists the context of the find is the important information - metal detectorists could clean out all the metal finds from an important site and consequently it never gets investigated archaeologically. Valuable sites will be lost from history because a few unscrupulous people with a metal detector have an urge to make some easy money. I know there are alternatives like Resistivity surveys, Magnetometry scans and ground penetrating radar, but these are usually led to a site by the presence of many interesting metal finds - if they are gone - whats to lead them there? I now only purchase items found in the UK and registered already with the portable antiquities scheme run by the government. Where place, time and context are all logged with the county archaeologist. I believe it is the responsible way to continue collecting these fantastic items - and just a parting thought - I cant think of anything Ive made that will still be around in 2000 years time - can you?

What a magnificent restoration - far better than I can ever hope to achieve on my WM20 If you still swing by this forum I would be very interested to hear from you. I have put a link up in the Members websites links section about the BSA M20's we are restoring in Birmingham UK their home town of manufacture, I would also be seeking permission to use some of the pics of rare bits you have posted in this thread in our 'Rare Bits Pics' photo album - hopefully a lasting online reference library of those hard to find bits for BSA WM20's and other UK WWII warbikes. We hope to ride our 2 WM20's to Berlin next summer from Birmingham via the D Day beaches - retracing the trail of leaking oil left by the original bikes! The project seems to be snowballing a bit and there may well end up being more than 2 bikes making the run. All sponsorship is welcome and it looks like we may have a TV deal in the pipeline with UK Channel 5's 5th Gear program producer. All the best and thanks for this wonderful thread - heartens me a lot! Cheers Chris C.