from ‘Kid Carbine’ at the BNA forum
The bike is indeed a Carbine & the following is copy of a reply that I sent to another forum member in relation to the same bike.
The chromed Carbine may possibly have been re-chromed sometime in its life as the detail on the head badge has been severely buffed away.
The head lugs are of the pre war type, however this is a post war frame as the serials were just geting into the 12,000’s by 1942, so serial number 13294 is a post war frame.
This is not unusual with Carbines & it has been supposed that they must have had a substantial quantity of frame components & were using up stocks that had been bought pre war.
The code on the back of the Williams chainwheel apears to be either AM or AW which translates to either 1950 [probable] or 1956 [less likely]
There were a number of Carbine models covering the spectrum from basic delivery workhorses through roadsters, sport models, club racers, serious racers & bikes built to customers order.
The bike in the pictures seems to be in the sport, club or real racer category, but I am unable to determine which.
Chrome plating, if original, was an extra cost item & is not likely to have been applied to a low cost model, so it is more likely to hav been applied to a ‘better’ model.
Hopefully this is of some help.
To do anything less than a proper restoration to this bike should attract a penalty not less than castration.
Regards
Chris
