Page 29 - LHR Sept 25.
P. 29
BSA M20
ivilian sports bikes, and its girder forks were on NATO commitments. Yet the TA's
primitive by modern standards. But in war, purpose remained the same: to provide
glamour mattered little. What mattered was trained soldiers ready to support the regular
whether a rider could drop it in mud, pick it army. For Peter, the TA was a way to serve, to
up, and ride again. Riders described it as test himself, and to connect with a military
“faithful,” “honest,” and “bulletproof.” heritage he deeply admired.
By 1940, the M20 was already gaining a Discovery of the M20
reputation as a machine that brought men Peter's interest in military history and
home — whether limping back from a machinery led him to the BSA M20. By the
frontline message run or hauling a sidecar
1970s, thousands of ex-army motorcycles
had filtered into civilian hands. Many were
full of kit along a dusty road.
The Man: Peter Hall restored by enthusiasts or used as cheap
transport by students and young mechanics.
Early Life and Territorial Army Service
For Peter, though, the M20 was more than a
Peter Hall was born in the late 1950s, the son curiosity.
of a Midlands engineer. Like many young
men of his generation, he was drawn to the During his Territorial service, he came
Territorial Army (TA), Britain's volunteer across one stored in the sheds of a veteran's
reserve force. The TA of the 1970s was a motorcycle club. The sight of the khaki-
blend of tradition and modernity: it retained painted frame, the wide handlebars, and the
much of the discipline and camaraderie of army panniers struck a chord. Here was a
wartime units but trained with newer machine his predecessors — dispatch riders,
equipment in an era of Cold War uncertainty. territorial couriers, wartime reservists — had
relied upon in the darkest hours of the 20th
By the time Peter joined in the mid- to late century. He saw in it both the grit of 1940 and
1970s, Britain had shifted from the imperial the continuity of military service.
responsibilities of earlier decades to a focus
27
LHR Motorcycle Magazine September 2025
