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WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle

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Rob N VA

05-01-2004 19:49:36




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I bought a 1960 "Matchless" dirtbike at a yardsale today for 75 bucks. Can anyone give me any advise on where I can find some more information on this bike? I would like to get it running. It's a kick start, and my leg is getting tired. Thanks in advance for the help!!----- Rob




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leon bee

05-02-2004 10:04:36




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 Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Rob N VA, 05-01-2004 19:49:36  
If you're going to get interested in working on it and riding it, then you need to start reading the forum at britbike.com. Its almost as busy as this tractor forum.



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jimmac (WA)

05-02-2004 07:28:47




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 Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Rob N VA, 05-01-2004 19:49:36  
Rob, You might give this a look see. HTH Jim

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_qdr=all&q=Matchless+Motorcycle&spell=1



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Cap-N-ID

05-01-2004 23:28:33




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 Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Rob N VA, 05-01-2004 19:49:36  
Rob -- wish I'd seen it first !! What model is it? The AJS-Matchless Company made a full range of bikes with the most common being 500cc and 350cc scramblers and road bikes and 500cc twins in road configuration. They also made 500 and 350 singles trials bikes. All good bikes. I was especially fond of the 500 singles for playing in the dirt. Good old "thumpers". In the late 50's and early 60's I road raced the VERY limited production, (like 10 or 12 a year) hand built, AJS 7R's (350cc) and the Matchless G50 (500cc) machines. A totally different breed of cat. European style road raceing bikes. I held National Number 3 when I retired from riding. Really wish I had held on to some of that equipment. (sold one to buy a new Bridgeport verticle mill at the time - still have that anyway) If I remember correctly the last 7R's and G50's were made in 1962. The last of a grand old line of world championship bikes. Ocasionally now-a-days one will show up and be raced in an "old timer's" race along with a Manx Norton or two but they were rare in my day and are now seldom seen, and now they're worth way too much money to be pushed hard on a race course. The 7R was by far the best handling race bike I ever competed on. Perfect combination of frame rigidity and power. In a fast, sweeping corner you could actually set up and hold a long two-wheeled drift, just the same as you would in a sports car (only on two wheels !!). Beautiful handling machine. Great memories. Don't know how it happened so fast but have somehow gotten way too old. Would undoubtedly fall on my head if I tried it now. Guess I'll have to stick with tractors.
--Cap--

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Charles (in GA)

05-02-2004 19:16:14




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 Re: Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Cap-N-ID, 05-01-2004 23:28:33  
Lemme guess... you gotta have Whitworth wrenches to work on this thing????? ?

I've got a pretty good set of Whitworth wrenches and sockets that I bought from a coworker. Said his father had used them to work on Nortons, but he didn't want them. I figure I never know when I'll need them to work on an (name one) English cycle, English auto, P-51 Mustang engine.

Charles



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Rob N VA

05-02-2004 05:49:39




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 Re: Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Cap-N-ID, 05-01-2004 23:28:33  
Thanks CAP!

This is a 500 single dirt bike. Did I read that correctly? Only a handful were built a year? This is a 1960 model. Can you direct me to a website where I can get more info, or parts? Thanks! ---Rob



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Cap

05-02-2004 11:14:40




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 Re: Re: Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Rob N VA, 05-02-2004 05:49:39  
Rob - No, sorry to confuse the issue with my remembrances. The "handbuilts" were their roadracing bikes, the 7R's and G50's. The others were general production machines and, while perhaps not as well known as Triumphs and BSA's were, they were regular production machines. Well engineered, dependable, good performance. In my opinion the 500cc Singles were more effective in the dirt because of the spacing of the power strokes as compared to the twins of the day. Better traction. Kinda like comparing the pulling ability of comparable sized two cylinder tractors to that of four cylinder tractors. The two cylinder machines fire half as often allowing the driving wheels time to "re-grip" between power pulses. The four cylinder machines of the same engine capacity tend to be less able to regain traction once they break loose because of the smoother power production. I'm sure others have varying opinions on the subject. The "Matchless" website mentioned has quite a bit of information you might be interested in.
--Cap--

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Matchless

05-02-2004 07:24:35




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 Re: Re: Re: WAY O.T. -Matchless Motorcycle in reply to Rob N VA, 05-02-2004 05:49:39  
Try this site.



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