Goodbye and Hello..

Time for a quick update, as I have some more detailed posts coming soon.

Looking around my garage a couple weeks ago, I knew it was time for me to re-evaluate my priorities.  My bench and shelves were full and I was struggling to find more than a square foot of useable space.   This inevitably meant letting go of parts and unfortunately, long term projects that I would never get around to finishing.

After long deliberation, I decided it was time to find a new home for the two Bridgestones.  I enjoyed having them and can be proud of the fact that I rescued two obscure bikes and brought them back from the brink.   It felt good to know they were going to someone who is passionate about vintage Japanese bikes, something I cannot confess to.



While I enjoy a wide variety of two wheeled vehicles, at the end of the day my heart will remain with British motorcycles.  I have decided to finish up all my outstanding projects and actually enjoy them on the road.  A novel and lofty concept, I know!


I was able to use the money to pay a couple bills and invest in the proper Burman CP gearbox for the G9 and a couple odds and ends.  I can also store things a little more easily and actually get organized (for once).

In other news I have found a local company (an hour away) to re-sleeve the G9 cylinder using the NOS sleeve I bought on Ebay.  I have been quoted around $200.00 which seems quite reasonable for the work involved.   The firm is called Cycle Improvements, they have been around since 1981 and seem to offer a wide array of services.  I will update once the work is done and post a review.  I have also found a good old stock standard bore piston from a fellow in Australia.  If all goes according to plan, I should have a useable motor by the end of the summer.

Matchless by Reputation!

So you've decided to buy a basket case.

 You have soul stirringly romantic notions of taking a rusted heap and watching it rise, phoenix like from the ashes.

It is a daunting task, with dizzying highs and sometimes painful lows.  Your free time will evaporate as will your extra cash.

There are few things however that are as satisfying and provide such a strong sense of accomplishment.

Let me show you what I dragged home.

The photos don't tell the whole story as there was quite a bit more buried in boxes and other items.  

Here is the the rough breakdown:

2x Frames (one single downtube, one duplex cradle frame)

2x Carbs  (one monobloc and another, much older Amal)

3 x wheels (2 rears and a front)

2 x Oil Tanks (vastly different shapes)

3 x Toolboxes 

2.5 Engines

2 Front Mudguards

2 Rear Mudguards

1 gas Tank

4 x center stands

2x sidestands

1.5 Gearboxes

3 x Lucas headlights (2 were scrap)

1 x BSA lightning seat

2 x sets of rear shocks

1 x steering damper

1.5 front ends

0.5x wiring harness

3x coils 

Loads of nuts and bolts, frame mountings, odds and ends that I am still going through! 

I confess that I knew very little about Matchless other than the company history before I took this on.  It was evident that I was going to need help and lots of it.   Unlike Triumph and BSA,  AMC motorcycles are a little bit trickier in regards to identifying parts and part numbers.  All the vintage parts books and manuals are available for free online, however I found them challenging to decipher. 

The best solution was to join the owner's club, http://www.jampot.com/default.asp 

They have excellent resources as well as frame identification service, if you are a member you pay five pounds for the service.  Interestingly enough, Matchless and AJS don't have matching numbers as Triumphs do.  The frames, engines and gearboxes all have different numbers!  If you want to ensure that you have a matching unit (as it left the factory) there is a dating officer who can research factory records and provide a report.  

As I typed in the digits I quietly hoped that one of these bikes was a G11;  This was the last bike my father rode in England.   

Drumroll please...

Category	Frame No	Engine No	Gearbox No	Year	Model	Other Information
Road	A27XXX	(hidden)		1955	55/20	Engine No., Dispatch date, Test date, Dealer, Testers name

Category	Frame No	Engine No	Gearbox No	Year	Model	Other Information
Road	A7XXXX	(hidden)	(hidden)	1960	60/G12DL	Engine No., Gearbox No., Dispatch date, Dealer, Testers name

I wasn't surprised by the G12,  the duplex frame, oil tank and side covers looked to be from a later model (the last true Matchless product before the Norton merger)

After joining the Jampot forum, I was told by the gurus that my 2 engines (seen on the bench) were 500cc G9's  however the stamping on one was ground off and the other re stamped with strange numbers.  The experts reckoned that these were early circa 1951 or 1952.  That means the best of the the two will fit the 1955 frame, originally designated for the equivalent AJS model (20).

What to do with the big pile of AMC goodness?  

I have started by separating the G12 from the G9,  something I am still not finished and frankly will probably never fully achieve.  This is due to the fact that many parts were shared among the different range.  That being said, I have managed to get all the major G12 components up in the rafters and put away for future restoration.  I will likely get to it in a few years after some other patiently waiting projects have been completed.  The G12 could use some fresh casings and the crankshaft needs some serious rust removal.  I am told that the 650cc engines were prone to blowing up as they tended to be abused in the day and did not receive proper maintenance.  I have a very kind friend who has offered me a set for postage (he has been working on these for 50 some odd years.).   I intend to put that bike back together to mostly original condition.  

The G9?  I have a frame, 1 complete motor and one parts motor.  I have 2 toolboxes and an oil tank.  

I have spare odds and ends in my garage that have been collecting dust.   I think I have found the blank canvas that I was looking for....

Matchless in name....

It was bound to happen at some point.  With my years long thirst for classic motorcycles it was inevitable that I would one day get my hands on a Matchless twin.   They are beautiful, different and fewer in numbers than my beloved Triumphs and fairly uncommon to own these days (at least on these shores).

It was also inevitable and a following of tradition that that bike be in as many pieces as humanly possible.   I am however, getting ahead of myself.



Before I delve into the heart of this story, I need to put the spotlight onto my 1973 TR7V.    I haven't really spoken too much about this bike as it is point of shame for me.  What makes it a point of shame exactly?   The fact that it was bought in the summer of 2007 and still hasn't been ridden or finished yet.  There has been work done,  lots and lots of it in fact.  Engine rebuild, powder coating, gathering of parts.  I have so many new or new near parts that I can't remember how much of what I picked up 9 years ago is still there.  

I think for me the biggest problem was I kept changing my my mind about what I wanted.  With the explosion of the custom movement in the last decade,  The desire to create my own machine often took hold of me.   One could easily get lost on Bike Exif or Pipeburn being inspired by the various creations from around the globe.   The Creative side of me was longing for a canvas to express myself with.  Then there is the other side.  The traditional side,  the side that is angered by a good original bike being chopped for the purposes of said creative expression.  Do I express myself or do I make it 'Right'?   In the end, I decided on a path of compromise, involving change but not irreversible change.   This has been the journey of the bike for the last 9 years.   Do I want these pipes?  This headlight?  These forks?  etc.

Back around Christmas I decided to do two things.  One was watch the entire series of Happy Days from beginning to end (more on that in a future post,  Everything ties together.) The second was to finish the Triumph.   I was on track, purchased loads of parts from Walridge and Ebay and was all set to go. I told myself that at least one of my projects deserved completion.  I was all set to wrap it all up with a stock bow, when I found myself wanting this:

Not the actual Fonz bike, but a reasonable Facsimile.

The Fonz's Triumph.  Should I give the TR7V a Fonz flavour?  Then the wheels were turning again.

You may be asking at this point,  how the hell does any of this lead to a pile of Matchless parts?

Hang on, we are nearly there.

Being February, I decided to look around locally for any cool bits and pieces that might look good on the Triumph.  I like to follow the 'Market' and see what people throw up for sale and what they want for it.   A vague ad for 'Matchless Parts' with a couple of poor mobile phone pics caught my attention immediately.    The photos had an ominous feel to them, looking as though these forlorn parts were left in a barn, lost to time.  

I knew I shouldn't call and actually did resist for a couple days, but curiosity got the better of me.  Did I need another project?  Of course not,  however I could use some parts to sell to supplement my income during the lean months.  

I gave in and called the number in the ad and spoke to Dave, the owner.  He didn't seem to know exactly what he had, more or less a couple frames and engines and pile of other parts.  He was 3 hours away which didn't deter me as I had the time on my hands.  

My father came with me for this one, which is nice as we get to spend some time together.  At nearly 80 years of age I am blessed that he is physically still able to be a part of these proceedings.  I sometimes wonder if I keep doing this because I enjoy the journey;  The reflection on the drive there, the excitement of what the quest may hold.  There is also the joy of interesting, like minded people, visiting new places and seeing interesting things.  

We were greeted by the owner's father, a very eclectic fellow and Vintage Indian owner.  He had a very interesting barn/shed/machine shop.  One of his items on display was a steam engine he had built from scrap lying around and a vintage St Laurent boat engine from the 1920's  that he was restoring.  While we waited for Dave, his father took me up to the loft where everything was stored.

After a brief assessment of what I could see, I knew that the asking price was too high but that somewhere under all the rust and dirt there was a diamond waiting to shine.  I threw out a fair number that I could live with and a deal was struck.  We lowered everything down and into the car, which was full to the brim. 

On the way home I thought about the TR7 and felt a little guilty,  I told myself that it would roll this spring more or less as Meriden intended.  I looked in the rear view mirror and took in my new acquisition.

But what exactly had I bought?   

More on that next post.

Meet The Beetle....!

As per my previous post,  I slowly set out to scour the local ads (Kijiji and the like) to get a feel for the market and make some contacts;  Within a week this is what I had gathered:

We have a box of varied '66 parts including a nice Speedo, headlamps in nice shape with decent lenses and various other bits.   The beast below is a 1969 engine which appears to be in pretty good order!  I found that in a heated garage where it sat for 28 years.  The elderly owner would go out and turn the motor manually every once in a while, which explains the strong compression.  I brought it home in the Pontiac Vibe, for anyone reading these little wagons are extremely versatile.  I did however neglect to secure the beast down,  leaving the back of the car covered in old oil and gas.  If you haven't had the pleasure of being immersed in that smell, I would advise that you postpone it as long as possible.  At least the motor had lubrication all that time which is positive.

My initial idea was to rescue a forlorn 1970 from a local scrapyard, with no floors and no engine.  After dealing with the proprietor, I was left with an uneasy feeling;  He initially wanted $500 for the bug on the condition that it was used as a parts car only.  He wanted an additional $500.00 for the car with the ownership which seemed incredibly odd to me.  I wasn't really prepared to buy a car, bring it home and have someone else dispute ownership after the fact so I walked away.  I hope that someone does rescue the poor fellow, he reminds me an awful lot of Victor, our old car.

As I continued my online searches, there was a rather rough but complete '62 two hours away that made it onto my radar.  When I saw a price drop of $400.00 I decided to contact the motivated seller on my break at work. Within 10 minutes I found myself having put a deposit on a car, sight unseen something I have never done before.  The buy in price and as it turned out the flatbed costs were low enough that it didn't need justification.   No choice now but to dive in and resurrect this charming little car back to old glory.   I am not sure if he will get the full Herbie, but I will do the Pearl white which appears to be the original colour.

Without further ado, I present the latest member of the family!

 

We'll always have Paris

Got back from the Annual CVMG rally this afternoon, my first time actually arriving on a Saturday rather than the Friday. I had a good time as always, but found it was well.......lacking.  It seemed that there was a lot of space left unfilled, fewer stalls, fewer project bikes and a lot of rusty crap with rather high price tags.  This is first time I have left with money in pocket having spent less than $75.00.  An all time record.  Not to say there wasn't temptation.  I nearly went home with a smooth running All State 100CC made by Gilera that would have been an easy project.  The price was right, but with 3 Bridgestones, Triumphs and other projects 1 more would have just been greedy.  Besides handsome as it was, where would I use it?  I know, nonetheless that little bike will haunt me for a long time.  Much as it hurts, if you can't say no sometimes you know you have a serious problem!!   I will let the pictures do the talking from here out.

Really nice Husky, McQueen style.  Not sure if it was for sale or not.

This little Italian Charmer was fantastic beyond words, I wanted to adopt it!

These Kawasaki 350 Avengers were clean enough to eat off of...

A neat pair of restorable Cushman scooters!

Veri neatly built Aaermachi Special 

A (Bridge) Stone's Throw away

Please excuse the break in posts, I took the weekend off to get married!  In respecting the fact that this is a bike blog, I won't go into details here.  I will just say I feel blessed and loved and it truly was a beautiful weekend.   How about the night before you ask?

 The bachelor party, the last night of freedom?  Drinking? Hmm....tempting.  Den of inequity with a dimly lit, glitter covered stage and a pole or two? No thanks.  If you're me, there is really only one option;  Drive straight from your rehearsal dinner to load two badly neglected 2 strokes into your rented van.

 As you recall, I recently visited a fine fellow who had corralled a herd of vintage Japanese bikes.  When I left empty handed I knew I would inevitably return.  In fact it haunted me the whole ride home.
Which one (s) would I go for?  The pair of Yamaha 'Santa Barbara's'?  Tempting and probably the logical choice.  After all there are two of them, identical except in colour.  This would provide a plethora of spares and minimize the need to purchase extra parts.  Hmm...too easy!

Perhaps this complete but rough gem:

(I would like to apologize for the poor pictures.  My best man and I were in a hurry and the seller had plans, I didn't want to burgle his evening! )

This is mid to late 60's Yahama YM1, a two stroke 305cc.  The same displacement as the venerable Honda Superhawk which would have been the main competition of the era.  Very complete, very restorable and I will definitely help the seller find a good home for it if I can.

After a little research, I decided on this pair of forlorn Bridgestones.  A single 90cc model and a 175cc Twin.

I suppose I picked them up because they were obscure, unloved and very funky in design.  I am guilty of being romantic when it comes to bikes.  I see them as much more than what they actually are;  I see history, a time capsule, relics of a bygone simpler age.  I see these machines as something that need to preserved, rescued and loved.  I will elaborate more on these bikes as I shed the years of grime and dust that has found a home on them.  Stay Tuned! 

Barn Finds....Literally!

What a beautiful day for a country drive. This afternoon I responded to an ad in the Niagara region for a small collection of vintage Cl77's.  The seller turned out to be a master mechanic and all around nice guy who had just built himself a beautiful CB350 that looked showroom worthy. Many of the components were home built or adapted from other machines, however the work was seamless. After talking about his lovely creation for a bit, he led me to a barn of bikes he had to purchase as a package to get the one bike he wanted!    These included several 2 strokes, all from the 60's...Yamaha and Bridgestones in addition to the Honda's. The CL77's were too far gone for me unfortunately, but a great parts source for someone.  There were a couple bikes with potential  namely a solid 305cc Yamaha and a pair of YA6's (pictured below).  I came home empty handed (This time!) however I made a new friend and was glad that I had retained what I had learned about these machines over the years.

Of course any afternoon where you see old bikes, feel the sun on your face and smell fresh air is a good one. With the owners permission I share some pics with you....

Here is some history on the Yamaha YM1:

 http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-japanese-motorcycles/history-yamaha-ym1.aspx#axzz2VP0koHl6