FROM ACROSS THE POND
1959 A10 Rocket 650 twin . This was BSA in her prime .
“ THE HISTORY OF MATCHLESS MOTORCYCLES ”
family-run business behind . In 1930 , Charlie designed a narrowangle ( 26-degrees ) 400cc V-twin , the Matchless Silver Arrow . They expanded this into a 600cc V-4 in 1931 .
The quintessential Matchless : 1948 G80 500cc single .
BY ANDY TALLONE Classic-British-Motorcycles . com
STARTED WITH BICYCLES Established by Henry Herbert Collier as ‘ Collier & Sons ’, with sons Charlie and Henry , Matchless Motorcycles started out making bicycles , as did so many makers of classic British motorcycles . They built their first prototype motorcycle in 1899 and had it in production by 1901 . In 1905 they produced a JAP V-twin powered bike with one of the earliest versions of rear swing arm suspension in motorcycle history .
THE EARLY YEARS Then they started racing . In 1907 , son Charlie won the Inaugural TT Singles Race at an average speed of 38.21 mph ( blistering speed at the time ). His brother Harry won in 1909 and Charlie won again in 1910 . At the time , they were building mostly singles , with a few V-twins for sidecar duty . Until this point , Matchless Motorcycles were built using other manufacturers ’ engines , but starting in 1912 , Matchless began building their own engines . WWI came and went without them landing any military contracts to build motorcycles for the War Department . But in 1919 production resumed with Matchless building a new V-twin and in 1923 a new single . The father died in 1926 , leaving a vibrant
MATCHLESS BUYS AJS Also in 1931 , Matchless bought AJS Motorcycles from the Stevens brothers , then in the late 1930s bought Sunbeam Motorcycles also , which it would later sell to BSA in 1943 . From this point on , all Matchless and AJS Motorcycles would be mechanically nearly identical , with slightly different styling . The only major mechanical difference between the two was that Matchless positioned the magneto behind the cylinder , and the AJS had its magneto in front of the cylinder . Otherwise , they were essentially the same machines built on the same production line . Each had its own model designation . The Matchless G80 ( 500 single ) became the AJS Model 18 . The Matchless G9 ( 500 twin ) was the AJS Model 20 , and so on .
A SUPPLIER OF ENGINES In 1933 , Matchless began supplying V-twin engines to the Morgan Car Company for their cute little 3-wheeled cars and became the exclusive supplier by 1935 . From 1935 to 1940 , Matchless V-twins were supplied to Brough Superior for all their motorcycles ( this is the bike that Lawrence of Arabia rode ). In 1935 , Matchless engineers invented the ‘ hairpin valve springs ’ that would become a trademark of the two brands .
AJS engines ( left ) had their magnetos in front , Matchless ( right ) put theirs in back . Otherwise they were identical .
Matchless supplied V-twin engines to Morgan for their 3-wheeled cars .
26 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado October 2016 www . thunderroadscolorado . com