Matchless G80

2007-09-28T12:00:00+10:00

I am not sure now how long I had the Hudson but I soon moved up to a 500cc single, my father had bought his first bike, a Matchless G80 500cc with a sidecar attached. He used the Matchless to get to work and take my Mother and brothers out on a Sunday for a ride out of Liverpool, after a few years he gave me this machine.

It was this machine I learnt how to properly use a clutch and change gears. My father would take me out on a Sunday to a quiet country road outside a small village called Maghull, a road with no hedges to hit if I lost control of the bike, Dad sat on the back to give me verbal instructions whilst I mastered the clutch to get the bike going.

I learnt very quickly on a sidecar set up with both people on the bike and no-one in the sidecar that to approach a left hand bend to fast was not the thing to do.

My first time on the first left hand bend I ever encountered on a sidecar bike setup with Dad on the back was to see the sidecar above my shoulder and me steering the bike for the potato field. I then realised why Dad took me to a road that I could run off in safety if I got in to trouble as either side of us was soft soil and spuds.

This is the machine I was given when Dad decided to by a car. I used it solo and as a sidecar unit to get to work in all weathers winter and summer.

I would be out and about in the country side tearing around corners and generally enjoying myself.

From 1963 on I was riding the Matchless on a learner’s license for a few years until I received a letter from the Lancashire Roads Authority asking when I was going to take my driving test. I think you had to take your test after the third learner’s license in those days but it did not seem to matter how long you where out on the road, after about the five learners licenses I had to go down to Stanley Road test centre for my test. Only problem was I was on a 500cc and did not have access to a 250cc. I had been riding for years illegally on a 500cc solo machine. A friend had a sidecar chassis so that was fitted for the test.

On the day of the test I think the examiner was suspicious of the bike set-up I had arrived on, he ask me how long have I been on the road with the bike, I replied a few years, he then asked - with that chassis, I replied – not long. He passed me first time, gave me my pass slip (Which I still have to this day) then commented I could take off the chassis again when I get home. He noticed the tyres front and back where warn as used on a solo, the bolts holding the frame to the sidecar chassis where new Bolts which gave the game away.

The Matchless gave me some great rides, riding in blizzards and ice in winter to get to work; hot summer rides along the famous A41 and A5 to Daventry and Birmingham visiting relatives. It was the machine that gave me the freedom to travel distances without much trouble just check the oil now and again and fill it up with petrol. Starting was a skill, if the correct method was not adhered to, you would easily bruise your shin when the engine kicked back on the firing stroke. Many a mate thought they could start her up only to end up cursing when the bike kicked back at them.

When I think back now of how the bike was parked on the street at all times uncovered at home or outside work in all weathers, summer and winter, she would always fire up second kick. The first turn on the kick start to find the compression stroke, tickle the carb and then swing. It always started.

First time I ever saw a carb ice up was on the Matchless, after starting her one very cold morning the bike came to a halt at the end of the street. I checked the petrol was on, tickled the carb again but it would not fire up. I looked down the carb inlet (you could do that then as there was no air filters in those days) as the slide was a bit slow retuning to discover ice had formed above the main jet. The ice on the jet stopped all fuel from the float chamber. After a few minutes the small amount of heat generated by the engine which had only been running for a few minutes melted the ice. The engine fired up again with lots of coughs and spluts but kept going for the 7 mile ride to work.

The Matchless was fun and easy to ride, it could also take all sorts of punishment. Thinking back now about the distances I covered on a tank of fuel (petrol was only 3 shillings and six pence a gallon (about 35 cents of today’s money) it must have been returning well over 60 miles to the gallon. On one occasion I left Birmingham with half a tank of fuel as I only had 10 shillings on me to fill the empty tank. With no cash to get through the Mersey Tunnel I had to go around the River Mersey, over the Runcorn Bridge and make my way to Kirkby the long way. With motorways still to be built the machine did well on ordinary two way roads, up steep hills, traffic lights etc. I wonder how the modern machine would fare doing a 120 mile journey on busy roads with only 2 gallons (9 litres) to get you home.

My first taste of major engine work on a motorcycle was with the Matchless. Riding home from Wales a heavy knocking sound started to be heard coming from the engine, I was about forty miles from home. I could also feel the knock through the handlebars. Ignorance probably helped me get home as I kept going, not knowing what was going on inside the engine.

When I got home I asked Father if he would have a listen. He duly informed me that he thought the Big End Bearing had gone. So I had to find out what a ‘Big End Bearing’ was. Dad had never worked on an engine so I went about stripping the motor. After getting the motor out of the frame, down to the crankcases I went about separating the crankcases. It was as I was splitting the cases the two large flywheels fell out in two separate parts. One side with the con rod still attached the other with only the flywheel. The crankpin had split in two between the flywheels. Amazingly the Big End had stayed together and got me home after forty or so miles.

Not knowing very much about mechanics back then with about major engine work a new experience yet to be learned, I asked a cousin of mine who worked for an engineering company if he would see if he could fix the offending parts. He took the crank and broken pin etc to work with him and after a few weeks a new crankpin had been made and fitted. He rebuilt the bearing and con rod assembly for me ready for fitting back into the cases. I refitted the assembly back into the cases, rebuilt and fitted the engine back into the frame. And after a week or so I was back on the road. I often think back about some of the things I did back then without the use of a workshop manual. If I had a problem or I wanted to do any adjustments I would ask around for advice on clearances and so forth such as tappet clearances etc. Changing chains, tyres, cables and any adjustments that where needed I learnt the hard way by trial and error. This probably put me in good stead for the future as I have always tried to repair anything that breaks myself.

My first near miss was on the Matchless. Enjoying an empty twisty A41 road on my return to Liverpool I and upped the speed, speeding around unknown corners and flat out at 60 mph down the straights I was in heaven. Speeding down a long and lonely straight section a lorry coming the other way started to flash his lights on and off. This sixteen year old did not know what that meant but it did slow me down whilst I started to look around to see if something had fell off the bike thinking he had seen something drop off my bike and was letting me know. I had slowed to around 30 mph when I entered the bend at the end of the straight to find the exit was blocked by a lorry across the road on it’s side. With large hedges on both sides of the road there was no escape route. Amazingly no-one was hurt in the incident. The lorry driver was just annoyed he was late getting home. I turned around after the police arrived, opened a farm gate to get into a field and ride around the upturned lorry to re-enter the road further down to carry on my way.

My First Motorcycle

2007-09-14T12:00:00+10:00

It all began when I was 13 years old, a neighbour Mr. Brady, who lived below our flat in flat 16A Wellfield Avenue, Southdene, Kirkby, Liverpool asked my father if he could give his small motor cycle to me to play around with. I do not know to this day why I got a bike that was in running order and why he did not keep it. Dad said OK and I became the proud owner of the only motorbike in our street, thinking back probably the only owner in the area. Every day after school I would sit on it and imagine riding at great speed, pull the various levers to see what they operated, give it a clean, starting it up etc. it was like having a new Christmas present.

Not my New Hudson, but the same model

The machine was a 1950 New Hudson powered by a 50cc engine with magneto ignition. I remember having to peddle pretty hard to get the engine to fire up but not knowing anything about engines I did not care it was fun, once the engine fired up it felt so strange riding a bike that moved a bit quicker than my pushbike but without using the peddles.

The Hudson was fun to ride as with having peddles to start it there was no great step from a pushbike to a powered bike, I quickly got used to getting the thing going and sneeking out at night onto the road. I used to go out after dark only (the Police where not around as much then), up Park Brow along Bewley Drive and so on without having to turn a peddle.

There where new things to learn with the Hudson, that cannot be learnt on a pushbike, not to put your finger down a suppressor cap and turn the engine over, it hurts when the charge reaches your finger. How to ensure the oil and petrol mix was correct and so on, basics which I had to learn the hard way as there where no manuals to turn to for help. I used to love cleaning the bike but thinking back it was probably a wreck and that was the reason I got it for free. But to a 13 year old it was pure gold as in those days not many people had cars let alone bikes after all it was 1961.

Brian's Blog

Matchless G80

My First Motorcycle