I am down under in Australia, I have a brace (or two) of AJ S/Matchless singles and twins in the Workshop/shed. Nothing compares with the sense of satisfaction you attain when you take a 'basket case' motorcycle and completely restore it and take it for a ride. The old bikes are a living piece of machinery, as I trundle along a back road I take the time to think of the workers that toiled in the AMC factory week after week, manufacturing and assembling these motorcycles, if they ever thought the fruits of their labour would still be in use 75 yrs later and still admired. It's an old man thing, speed is nothing, enjoyment is everything.
Exactly, the bikes of today can't compare to the hands on mechanical aspect of the beauties of the past. Better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow as they say! Thank you for watching!
Fantastic result Malcolm! If I'm not mistaken (please correct me if I'm wrong!) you ran up and down the revs (below 4-4.5 k) as part of a careful and healthy break-in.
Reminds me of my working career, i worked in one of the three main AMC spares dealers in England, also Triumph spares, for many years. We used to make a lot of spares in house as well as get parts from other sources and back then there was still quite a bit of War Dept stuff about.
Beautiful restoration ! It makes me miss my Triumph Bonneville that I had to sell to "make ends meet" some 40 yrs ago . ..... there's nothing prettier than a British bike !
Stumbled upon this video as I too recently completed my 59 AJS 650. I’ve had mine only 11 years and it hasn’t required any engine or transmission work and was complete. It was a matter of getting the magneto and dynamo rebuilt along with a lot of cosmetic work and minor carb/clutch repair. Mine is the model CSR 31 r which like yours uses the narrow fenders but also has the narrow ratio transmission and quick disconnect headlight as it was designed for TT dirt track racing such as Ascot in Southern California. I believe mine also has the narrow racing gas tank. Anyway, nice to see yours running and looking so well. If I knew how I’d send some pictures of mine but don’t see a way to do so in the comments area. Thanks
Great to hear that it's back together! If you feel like it you can send pictures to submissions@classicbritishspares.com for a chance to be on the website and newsletter for "Featured Bike of the Week."
Great bike, Malcom. You've done an amazing job on it. Would it have come from the factory with the two toned seat? I haven't seen that on a Matchless, but I don't have a lot of experience with that brand. Also, is that a dry clutch on that bike or will you put oil in the primary?
Thanks for watching! - Malcolm fabricated the pan with a hump - no Matchless will have this seat, color combo was just his choice on the seat. Clutch is wet, but for checking we run it dry to check for slipping (very short runs)
My first bike.I only wish the primary chain case upgrade was a thing back then (1967) as there was no way to stop oil pissing out of the bloody thing.Previous owner delivered it to the garage under my parents house,and I started it and rode off,despite never riding anything bigger than a pushbike and somehow learned on the job.All these years later I still have a G15 lurking in my shed😂
