I just got my 1935 Matchless back from the restorer. It belonged to my wife's grandfather and had been in the shed since 1952.
It goes great, sounds lovely and has lots of torque. Anyone else into vintage bikes?


Here's the before shot:

 

WOW!

Mostly a car person, but I know enough about motorcycles to know what a stunning piece this one is.

Congratulations.

 

Excellent Motorcycle. I restored a 1953 G80s, Love those old thumpers. Had a Gold Star, and a B40SS. Always wanted a Vellocette, but don't have deep enough pockets.. Only one real classic left in the garage right now, A 1964 Triumph Bonnieville T120C. One of the nice about living on the left coast of the US, most of the production in cars and motorcycles were sold here. I have had several cars, and motorcycles go to NZ, AUS, and back home to the UK.

 

Have a 1969 Triumph TR6R in boxes at a buddies house. Does that count??????

 

Very nice! the restoration took care of all that patina!

 

That was great one in great condition to start with, the mechnical bits are the easy ones. It's the tin ware and controls that are the B***h to find correct for the model and year. Knowing the Matchless a bit your restorer did a fine job. Not many know that Amalgamated Motors (Matchless/AJS) were the worlds largest makers of motorcycles into the '60's.

 

An old Matchless, that is spectacular. Cleaned up very well indeed.

 

Thanks everyone for your kind words and enthusiasm! Unfortunately its not registered yet so I can't hit the roads, but I have contented myself by bombing around the farm some. Its surprisingly comfortable on the rough, despite its rigid frame. The power delivery is what I really like about the old bikes - lots of low down torque is preferrable to outright horsepower in my book.

 

A Triumph Bonnie! Very nice indeed. I must say I am jealous of you living in bike heaven there on the West coast. I imagine that as well as a decent supply of old bikes & cars, they tend to be fairly rust-free too.
I accidently bought another classic last week, and an American one too. A 1925 Indian Scout. Another project but mostly complete.

 

A 1925 Indian Scout is a rare one. Indians and Harleys have a huge following. Funny thing is they were often exported especially the army models. Often easier to find overseas. The British and Italian bikes again were often exported to the US and there are most models here. CA being one of the better places to look. For the most part one can find a rust free example, the hard part is that most were "customized" finding all of the original little "bits" is the hard part. My Bonnie is basically an American model requested by Johnson motors the importer in the 50's and 60's. C stands for Competetion, from 1965 on they were known as the "TT Special" An American dirt track racing model.

 

Absolute beaut Ash. I have a 'classic' 1982 BMW R100RS


, a modern BMW R1150RS SE,




Of the 'vintage' variety my father has 2 BSA Bantams (1 in a tea chest) from the early 60's and an early 50's Velocette LE which the police used to use and are affectionately known as 'Noddy' bikes. All 3 soon to be mine.

 

Wow! Very nice, that '82 looks in fantastic condition. Sounds like you'll have your work cut-out when you get your hands on BSA's and Velocette.

 

Okay, so this is no ordinary Bonnie! I've heard of the TT Special. I'm guessing a genuine competition bike is ultra rare. Lovely.

 

There were actually two different models, a West coast racing bike, and a East Coast enduro style that was street legal. Mine is the West Coast model, straight pipes and no frills. Old saying about the TT specials, of the 7000 produced from 1964 to 1968 only 11,000 remain. Lots of clones, orphaned engine cases, or a frame and an other is born. They are rare if genuine. Love the BMW's, the one bike I regret selling was my 1974 R90S in smoke gray. Current rider is a '95 K75, son has a '87 K75. Another old saying, after the balloon goes up two things will be left moving, cockroaches and K75's.

 

R90S often regarded as the world's first superbike (although owners of Brough Superiors or Velocette Venoms might argue differently).
The Bitish magazine Classic Bike often features articles on West Coast/East Coast differences as one of their writers lives in the States (Kansas) - Mark Gardiner, a former TT rider from Canada.

 

You should send your before and after pics to Classic Bike, they do a monthly slot of a dozen or so and give a prize to the one the ed likes best.

 

Thanks - I might just do that. Infact I just recieved a back copy of Classic Bike in the post (as it has a feature on the Indian Scout model I have just bought and picked up on Tuesday - very original by the way, although it's in bits) and saw the 'found and fixed' feature. Cheers.

 

congrats a beautiful bike