Victory under the clouds of war
|| Matt Hull editor@classicbikeguide.com
|| Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk
|| Kelvin Clements
|| Jake Sidebotham
|| Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield || Jayne Clements
|| Sarah Wilkinson
|| Sue Keily
|| Billy Manning
||
Kieron Deekens 01507 529413 kdeekens@mortons.co.uk
Matt Allen 01507 529462 mallen@mortons.co.uk
|| Jane Skayman 01507 529423 jskayman@mortons.co.uk
|| Paul Deacon || Steven O’Hara || Charlotte Park || Dan Savage
|| Nigel Hole
||
Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001
Rare bikes can be rare bikes for many reasons. Maybe they’re limited edition, short-run cosmetic jobs based on more mundane machinery: Triumph’s Jubilee Bonneville waddles slowly to mind, as does BSA’s Rocket Gold Star. Maybe they’re rare because the factory built a tiny number for homologation reasons, like Matchless’s entirely excellent G50CSR or an exotic Ducati, the exact model of which I cannot now remember. Not that I’ve ever been in the market for a rare Ducati. Brief experience with a totally mundane and ordinary and mostly unremarkable Ducati put me off such anguish. But we have all occasionally stumbled over bikes which are rare because nobody bought them.
Consider the utterly superlative in every way 1964-66 Matchless G12CSR. They’re really rather rare, their AJS equivalents even more so. They’re great bikes and were built by one of the biggest bike builders in Britain, so how come they’re rare? And they are – when was the last time you saw one? See?
Their rarity is explained by two familiar words written in a familiar order: Triumph Bonneville. Matchless CSR Twins were built for fast lads, and fast lads bought them in decent numbers until Triumph – and to a lesser extent BSA – improved their own sporting twins while Matchless did not. Much.
When the CSR 650s first hit the Brit streets in 1959, they were among the top performers. They went very well, steered very well (after
1960) and had mostly adequate brakes. Certainly their brakes were as mediocre as those of the opposition. They looked good, too, but that’s hardly unique in fast lad land. The snag was that Triumph reinvented their Bonneville while Matchless sort of… didn’t.
By the time the last big change landed on the CSR in 1964, it was that famous cliché – too late and too little. Even replacing the venerable AMC Teledraulic fork and the associated mediocre front brake with Norton’s excellent Roadholder fork and even more excellent eight-inch front anchor failed to stop the decline. So very few folk bought them, hence their rarity today. I’ve owned one for almost a decade, and rode it as much as possible for as far as possible when I acquired it. It’s a 1965 CSR and had all the bits I wanted, including great big winged ‘M’ badges on a glorious chrome tank. How could anyone resist this in 1965?
They’re rare enough for experts to sidle up and remark slyly that it would be a better bike if some idiot hadn’t replaced the original forks with naff Norton junk. My, how I can sneer.
The handsome, youthful previous enthusiast owner had lightly modded his machine to suit his own tastes, which a chap is entirely entitled to do, and I spent many merry months finding original bits to replace the original bits he’d thrown away. The problem with rare machines is that no one breaks them. The factory went pop in 1965, so there are almost no NOS bits anywhere, even in the US, which has long been a source of rare bits for rare bikes. I tried though, pointless diligence being my middle names, and finally acquired everything to restore the bike to its original irresistible glory. Apart from one part. The rear mudguard. There are no rear mudguards for sale anywhere in the known universe. If you have one, name your price.
I followed numerous blind alleys. A great friend and one of the most noted Norton experts on the planet suggested that the guard might be the same as the Norton slimlines – the Matchless’s front guard is indeed shared with those Nortons. I acquired one. It’s not the right one. Despair. Or rather, a teeny tiny niggle, because I’d like to repair the ravages of too many years riding through the wintry salt and I only want to strip the thing down once and rebuild it once – with the correct mudguard, please.
And then, last year, while doing something important with an urgent deadline I found myself staring at my mudguard on j! I stared. Then I stared some more. Of course, I bought it. Of course, I paid too much – who cares! I’ve never seen another one for sale! Of course, it arrived. Of course, it was in better condition than advertised. Of course, it fits perfectly. Of course… it’s not the right one. I compared the guard hanging in the frame with a brochure shot and with pics of a 1965 G12CSR for sale at auction years ago and hung my head. What is it? What’ve I bought? I have a spare guard for the non-CSR 1965 650 twin, and it’s similar but…
The snag with rare bikes is the rare spares. I now have an entirely unobtainable rear mudguard for an even more rare Matchless. For a Matchless G15 Mk2. Anyone want a swap?