Magical Matchless
A big single was the mainstay of scrambling for a long time – and arguably, to see and hear these machines in action is the reason for classic sport.
If you've a Matchless available to ride then why not let a former Matchless works rider ride it for you… and suggest his improvements.
Everyone rode big bikes in scrambling at one time, there was nothing else which would stand up to the rigours of such a sport and a competitor needed a massively constructed machine which was weighed in tons. These machines needed physically big lads to ride them as nobody who didn't wield a hammer or saw, or didn't haul steel around in heavy engineering during their working week, could hang on to such motorcycles in the footrest-deep mud which made up the majority of even summer scrambles courses in those far-off days of black and white.
Aah! Those were the days. However, like most rose-tinted views of the past, it wasn't strictly true. Riders rode what they could get and what they could get was what the British industry made, which were massively constructed machines… er, well, you read the first bit of this piece. For what seems, in these enlightened times, often odd reasons involving taxation classes, weights of machines and so on, a number of factors determined motorcycle capacities. So, by the Fifties the British industry had settled on 350cc and 500cc four-stroke singles for public consumption. Such machines were expected to transport Joseph Public Esq. to work every day with a minimum of fuss and, perhaps accompanied by the lady of the house, to the local motor club scramble at a weekend where they would see chaps rushing round on 350cc and 500cc four-strokes with the same name on the tank as our enthusiast's motorcycle. As this feature is about a Matchless let's say this chap rides a
G80 Matchless, a nicely made machine and if it could stand side by side with the G80CS the resemblance would be clear. The idea from manufacturers was if the public saw a certain machine doing well in the competition world and a similar machine – but with a comfier seat, larger mudguards, lights and so on – was on display in the nicely appointed dealership in town then perhaps one would be sold.
The competition version would have such things as smaller mudguards of aluminium alloy, perhaps a smaller petrol tank of the same material, a reduced capacity oil tank, single saddle, larger front wheel and so on and hopefully be a little lighter. They were still big machines though and as star Matchless man Dave Curtis said: “I just opened the throttle and hung on…” Sadly for the British industry these glory days didn't last very long and by the Sixties the idea that a lighter motorcycle, being easier to ride and less stressed, would be more suitable was taking shape. Unfortunately in the main it was an idea not fulfilled by the British industry as the European makers first, then the Japanese industry, began to dominate the scrambling scene, though the term ‘motocross' was becoming more common and the day of the big bike was almost over… until the classic scene arrived.
As the newer lightweight bikes arrived on the scene, the older bikes were stuffed in sheds, not so much unloved but outclassed on the track with their riders becoming older with all the resulting issues of bodies not responding the way they did. These riders
still wanted to race though and some enlightened organisers began including, if not events, certainly classes for classics as support races. In the way of these things, interest grew until there was a proper scene for the older bikes with championships and all sorts. Problem was, not a great lot of competition bikes were built in the first place; the factories of the day viewed them as taking resources away from the lucrative road range. Luckily there is no need to stick with standard or catalogue and, as people were doing in period, mixing and matching is allowable. To create a machine from available parts or choosing the best bits from a number of sources is a well-tried concept and whether the result is good, bad or indifferent is dependent on the skills of the builder – be they organisational, financial or engineering skills.
In scrambling or MX the bits often chosen would be a BSA frame, Norton Roadholder forks, a BSA or AMC gearbox, an engine from Triumph or AMC and while not exclusive these components would represent easy availability combined with a reasonably cost-effective performance. What resulted was a variety of TRIBSAS and MABSAS and it is this last combination which interests us here. Using BSA'S frame was relatively simple as the swinging arm ‘B' range singles and ‘A' range twins had broadly similar items and were allwelded rather than brazed and lugged, relatively light and had good handling qualities.
The design of them also means a variety of engines will fit in a BSA frame but, as with many original components, these frames are not as easy to get hold of as they once were. Long gone are the days when the old lad in the grubby store-coat and eco-disaster flat cap who managed the ‘used spares' department at the motorcycle dealership would suck in his breath, making the dog-end hanging from his bottom lip glow and pronounce “well it's a Goldie innit,” indicating a godawful collection of tubes crusted in oily filth, “see, ordinary oil dun't stick like ‘R' does, proteks it…gorra be a fiver, an' I'm givin' it away cheap,” he would say, nodding sagely.
So what do you do if the MABSA is the way to your MX Utopia and a BSA frame is not available? What you do is slightly tweak the design of a BSA cradle frame to include oil in the tubes and make one, which is what James Holland did when creating this MABSA for Vic Vaughan to race in such European events as the Trophy des Nations classic over-60 class at Dieskau in Germany. The bike as we photographed it is slightly different from the original Holland build; in part this is because a 20-year race career requires some updating and there have been several owners of this machine
before it came to Peter Lockwood. Once with Peter it was used by Mick Andrews and Mick wanted a few things done to suit his own style. The first being he wanted to race it in the pre60 class so some of the mods are aimed at ensuring it meets the spec for this era. So, the bike details in this feature are as it is now…
Making the main frame sections from lightweight T45 tube and CDS for the smaller sections saved weight over the original BSA design. Using the frame tubes to hold the oil saves the weight of an oil tank which may not sound dramatic but it does carve vital pounds off the all-up weight. Originally a tubular swinging arm was made and this sufficed for a long time and several owners; however, time and scrambles action stressed this bit and when Peter Lockwood started using it, or more to the point when he put Mick Andrews on it, the component frequently broke. This was apparently common in the day too and a tweak was to use an Ariel swinging arm which, being of oblong box section, was much stronger. Ariel swinging arms are not just lying around either these days so Peter got Pat French at MRD to make a new one inspired by the Ariel design. This stopped the swinging arm troubles but put stress on to the frame which needed gusseting around the swinging arm pivot point. Biggest change from the original is the Norton Roadholder forks; adding these makes the bike legal for the pre60 class and they contain more modern internals while the external appearance is retained. Suspension at the other end is equally
interesting and the Ohlins it came with didn't suit Mick so he asked Julian de Roover to come up with a pair of units constructed from the insides of Bilstein shocks used on Mercedes cars fitted in custom bodies. De Roover make their own special valves for internal tuning of the damping to the units.
Using a Matchless front hub was also common in the day as it has a decent braking surface but is still light and reliable. It has been reduced in weight even more by the fins being removed and some holes drilled in, not an easy task as it is possible to weaken a component if done incorrectly. The hub is laced into a 21in alloy rim to which a Michelin tyre is fitted. At the rear is one of James Holland's three-piece hubs, made because originals weren't available. It too is light, works, has an ultra-light brake plate, an alloy rim and wears a Michelin tyre.
Moving on to the engine and gearbox this MABSA carries an Amc/norton gearbox with standard scrambles ratios in. These boxes were tough enough to cope with the stresses produced by a Norton Wasp in sidecar racing so cope with this single quite nicely, even if it is a bit bigger than the 500cc G80CS would have been. At 620cc this engine epitomises the big single concept and runs on methanol to allow for a much higher compression ratio. Peter did tell me it can be interesting to start as the flywheels are quite light and his usual method of firing the MABSA up is to bump start it. The flip side of this is it picks up quickly on the throttle even though the porting