A Blast from the Past

A reader of my blog recently sent me this link – now many years old – about a bike that I had restored 20+ years ago and so I thumbed through my old pictures (relatively low-res by today’s standards) to remind myself what I had done.

I bought 2 bikes, a Matchless G80CS (the Competition Model of the 500cc single) and a Velocette KTS from a vendor somewhere in Wales. These are the 2 bikes in my workshop shortly after their acquisition.

 Both bikes underwent a complete mechanical and cosmetic restoration.

The all-alloy Competition Model G80CSs are fairly rare, especially an early one such as this with the magneto behind the cylinder – AMC moved the position to the front of the cylinder shortly after this one was made – same as the AJSs.

The Velo also turned out OK

and both were a pleasure to ride although I recall the KTS being quite heavy for a 350.

It seems the Matchless is in New Zealand and Petr from Czechia (Czech Republic) contacted me recently to say that he now has the AJS M10 that I sold last year in a Bonhams auction. Petr has a well-equipped workshop and has done quite a bit of work on the bike – adding a lighting system, more comfortable footrest position etc,

quite probably required to be road-legal in Czechia.

I was looking for a file on my laptop recently when I came across a movie that was my one-and-only attempt at using a bike-mounted camera. Out of curiosity I bought a camera some years ago and tried it out at the Manx GP in 2016. This is an attempt to film a trip from The Bungalow heading down the mountain on the A14 (it’s a back road) in the direction of Sulby Glen. I was riding my 1928 flat-tank Norton that I had restored some years earlier (see HERE), this one,

and it’s probably feasible to work out the engine rpm from the frequency of the vertical bouncing of the picture.

….and with narrow tyres you have to avoid hitting a cattle grid at an angle and scaring the sheep that wander around and that can be a bit unpredictable with an open pipe exhaust.

Last, but not least, this short movie clip shows the AJS K7 that I rebuilt some years ago participating in a hill climb event.

Ian Hatton, the proprietor of Verralls, is riding the bike which is for sale at his establishment.

Final Builds of KTT 305 and the DOHC 250

It took a bit longer than expected to complete the final build of the DOHC 250 because the UK (and much of Europe) has experienced temperatures normally associated with the Sahara desert for many days and it has been impossible for certain jobs to be completed. Anyway, the final builds of the first 2 bikes, KTT 305

and the DOHC 250,

are now complete. I have not made any attempt to start either of these yet – that will have to wait until after the final build of the 3^rd bike, KTT 55. There are also a couple of minor jobs yet to be done such as adding oil (!!) and setting the vertical position of the remote float chamber on the DOHC 250 to get the correct fuel level on the downdraft RN carburettor.  

Why has it taken a bit longer to complete the DOHC 250? Well, my powder coater first has to grit blast all of the components and he does this in a confined space (rather than a blasting cabinet) so that he can blast large structures such as a complete vehicle chassis and he dresses in full protective gear. This is a photo of the graphics from the side of his van

and it would be unreasonable to expect him to be working dressed like this in an enclosed space in the recent extreme hot weather when my car is registering 36⁰ C ambient temperature and I’m sitting in the shade of a large apple tree in the garden drinking cold beer. 

There were quite a few more bits and pieces to go in the plating bath for the DOHC 250, mainly due to the number of external oil pipes.

The parts to be chemically blacked were completed,

the exhaust pipes for the 3 bikes came back from Dorsetware after chrome plating and polishing (they have made a stunning job and highly recommended),

the petrol and oil tanks were painted in the back garden

and the bike reassembled.

So, the last bike in this batch of 3, KTT 55, is now up on the bench for the same treatment.