As someone who has always owned British bikes, I could hardly constrain my eagerness to get hold of a newish Matchless G80. Yes, I knew that they were mostly an assembly of European parts and not really, other than in their overall design, British at all.
Having owned several Matchless motorcycles in the past I had no qualms about tracking one down. A 1989 example owned by a typical Barbour suited gent, who professed to being unable to kickstart the bike with any ease, was found in deepest Kent. Seven months old with 3750 miles up, it stood there gleaming in the sunlight. It started first kick and I could not see what the problem was. Obviously immaculately kept, it was just the kind of bike I was looking for. £1750 changed hands and it was back on the road for moi, after nearly ten years layoff.
The last bike I owned was a late sixties 650 Bonnie which went like stink and fell apart almost as rapidly. The Matchless felt mild by way of comparison and I was to discover that the 500cc single cylinder Rotax engine lacked any kind of powerband. What little power there was flowed in and then faded away as 7500 revs were breached.
The gearbox was precise and all the controls much lighter in action than on the old Bonnie. The Matchless was capable of cruising at as much as 80mph without its little heart bursting at the seams with a flurry of vibration. However, the more the revs were poured on the harsher did become the overall feel of the machine. Used to old British vibratory hacks I was not fazed one jot by the vibration levels experienced on the G80.
Top speed worked out at about the ton, par for the course for a sixties 500 but rather poor for a machine of the late eighties. Handling was about as good as a well set up Bonnie, which means that suspension was stiff, the frame rigid and the weight (350lbs) just the right compromise between low speed flickability and high speed stability. Only on very windy roads was the bike affected by sidewinds, then only to the extent that it was deflected off course a few inches.
Steering was neutral in most conditions, the angle of lean acceptable for an old codger like myself and the bike especially useful in town where its narrow, nimble chassis combined with easy power allowed access to the head of the queue even in the most difficult of situations. Only when the Roadrunners were down to about 3mm of tread was there a certain squeamish feel apparent in the chassis, but as they lasted for over 10000 miles apiece this was not too expensive a problem to rectify. But don’t mention the final drive chain to any Matchless owner!
The first month went by in a blaze of celebrations at being back on the road again. The Matchless reliably whirred away, achieving 1200 miles in that time without any problems — I just added oil and petrol. The latter was a bit disappointing, in the 55-60mpg range - I used to do 65mpg on the Bonnie whilst travelling at a much greater pace. That's progress for you. At least the Austrian engine was completely oil tight but just as old fashioned as the Brits in having an external oil tank, unlike most of the Japs which had wet sumps even back in the sixties.
The first problem I encountered was after I'd had the bike for 1475 miles, the exhaust had rotted through. The exhaust noise had not been very inspiring and these extra holes added a bit of depth to the note but they also wrecked the carburation, which I suspect was very lean to start with. I just happened to have some serviceable Bonnie megaphones to hand, which needed a bit of welding and hacksawing to fit. They didn't work very well with the stock carb, but the local dealer had some bigger jets which sort of solved matters.
The bike makes an unholy din on full bore and sort of stutters around the 2000rpm mark, but I can live with both of those, due to the improved mid-range performance the exhaust has liberated. Fuel economy has also improved to around the 60mpg plus mark. | can appreciate that the manufacturers would not get away with the glorious row the exhaust makes...
After three more months it was time for the summer break, a month wandering around France on the bike for myself, the wife going off on her own on some kind of cultural tour - she did not like the pillion perch at all. Preparation for this epic consisted of changing the oil and checking the tappets (which were fine). The whole 3000 mile trek went off without any mechanical hitches. I was to come to appreciate the light weight and stability of the Matchless over some of the mountain passes we explored, though not some of the antics of the Frog drivers.
Night riding became somewhat fearful as the main beam lacked intensity and the dipped merely made oncoming car drivers go berserk. Added to this, there was a tendency to blow bulbs if more than 5000 revs were used going up through the gears. Being stranded in the middle of a French forest with no lights certainly reactivated my adrenalin... it also came close to requiring a coronary bypass operation when some huge truck trundled out of nowhere and would have run me off the road if I hadn’t ridden off it first. French ditches are just as painful as English ones. In true British bike tradition the G80 was easy to kick straight. I just wish my bones were as malleable.
The Matchless was a complete rarity over there and would have had many an admiring glance had not bits of paint begun to flake off the frame and swinging arm. The finish on the petrol tank was also going dull where surplus petrol had stained it. Also the front pads in the disc, never a brilliant stopper (about equal to a well set up Triumph TLS drum), began to wear rapidly, setting up an irritating chattering noise. I had to rely on planning ahead, using the engine braking and rear brake, which had a lot of feel and was almost impossible to lock up. I made it back to the UK with the pads down to the metal.
The Matchless certainly seems made down to a price, unlike the originals which would have had several layers of undercoat on the frame, for instance, before the final, glossy coat was applied. | was quite willing to rectify these minor faults for the engine gave every intention of running forever and the basics, such as steering geometry, were well thought out. The machine also lacks an integrated appearance. Placed next to an old but restored Speed Twin at one of the shows, there was no-one who would admit that the Matchless was the better looking of the two; least of all this owner!
I had also had a chance to ride one of the new Japanese superbikes, a CBR600. I had previously had a quick run on a Z1 which had scared me half to death with its twitching frame, even before I'd gone into warp drive. That CBR was an entirely different beast, the strides forward that the Japanese have made in suspension and handling are amazing. Unlike the Brits, which always relied on light weight and taut suspension, the Honda was also able to glide smoothly over the road in a manifestly secure and civilised manner. It made the Matchless feel like a really wretched wreck when I regained its seat. Had not the Honda dealer been such an obnoxious, hard sell bastard I might have taken leave of my senses and bought one!
Now the G80 has put 37800 miles on its clock. A bit more in reality, for no less that three speedo cables have broken, not to mention sundry throttle and clutch cables - I've taken to making up my own from a kit I purchased about 15 years ago and these have not failed yet. You have to scream when we can’t even get the bloody cables to last (assuming they are British in the first place, of course). The engine has gone off tune lately, I'm told the camshaft drive should’ve been replaced 10000 miles ago. Oh well!
The chassis is about ready to be stripped down and refurbished. I'm tired to death of patching up the paint on a bike that is hardly three years old and spends most of the winter tucked away safely in the shed. I'm certainly glad I didn’t pay full whack for a new 'un, as they don’t seem particularly good value for money. But I've had very pleasant times on mine; I won’t be buying another but I will pull this one back into good shape.
Eric Frazer