The Matchless G80 is a
single cylinder
A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ( ...
500 cc British motorcycle built by
Associated Motorcycles
Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and AJS motorcycle companies. It later absorbed Francis-Barnett, James, and Norton before incorporation i ...
(AMC) between 1946 and 1966. During the 1950s and 1960s, the main export product for AMC was the
AJS
A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd was a British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in operation from 1909 to 1931. The company was founded by Joe Stevens in Wolverhampton, England. After the firm was sold, the name continued to be used by Matchless, A ...
/
Matchless
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc Four-stroke cy ...
range – the road bikes were very similar, often with only the badges distinguishing one marque from the other; the equivalent AJS being the
Model 18.
Development
In the early 1950s, the most popular British
four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
s were still
pushrod
A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...
singles. The Matchless G80 is typical of this era. The earliest G80 is sometimes referred to as a G80L, the L signifying "Teledraulic" forks, rather than girder forks.
The magneto on an AJS was in front of the cylinder, and the Matchless magneto was behind.
A design originating in the 1930s, the Matchless was updated with a spring frame (swingarm) rear suspension in 1949, becoming the G80S. The suspension was a vast improvement on the bouncy rigid rear end but wheel travel was limited.
AMC had adopted
Velocette
Velocette is a line of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during i ...
's twin-shock
swingarm
A swingarm, or "swinging arm" (UK), originally known as a swing fork or pivoted fork, is a single or double sided mechanical device which attaches the rear wheel of a motorcycle to its body, allowing it to pivot vertically. The main component of ...
rear suspension design for its top models. Vertical
shock absorber
A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...
units were introduced in 1949. The initial "Candlestick" shocks held only 50 cc of SAE 20 weight oil. Leak prone, they were replaced by the "Jampot" shocks in 1951,
and by
Girling shocks in 1956. In 1957, AMC switched from
Burman
Burman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Anneli Burman (born 1963), Swedish curler
*Barney Burman, American make-up artist
* Barry Burman (1943–2001), English figurative artist
* Ben Lucien Burman (1896–1984), American ...
gearboxes to their own make.
The leaky pressed-steel primary chain-case first appeared on AMC machines in the 1930s. In 1958 an alloy cover primary chain-case became available.
Engine
The engine was released with a
compression ratio
The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.
A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...
of 5.9:1, because of the poor quality fuel available in the United Kingdom immediately after the Second World War.
In 1949 the hairpin valve springs were back, after the use of conventional coil valve springs in wartime engines. By 1951 the G80 had an alloy cylinder head and the barrel fins now went all the way to the base on competition models. The compression ratio was increased to 7.3:1 in 1956.
Low compression meant that it was easy to
kick-start and was more flexible at low revs. The earlier long stroke version might not quite reach , but it could trundle along at less than in top gear. It also gave good fuel economy.
Model variations
The 500 cc "long stroke" G80CS was produced from 1951 through 1955. In 1956 it was replaced by the shorter stroke, larger bore models that used the same numeric codes. The bore of these early G80CS's was 82.5 mm (3.25"), while the 1956 through 1966 "short stroke" (final version) models had a bore of 86 mm. The C is for Competition (Scrambles) and the S for Suspension (not a rigid rear frame).
Matchless also made a 600 cc version of the G80 called Typhoon from 1959 to 1962. The engine prefix code was TCS on these bikes. The bore was increased to 89 mm, while the stroke was increased from 85.5 mm to a whopping 96 mm. Based on the number of currently known TCS's on the Typhoon register kept by Rick Mann, it is now estimated that 225 to 300 were made by the factory over a four-year period, and almost all of them were sold in the US. The rarest of these is the single down tube framed version, the 1959 G80TCS, and its even rarer identical sister the 1959 AJS 18TCS. This one year only variant with a slightly smaller cylinder capacity, had a frame that when thrashed was less robust than the models that followed. Nevertheless, it is often favored over the duplex framed TCS models (1960 to 1962) because of its lighter weight and easier maneuverability. There was a road model with lights and a competition model without lights.
Engine numbers usually start with the year of production, followed by model designation, and completed with the production number of the motorcycle.
Les Harris Matchless G80
Launched in 1987 by motorcycle spares businessman,
Les Harris, and designed by
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
, a new "Matchless G80" single was released powered by an Austrian
Rotax
Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Product ...
4-stroke, single over-head cam (SOHC), 500cc engine. Components from Italy such as front and rear Paioli suspension,
Dellorto
Dell'Orto is an Italian company, headquartered in Cabiate, specialized in the construction of carburetors and electronic injection systems. The company was founded in 1933 as "Società anonima Gaetano Dell'Orto e figli" (Gaetano Dell’Orto and ...
carburetor,
Lafranconi silencers and
Brembo
Brembo S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. Its head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy.
History
Brembo was established in Paladina, Italy on January 11, 1961 ...
disc brakes were used whilst, harking back to his licence-built
Triumph Bonneville T140
The Triumph Bonneville T140 is a standard motorcycle with a capacity engine that was designed and built by Triumph Engineering at Meriden near Coventry.
The T140 was the second generation in the Bonneville series developed from the earlier ...
s, the frame doubled up as the oil tank. German components included the
Varta
VARTA AG (; german: link=no, Vertrieb, Aufladung, Reparatur transportabler Akkumulatoren – ) is a German company manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.
History
VARTA was founded by Adolf Müller in ...
battery and
Magura switchgear. The model was offered in colours of silver, black or metallic burgundy. Although electric start and twin disc brakes were options, priced at £2700 (£500 more than a
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
motorcycle of similar specification), this was not a successful machine and production ended by 1990.
See also
*
List of motorcycles of the 1940s
This a listing of motorcycles of the 1940s, including those on sale, introduced, or otherwise relevant in this period.
Motorcycle
*Acme motorcycle (1939–49)
* AJS 18
* AJS 7R
*AJS Model 16
* AJS Model 20
*AJS Porcupine
* Ariel Red Hunter
* ...
*
List of motorcycles of the 1950s
This a listing of motorcycles of the 1950s, including those on sale, introduced, or otherwise relevant in this period.
* AJS 18 (1949-1963)
References
{{reflist
G80
Motorcycles introduced in the 1940s