Matchless G45 - G50

Matchless G45 1953

1953 MATCHLESS G45. Although the name "Matchless" is one of the oldest in the industry, it had not been thought of as a racing marque for many years when, in 1952, a 500 c.c. road-racer was announced by the Woolwich factory as an addition to their range for the 1953 season.

True, in the early part of the century Matchless had been at the forefront in racing and record-breaking. The very first T.T. race in 1907 was won by Charlie Collier, son of the factory's founder, on a single-cylinder machine—and he won again a couple of years later. But after the First World War the factory turned its attention, very successfully, to touring machines. It is ironic that today Associated Motor Cycles, of which Matchless is the founder company, should have swallowed up its rivals on the early tracks, A.J.S. and Norton.

The G45 machine first appeared as a prototype in the hands of Robin Sherry in 1951. Its engine was a derivative of the factory's G9 roadster twin, suitably pepped up. Alone in post war times, the A.M.C. twin employed a three-bearing crank assembly and this was retained for the G45. A gear-timing train drove camshafts mounted high up in the crankcase, fore and aft of the crankshaft. On the G45, roller cam-followers were used between the cams and the ultra-short alloy push-rods. Cylinder barrels and heads were all separate (enabling half of the engine to be stripped without the other), as on the G9, but the depth of finning was more generous and the four little rocker-boxes were also finned all over.

As was to be expected from a factory already producing a successful 350 c.c. racer, the A.J.S. 7R, the cycle parts were virtually identical with this machine, except for the capital "M" on the tank. At the front, "Teledraulic" forks, very similar to those proved in the war on thousands of W.D. models, were used; at the rear, the pivoting-fork was controlled by the factory's own spring units.

The G45 continued in production for several years. Its most conspicuous success was a first in the 1952 Manx Grand Prix. It was superseded by the o.h.c. single in 1959.

SPECIFICATION
Engine: parallel twin 500 c.c. o.h.v.; valve operation by
push-rods and rockers. Ignition: magneto.
Transmission: chain via four-speed gearbox.
Frame: duplex cradle with pivoting-fork rear suspension
(similar to A.J.S. 350 c.c. 7R)-Forks: A.M.C. "Teledraulic" telescopies with hydraulic
damping.

Matchless G50 1957

Charles and Harry Collier entered their motorcycles in a race for the first time in 1905. It was the second edition of the International Trophy, which was run in France.

In 1907 Charles Collier rode a single-cylinder Matchless to first place in its class at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. Collier had an average total higher than that of Rem Fowler, who won in the two-cylinder class with a Norton-Peugeot. Four years later Collier rode a Matchless motorcycle with a JAP 1,000-cc. engine at Brooklands. Before an enormous crowd he challenged the American champion Jake De Rosier, who was the official racer of the Indian 1000. In 1959 Matchless—by now totally absorbed by AJS—put a 500 single-cylinder into Grand Prix racing. The engine was a larger version of the one that powered the AJS 7R Racer Boy.

Known as the G 50, the Matchless 500 became one of the favorite motorcycles of the Continental Circus, alongside the Norton Manx. Even after the two companies withdrew from official racing, the two motorcycles continued to fight for predominance in the 500 class. And on more than one occasion, especially at the Tourist Trophy, they put in a good showing against the more advanced Italian motorcycles.

Motorcycle: Matchless 500 G 50 Manufacturer: AJS-Matchless, Wolverhampton Type: Racing Year. 1959
Engine: AJS-Matchless, single-cylinder, four-stroke, single-shaft chain-operated overhead distribution. Displacement 496.2 cc. (90 mm. x 78 mm.)
Cooling: Air
Transmission: Four-speed separate
Power: Over 50 h.p.
Maximum speed: Over 135 m.p.h.
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic suspension
Brakes: Front and rear, side drum

Matchless G50 1961

1961 MATCHLESS G50. Just as the G45 model Matchless was
I-1 derived from existing machines in the A.M.C. range, so the history
of that factory's single-cylinder G50, which superseded the twin in 1959, can be directly traced to its stablemates; in fact it was virtually a grown-up version of the 350 c.c. 7R A.J.S.—the model known as the "Boy Racer"!

The engine was a sturdy single-cylinder with a chain-driven single overhead camshaft operating the valves through rockers. An extension of the timing case to the rear enclosed a gear train which drove the magneto, whilst a gear-type oil pump was carried in the base of the case. For 1961 the lower part of the timing case was recessed to allow the exhaust pipe to be tucked in closer to the engine, enabling the megaphone to be sited slightly farther rearwards without increasing the actual, critical, exhaust pipe length. This would enable the machine to be cranked over more acutely without grounding.

The rest of the machine was virtually identical with the A.J.S. "350" (except for the fuel tank which was finished in a pleasant maroon). That is to say that a duplex cradle frame, with a single top-tube between seat nose and steering head, carried the engine and A.M.C.-built gearbox, the twin down-tubes sweeping round behind the gearbox to end at the top-fixing point for the rear suspension; the pivot for the rear suspension Was carried between these tubes just astern of the gearbox, giving a desirably wide pivot, a prerequisite of good handling.

Just as the 7R had done a decade or more before, the G50 quickly made itself a good name, being acknowledged as exceptionally quick in the "middle-power" range so essential on twisty circuits. In maintenance costs, too, it found favour with the riders, for it seemed to maintain its tune far better than did the slightly faster 500 "Manx" Norton—and sPares cost less, always a point with the hard-up chaps who constitute the backbone of the sport!

SPECIFICATION
Engine: single-cylinder 500 c.c. o.h.c; drive to camshaft by chain.
Ignition: Lucas magneto.
Transmission: chain via four-speed gearbox.
Frame: duplex cradle with single top-tube; rear suspension by pivoting-fork controlled by Girling hydraulically damped units.
Forks: "Teledraulic" telescopies with hydraulic damping.