My 1949 Matchless G3L
I’ve been considering acquiring a second classic motorcycle to go with my existing 1951 ex-Indian Army Matchless G3LS for a while now. Then I came across an advert on the AJS & Matchless Owners Club website for a motorbike being sold by another member; a stunning 1949 Matchless G3L rigid model that I’ve admired for some time now after seeing pictures posted on the forum a while back.
As you can see in the couple of photos in this post (taken by the previous owner), it’s a really nice looking bike. Nice and shiny black and chrome, looking rather clean and tidy with its single saddle seat. This is just the era of motorcycle that I really like; that period from after the war to the late fifties where the bikes look nice and clean but before they started to get all enclosed and streamlined so you could no longer see the mechanicals.
So anyway, whilst back in the UK for a short holiday I went to take a look at the bike. It all looked good and so I decided bite the bullet and ‘invest’ the last few pounds I got from selling my car before we moved away to India. There are however a couple of slight complications.
My 1949 Matchless G3L
Firstly, the bike was currently about half way through a complete strip down and restoration. As you can see in the photos taken before the start of restoration, the bike was already in pretty good condition and had one a few prizes at various classic shows. So the ‘restoration’ was all about getting the bike just perfect.
Most of the hard work has already been completed, but the bike was very much in boxes and in need of a good few months work to put it all back together.
The second issue is that, as I have already mentioned, the bike is in the UK and I am in Hong Kong. Therefore it is certainly going to be quite a few months (if not a year or two) before I will get the chance to get it back on the road. But that’s ok, it’s not going anywhere for now and will be safely put into storage until my return…