After moving from India to here in Hong Kong, I took my Matchless G3Ls to one of the local garages specialising in classic bikes for a good check over. I was reasonably sure that my mechanic back in Hyderabad knew what he was doing, but just wanted to be extra sure that everything was as …
After about two months of trecking across Hyderabad to visit the mechanics workshop in the old city, I have at long last collected my bike today! It should have actually been ready at the end of last week, but there were still a few small issues to get sorted and so I left it for …
Nothing in India happens quickly, and that includes servicing and repair of old Matchless motorbikes! So I wasn’t too surprised today when I visited the mechanic’s shop again and found that nothing had really moved on much since Saturday. The auto-electrician had certainly done his part of the re-wiring, but there were lots of bare wires still protruding from various …
Big progress made today – the engine has been started at last after it’s full strip-down and rebuild! There’s still lots of work to finish off though, but at least the frame is now rolling (i.e. the wheels on!) and we know that the engine runs, which is a big relief! It sounded a bit …
As I mentioned in my earlier post here, the initial strip down of the bike revealed that both the front and rear mudguards had partially rusted through around their respective mounting points. Whilst they were still fairly secure for the time-being, they would obvisouly require some repair and renovation work at some point to prevent them falling apart completely. …
Real progress made today! With the front wheel fitted, the frame is now half way towards being “rolling” again. A new tyre has been fitted – a Dunlop model if you’re interested. The front brake drum has also been stripped down, cleaned, inspected (they reckon there’s about a years worth of brake lining left) and then refitted. The …
One of the things I liked about my G3Ls when I first saw it was the original paint job, or rather, what was left of the original paint job. Being an ex-army bike, the colour it was supposed to be was khaki-green. However, the last six decades had taken it’s toll on the finish and there was …
When it was on the bike, the seat looked a bit tatty but quite secure. However when it was removed from the bike and we looked underneath, that was another story. I had planned to get the seat re-covered anyway; this is an everyday procedure here in India and little shacks can be found on most main roads selling new covers ready to be fitted …
With the bike safely at the mechanics it was time for a bit of a closer look at exactly what problems I had landed myself with. The first step was to remove the seat and get the engine out so that could be sent off for checking, polishing and honing. So what nightmares would be install for me? Well …
So, with the bike running, the paperwork checked and the deal done it was off to the mechanics shop with the bike for the necessary tinkering, adjustments and servicing before taking it out on the road. So how do you get a motorbike which has no working brakes, no throttle cable, no fuel lines and some rather flat looking …