What motor bike

[Tins]

Hi , I am hoping someone can help ? I am try to find out what bike my dad used to ride when he was I the army , He was I  the army in the mid 50s 'Amd served in the royal signals And rode in the trials team , I have attached a couple of pictures of him on a bike , I cannot seem to find anything that matches ? I thought he rode a matchless , but the picture shows the exhaust on the left of the bike , most or all the matchless seem to have the exhaust on the left ? Any help would be much appreciated, many Thanks matt

[Tins]

Hi Here a couple more pictures

[john.k]

Yes ,its a Matchless G3L....you have reversed the pictures.

[cardan]

Looks a bit better the right way around.

[Rex]

He looks rather useful at trials riding though..

[Tins]

Hi Thanks for your help , How confusing 😂 , He was quite good I believe , Has anybody done any trials on a g3l ?

[Rex]

Apart from the WW2 era DR's, yep, probably thousands of people.

[Tins]

No way and I thought it was just my dad 😂 , I need to start my search for one now , Any pointers ?

[R]

To look at, or buy  ??

Matchless/AJS offered 'competition' models from the 1930s and earlier,
although with skimpier mudguards and raised ground clearance and muffler,
 these were initially little different to road models.
ie Any budding rider could use a hacksaw to convert one (well, almost).

The factory supplied them as std models for many years, sometimes with a
long list of options to suit various purposes*.
*Sometimes noted as Trials or Scrambles models

[R]

And prewar


If you trawl through ebay and car and classic looking for a trials or compy model, a steady trickle will likely show up.
Whether they are worth the sometimes inflated asking prices is another matter...

eg. just for example
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C850774
Seems not unreasonable.
But you'd need to see it in the metal to see the quality of the build.....

[Rex]

The important word in the C&C ad is "replica".
Seems like many AMCs have had their tinware stripped off, high level exhaust and knobbly tyres fitted over the years and now are the "real thing". Still good for a bit of fun but just don't pay "genuine" prices for a "rep".
{And yes, I do know from personal experience. Back in 1987 I bought what I thought was a real one, and even though it had the genuine small tank, all alloy engine and wader mag it had a roadster frame. Still, good fun for a year or so and then the pedestrian road performance meant it was sold on}

[iansoady]

A lot of so-called trials ("competition") models are merely hacked about road bikes. I know - I did it to my Enfield Bullet! The one in the link is probably the same. A real comp model will be a G3LC.

If you can get a copy of Don Morley's Classic British Trials Motorcycles it will help you sort the wheat from the chaff. But it's hard to come by for a reasonable price these days.

[mini-me]

Take a tip, never go looking for Dads old bike, or grandads old bike unless they've left you the money to do it.

A genuine factory spec trails bike can cost 10k easily especially if it has any history.

A WD Matchless like the one in the pic around 4k up
80% of "trials bikes" on sale are fake or just a road bike with knobby tyres.
There are even good repros like   Pykett bikes.

The world of old bikes these days is full of catches for the unwary or unknowledgeable.

[john.k]

I once sold a brand new WM20 as a "bush basher"....the buyer said he wanted the mudguards "oxy cut "......I offered to unbolt them,but no he wanted the oxycut look....All included in the $20 price.......wish Id saved the then worthless 80mph speedo.It had around 5 miles on it.

[Rex]

Take a tip, never go looking for Dads old bike, or grandads old bike

This puzzles me too. How often are there ads which say something like " My dad had a NSU Quickly back in 1959 reg number XXX ***  and my grandad had a BSA 150 before the war and sold it to a bloke in Scotland in 1946 and if either are still around I'd like to buy it back".
 
Does anyone ever get a positive response to this nonsense?