Matchless Cams

[Qball]

I joined the matchless club to see what they thought and the 75-80psi dry and 90 wet and warm are acceptable and i "should be happy with the compression"  So the mystery continues!

[fast1]

  90 pounds should fire cold, especially with that low compression ratio.Kicking over a Harley 45 is like stuffing your foot in a bucket of water and they will run on kerosene. Have you tried squirting a LITTLE bit of gas in the cylinder just prior to kicking to get the juices flowing?? As a general rule if you have spark compression and fuel and it still wont run you have spark at the wrong time. Being unfamiliar with your bike and Brits in general I have no idea what style mag you have. If it has a rotor on a tapered shaft with a woodruff key the key may have sheared off and the rotor shifted so that could be the problem. If it is gear driven recheck the timing of the gears, worst case scenario just keep shifting it 1 tooth till it fires. luck and CHEERS!

[fast1]

  Mulling over your problem today I remembered the name of a British cycle guru who could help you solve your dilemma. Al Maas if he's still around is your answer, don't have his number anymore but Guy or Bulldog should. CHEERS.

[stevecrout]

 Al Maas 250 746 5011

British Isles Motorcycles, Duncan BC

[british bulldog]

  QBall you must love pain. Dave and i are both British bike owners and have suggested who to contact. I work on British bikes daily. I wish i new a 10th of what that man has forgoten. He knows AJS and Matchless like Dave Posted he is the man. Like i said before problem solved.

Bulldog

[fast1]

   Bulldog I have no doubt Jim can cure the matchless but Q-ball is in rip-bum and Jim is here. Al is more accessible by phone and internet, besides paying someone else doesn't help you learn anything. During my time in bike shops I had other mechanics to draw from when I couldn't solve a problem and they in turn had me. we all have different areas of expertise and experience. Bringing his bike here would be expensive and mean admitting failure, tough pill to swallow. Did not mean to offend. CHEERS.

[Hans]

Heck no, we want QBall to come here.  I'm sure we can help and hell, he's fun to drink a beer or 2 with.

[british bulldog]

Well Fast1 I don't call it been a failure and i am sure others won't. I have seen what happens when someone installs the exhaust cam in a Triumph T140 one tooth out. Can you also believe this by a 20yr+ certified motorcycle mechanic. The owner of the bike was lucky he had deep pockets pay for the end result. Al is a great Mechanic i agree + i have great respect for him and his knowledge. I am sure QBall knows people who travel to P.G. Plus its a lot closer than Duncan and plus less expensive  . We all can get them running but getting them running right is a different story. I am trying to save him going into his pockets any deeper than he has. We want to see him in Vernon B.C. and Pemberton B.C. this year kicking our ass this year at Flat Tracking. I will phone QBall and give him Al and Jim's Ph#s and both there Email address. And yes Hans he is fun drinking beer with.

Just one Dogs option.

Bulldog













en       

[britmc]

Hey folks

It appears my name has come up regarding the mechanics of the old Matchless singles.  While I appreciate all of the great bumps to my ego, I really do have to straighten out any misconceptions as to my knowledge regarding these great machines.  I am more than happy to bend over backward to help out in sourcing parts for any old Brit bikes but I really don't know much about the Matchless. 

Although I do have a load of used parts for the twins, I don't have much in stock for the singles and have never worked on either the singles or twins.  I am more a Triumph or Norton or BSA guy, although I love them all.  I no longer do repairs other than my own, as we are in a building in downtown Duncan that is not zoned for doing such. 

I agree with Fast1, he mentioned that Qball was in a "rip-bum" to get things done, Jim is there and he is very knowledgeable, he could likely have this problem solve without really thinking about it a whole lot.  The knowledge is there with some of the older folks, all you have to do is ask them, and Jim has been working on all types of bikes for as long as I have known him.

I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have regarding any of these machines, I don't know all the answers and will tell you so if I am unable to answer 100%, rather than trying to impress you with a bunch of baloney. Although free advice is sometimes worth what you pay for it, I will certainly do my best for you.

While I've got your attention, I want to thank all that I do hear from, we are one of about 5 or 6 businesses still dealing with these British parts in Canada, could be that because we are a small business, we are able to provide a more personal service than some of the larger outfits.  Anyway, that is why we're still in business, because I enjoy the personal contact with my customers.

We are still hard at it in Duncan, BC, we presently carry approximately 15,000 part numbers.  I hope some of you get a chance to come and visit someday.  I'm not hard to get ahold of, if I'm not here, leave a message 250 746 5011 and I will get back to you, or email works really well for me  britmc@britmc.com

Swap meets coming up down this way:

Luxton (Victoria) March 20
Coombs (Parksville)  April 3
Cloverdale (formerly Tsawwassen) May 1
Wheelies M/C (Victoria) May 15

Later, Al Maas
British Isles M/C