Question for the historians :)

Information relating to the Matchless G85 500cc Heavyweight, AJS 7R, Matchless G45 and Matchless G50
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Matchymarty
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Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 8:19 am
Location: AUSTRALIA

Question for the historians :)

Post by Matchymarty »

I'm interested in and absolutely LOVE the look of the early rigid competition bikes. I can't seem to find many if any photos of the earlier compy's.
It's my understanding, the comp bike went to all alloy in around 1950, and the crankcases for both 350 and 500 were standardised in '48? So, what does that mean for the pre '50 comp bike?

Was the '48/'49 bikes iron barrel and alloy head? or Iron head? Was there an actual 'competition' engine for those years, or only cosmetic and frame differences between the comp and road versions?

I'm wondering, if I can build a 'comp' bike out of bits, or if it had to have 'c' on the crank cases and frame...
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