Hi,

photo here -> https://goo.gl/photos/MHPjVM5HsQHH8A5y8

This is my wife's grandfather and I've just restored the photo for her mum and it would be good to know a bit about the bike.

Any help gratefully received.



Thanks

Hi Ian..It's a Matchless G3..350cc...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

A lovely picture, a Matchless G3 and he seems to be wearing a Royal Army Service Corps Cap Badge.

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

Whoa!!

You dudes are fast.

I really appreciate your help

Thanks

What a wonderful photo ! Thanks for sharing it.

Indeed a pre-war Matchless, still with the twin down-tube frame. Orchard & Madden refer to this being delivered 1936 - '39. The registration PMH is probably 1938 or so. Unfortunately, the pre-war Middlesex records which incorporated the WD blocks were destroyed by the philistines of the London County Council when they swallowed up Middlesex in the early 1960s.

Does he have RASC shoulder titles ? The cap badge looks as if it could be RASC. The 1922 pattern Service Dress worn up until late 1939 was probably the smartest khaki uniform the British Army ever had. Are they WWl medal ribbons ?

Unfortunately we don't know a lot about him in terms of regiment etc.

They probably will be WWI medal ribbons as he was a dispatch rider in the 1st World War as well as the second.

Once again thank you for the wealth of information.

It might be better than a G3, it looks very much like the cylinder head is the all enclosed one piece version as used on G4, G90 Etc 1938-40

shoulder badges are RASC
forks have the later casting for the speedo, so '39-40 bike?

Could well have been his own or impressed machine.?

The photo is a good one and enlarges very well for a change.

Is that an initial B on his right hand glove?

dated october 1939 which is nice.
all in all a great pic

How do you manage to open the link?

I put the cursor on the right end, left click and hold, then slide to the left till it's all blue, right click then click the link. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

What a wonderful photo and dated two days before I was born, definitely a Matchless G3 not quite sure of the model though probably 1936-8, instruments in tank, I did notice he is wearing puttees instead of the usual gators, I can't remember ever wearing these in the UK, just in certain countries.

email (option): Jomichael@aol.com

much later than 36-38 and I am sure its the G3 Clubman model,
see above

I also think I can count 13 fins on the cylinder, in which case its a 500c.

lucky bloke if it was, did he come through ok?

Did Matchless follow the industry practice of introducing model year updates from the preceding September or so ?

The finish on the upper surfaces appears to me to be gloss deep bronze green. Based on the date that Norton changed to matt finish, this would suggest prior to October 1938.

The presence of a civil registration number and tax disc holder indicates delivery prior to September 1939 (and the photo is from October anyway).

The registration number is from an undocumented Middlesex block as are all the Government numbers from this period. This would seem to rule out an impressed machine as there is no evidence of this prior to September 1939. The 'MH' blocks used by Norton are all 1937 / 38.

The October 1939 contract refers to the G3/WO model - prior to this they seem to have been 'Clubman' models but RASC records are sparse.

I can only count 11 fins by the way.

"Did Matchless follow the industry practice of introducing model year updates from the preceding September or so ? "

Yes.

Note the little chrome collars on the right hand grip, usually a civvy thing, quite rare to find them or the appropriate grip these days.

What is more interesting now is that my book of reg numbers state that PMH is part of a block of "[government numbers]" [sic] issued until October 1957, no start date given.

MH is listed as London issued, but as most of Middlesex was swallowed up by the Great Wen years ago and probably means nothing. Hendon is/was in Mddx maybe bike issued from there?

Have you spotted the really big zoom facility top right? I am certain I can make out the two plugs on the side of the head that are typical of the all in one Hairpin valve heads.

Possibibly a really interesting story behind this pic.

Now I might be being a bit fanciful here, but if you blow the pic up as much as you can via the little tool top right, between the sidecar lug and the bottom left of the M badge there is a light curve line just where the tank lining would have been if it had been just blown over with green paint.

Doesn't work for me. All I can do is make it go blue then copy and paste into Google, where it says link cannot be found.

Hi Everyone,

Brilliant job you're all doing, fascinating stuff.

This is a link for all you 'fin' counters

-> https://goo.gl/photos/2dtPxQtUemQUBCgF7

I've blown up the engine, (metaphorically speaking) and enhanced the brilliance and contrast. I've also over-sharpened it to make it easier to count the fins.

Thanks

To access the photo:

highlight the link

copy

then paste into your browser 'address' window, (not google)

press return

Alternatively, you could:-

Highlight the link

Right click

Choose open link in the menu that pops up

Very nice photo.....

email (option): stinkypete80@hotmail.com

when the pic comes up, click on it and it will enlarge,then top right you see a + icon, click on that and it will enlarge even more.

looks like 11 fins,so not a 500

Ace little gadjet you use, what is it Ian?

Hi Ken,

I just upload the prepared images to google 'photos'.

It's a handy thing to do. When I'm travelling I've got my camera set up to upload images straight to a shared folder on google' photos' so family and friends can see what I've been up to.

For you guys I've just been sharing the individual images, so the link I've provided drops you straight into the google 'photos' viewer. And it's free.

It can be a bit disconcerting as google can automatically put together a presentation slide show of your files contents and include additional data and maps that it has resourced itself, to show additional detail of your journey. A bit creepy, but interesting.