Hi
Have tried to look for information about my Matchless i have here in Norway and what I have found is that the history and the year that have been told me about the bike cannot match the chassis contract no.
I have been told this is a 1939 model that came to Norway in 1940 during the Battle of Narvik but do not get this info to be true since I have found that contract no s1050 started production in 1942.
Can anyone identify my bike with frame number 52597, chassis contract no. 294/23/s1050, catalog ref no.29? The engine has number: B 41/G3L 67653.
Bike was restored in 1988 and may have parts from several different bikes and It would have been nice to know the correct info about this bike.
Thank you for fast answer.
I bought the bike a few years ago because I liked it but had trouble accepting the story since the engine was marked with 41. I shouldn't blame him I bought it from but the bike has been through many owners and a story is probably easy to grow the more people it goes through, many times other stories may well be mixed into the original story. Either way, I have confirmed my suspicions. Now I can at least find the right workshop books and parts. The bike is drivable today but needs some maintenance parts. Next I will try to find out when it came to Norway and why it ended up here.
S1050 was scheduled for delivery at 1400 per month commencing June 1943. It's rarely clear whether the manufacturers achieved these targets and they were dependent upon supplies of raw materials via the Ministry of Supply.
If they were on target then August / September 1943 would seem about right.
Yes, Ron is right with the C number, engine numbers ran higher than the frame number.
The bike is not in the postwar Key Cards, so I presume it was left behind in 1945, the British Para's went from Germany to Denmark, and Norway, so I guess it was used by them, if it wasn't imported from the UK or elsewhere after the war.
The pictures don't work, you have to pick the HTML option, or send them to me, then I'll post them.
I have a friend in Norway, maybe you can get in contact with him, he's restoring some wartime Matchlesses, email me for his details, replace the 2 ** for "ik" above.
Ah, yes, looks good!! just to get some nice pannier bags, and maybe take the lower toolbox off? and change the kneegrips for Matchless ones, and pillion seat is postwar.
This reminds me, I once sold a basket case to Sweden, in the 80's, maybe this is the one?
