Matchless Motorcycles

The Matchless Motorcycle was truly that...
unmatched. The bike will long be remembered
by the faithful, but the newer members of the
riding community really missed out on a great
bike.
The Matchless was the brainchild of inventor
Henry H. Collier. He opened his plant in Plumstead,
England (London suburb) in 1899 and was one
of the early believers in motorized bikes. His two
sons, Charlie and Henry, were both committed to
their fathers dream of motorcycling. Early models
used the JAP engines that were also in the Brough
bikes, but by 1912 Matchless offered their own
engines. The powerplants were varied from a
small two-cycle engine to a 750cc four-cycle
V-twin model. Charlie won the famed Isle of Man
TT Race in 1907 on a Matchless. Brother Henry won
the same race in 1909, and Charlie was back in the
winners circle again in 1910. Matchless lost out on
the bidding to supply the English Army with bikes
for World War I. BSA and Norton won the bid for
the Great War, but Matchless did furnish 80,000 bikes for
the British Tommys in World War II. Matchless was
taken over in 1966 by the Norton brand. They
continued to make bikes with the Norton label but the
bike was still a Matchless. In 1969 Norton dropped
the line of models that was the Matchless and the
world is the loser. I never had the chance to ride a
Matchless, but I have admired many of them. The
Lone Star Motorcycle Museum in Vanderpool, Texas
has a Matchless on display...and the owner told me
he had been offered $200,000 for it. He didn't take it.