Interesting motorcycles, not XS650

Lovely old Matchless for sale in Phoenix. You don’t see these very often, especially in this condition. The guy is selling it at a loss.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/mcy/d/phoenix-1967-matchless-g15cs-norton-750/7821353194.html

IMG_8108.png
 
I haven’t seen a nickel plated frame in awhile, the fat 19” front rim sets it off also, although the CNC swinger seems out of place
I had a friend with more $ than God. He commissioned several builds in the 70's. I asked him about one, why didn't you plate the frame? His response was sobering. He explained "a plated frame hides rust on a thin wall tubing build like this. I never sell a bike outright, always trade it in to a dealer to avoid liability back through me to the family business. Plating might cause an undetect failure years from now that might be traced back through a defunct dealer to a liability for my kids or nephews/nieces. RIP Randy.
 
Bill Knuth and his brother ran the Milwaukee Harley-Davidson dealership, and Bill was best friends with the company founders. He could be found many evenings at the home of William Harley as the gents sat around the kitchen table working on new motorcycle designs. Knuth sponsored racers as an unofficial adjunct to the factory race team and was something of a ‘secret R&D’ department for Harley-Davidson, in the years when it ‘wasn’t racing.’ Bill Knuth sponsored his own race team, the Knuth Klimbers in the '20s and '30s, which regularly appeared with very special motorcycles that bore all the hallmarks of factory jobs.
Arthur Davidson acknowledged the factory worked hand in hand with Bill Knuth to build his OHV hillclimbers in the mid-‘20s through 1930. While his initial OHV hillclimber was built ca. 1926, in 1930 he built a second OHV 45 cu-in. hillclimber, which he called the ‘Knuth Special,’ and was ridden by Oscar Lentz. In his book ‘Harley Davidson 1930-41; Revolutionary Motorcycles and Those Who Rode Them,’ historian Herb Wagner quoted Chuck Wesholski that "the Knuth specials were real special, reflecting insider factory connections and very intelligent and imaginative mechanical mind.”

1738247099684.png
 
Back
Top