RealClassic MATCHLESS G12 CSR
Hands up! I am something of an AMC anorak. Have been for decades, ever since I acquired my first AJS, a 1948 Model 18, in 1971 or so. It was a great bike, and carried me to many adventures in my late teens – usually while I was supposed to be studying for my A-levels. Oh well. My parents and teachers endlessly and wearily explained to me that I could never earn a living from motorcycles – or from music, my other great passion for as long as I can remember. Pause for an ironic sniff.
And oddly enough, my first contact with journalism was by taking on the editorship of The Jampot, the monthly magazine of the AJS & Matchless OC. I knew nothing about editing, and only a little more about AJS and Matchless motorcycles, but after a few years and almost by accident I ended up knowing far too much about both subjects. So it goes.
Also oddly enough, very few AJS and Matchless machines pass beneath my seat these days. I'm unsure why that is, given that lots of AMC kit is really rather great. Matchless made some machines which were stand-out in their own way, and post-war few were better than the excellent CSR twins. So why are they so scarce? It cannot be because they're any less fun than, say, a contemporary Bonneville or Super Rocket, the obvious rivals for the money in a 1960 rider's pocket.
What you see before you in glorious RC Blotchycolor™ is an almost entirely original 1960 Matchless G12CSR, the most sporting of the AMC twins offered at the
