Can a classic British bike be durable, reliable and oil tight? Rick Fisher believes if they’re built right, they’ll work right, so to prove the point, he took his freshly restored 1960 Matchless G12 on a 3,000 mile ride around British Columbia and Alberta. The only failure was a broken brake return spring, easily replaced with a donor part from a Suzuki. Not unreasonable after 60 years!
Then again, the Matchless motorcycle was generally reckoned to be better than the rest. Harry and Charlie Collier built their first motorcycle in 1899 by attaching a home-built engine to the front wheel of a Matchless bicycle, one of many manufactured by their father’s company, Henry Collier & Sons of Plumstead, London.
Reputation for quality
Both brothers were keen cyclists but soon transferred their passion to motorcycles. They shared the honors at the first Isle of Man TT with Norton-mounted Rem Fowler, who won the “twins” race with Matchless taking the “singles” title. Both Charlie and Harry were riding 432cc OHV JAP-powered bikes, Harry set the fastest lap — but
