1959 Matchless G12, 650cc, beautiful condition, orig reg, tax & MOT exempt.
1959 MATCHLESS G12 650CC No reserve! Here is a very nicely restored Matchless G12 650cc twin from 1959. This bike has clearly had a lot of money spent on it and it appears to have been very nicely put together. It starts easily and sounds superb on the exhaust note through those famous Matchless megas and doesn’t smoke but sadly there is an irregular rattle coming from the left cylinder which would need to be addressed. The noise is greatly reduced when the ignition is retarded and it disappears entirely if the engine is run on right side pot only. It is worst at low revs, especially under load. I suspect it may be a small end problem such as free floating gudgeon pin. It doesn’t sound like big end noise which is usually very subtle on these machines due to the three bearing crank. However the lack of any smoke in exhaust could indeed point to the big end. That said, the bike rides perfectly well, good brakes, lovely gearbox & clutch, dynamo 6v electrics all working well and the Smith’s 120mph chronometric is working well. The bike comes with V5C registration document. date of registration is 3rd July 1959. It is historic class (free) road tax and is pre-1960 MOT exempt. 845 VMG is the original but non-transferable number. Frame number A70270 and engine number 59/G12L09669 are original factory stampings and match the V5C. Cosmetically the bike is really superb. The paintwork is generally excellent and all chrome / brightwork is recently renewed. The enamel on the frame is rea...