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Hudson

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"

" - Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez (also known as "The Rat")
You might recall the Matchless Café. Many years ago, Niehart helped me drag it home from a lonely storage locker. A wash, a drink of oil, and three kicks later it gloriously woke from a 30 year nap.

It was the offspring of a 1956 Matchless G80CS, married to a Honda CB400 tank with some amazing, period-correct bits and pieces, including a rare Smith's chrometric tach, steering dampers, Borrani racing rims, and a sweet Amal GP carb with velocity stacks. By no means was this an original concours restoration, but if you were after a period-correct café as the boys in the day would have done, this was the real deal:

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Over the years I've owned her, she's covered all of about 250 miles. Why? Mostly because I've been too lazy to replace the pitted roller bearings, but also because riding a vintage 500 single means you're ringing its neck over 55mph unless you regear it, and brakes need to be heated up to properly work (I use "work" in the loose sense that they will slow the bike more than dragging your feet on the ground will).

I love the look and attitude of this bike, but with too many other distractions, I've been recently inspired to either "ride it or sell it." I've already sold off three bikes (including two wonderful low mileage MV Agusta F4's, and very nice vintage Daytona 500 twin with less than 5400 miles). If you're not riding them, they are either art or doorstops.

And anyways, if I am going to own and ride only vintage bike, it has to be this one:

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Powered by a rebuilt Triumph 750cc twin set in a nickel-plated, hand welded oil-in-frame design, with right hand shift, kick start only, and vented twin pull brakes, this bad boy is currently being built in the UK to my specs by some cool old-school craftsmen. In what I hope will be 4 or so weeks, it will be crated and shipped to the USA. Where it will get ridden. It's also a bit of a bastard - Metisse means "mongrel" or half-breed in French - but it is built to the precise spec as Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen made in the mid to late 1960s. McQueen owned at least two - a true off-road racer that he reviewed favorably, and a road-going version.

Upon arrival at Casa Hudson, said Metisse Desert Racer will be removed from the crate and replaced with the Matchless, which will be shipped back to the UK, stripped of its frame and tank and reassembled on a Rickman frame with specially made mounts, and live out its life in as one of many bikes gracing the Metisse museum. Lovingly worshipped and perhaps occasionally ridden.

I think this may be my favorite trade ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz5b3C3e0Qo

 
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That is nice, the first trident I had was a 72. Got to be careful with that dual leading link brake, they were kinda all or nothing!

Did you check out the the baffle on the pipe on the Metisse? Half moon.

 
I'm only slightly worried about the exhaust which is basically a straight pipe. Metisse can do a baffled side pipe similar to the image below which still sounds ok, but it looks less clean IMHO.

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Over the years I've owned her, she's covered all of about 250 miles. Why?
Because it's missing a chain?

Beautiful bikes.
Thanks Busta. There's a story behind that, of course. A few months after I got her, I get the Matchless all pretty and proper for the Vintage Motorcycle event on Vashon Island. We were smart enough to trailer the bikes over (my pal had the other mint Matchless scrambler that was the twin of this bike, bought from the same estate).

Anyhoo, we're riding around the Island enjoying all the vintage bikes and compliments, and all of a sudden I get waived over by a frantic rider. My speedo drive was bound up, snapped the cable and wrapped it around the axle. I get the bike home and the real problem is the bearings - they are bone dry. Among all the things we did to get the bike ready, we forgot to grease the bearings. The Speedo drive was heat-welded to the retaining nut, so much so I had to get a shop to break them apart. I was luckly I stopped when I did - a mile more and that axle would have possibly bound up/seized and thrown me off (I basically just saved myself that episode for the later crash on the MV Agusta).

It took me a few months to source the parts but the real tough one was finding a period-correct speedo drive that wasn't some cheap piece made in China. One night, I am in Shanghai on business travel. Can't sleep. I get up about 2 am and start surfing Ebay. There it is - an NOS Smith's Speedo drive in the original box - for $150. What the hell, I buy it and a week later it shows up in PERFECT condition with the stickers still on.

Chain is off here as I was still pulling the rear tire to replace the rear axle bearings which were shot (pitted by the heat from lack of grease). These are tapered roller bearings that are available, but only from the Matchless Spares club in Jolly old England. I'm a busy enough guy I hadn't gotten around to identifying which size axle shaft I had.

I can get the Matchless up and ready in about 2 hours if I just get off my bum and focus. But I've got a car project I am working on (restoration of the Porsche 914 seen in the picture - converting to a flat six), plus way too many side projects, and retirement is too many years away to keep this around. The owner of Metisse was looking for a mint G80 to round out the museum collection, and we struck a great deal on the trade - everybody gets what they want!

 
I'm only slightly worried about the exhaust which is basically a straight pipe. Metisse can do a baffled side pipe similar to the image below which still sounds ok, but it looks less clean IMHO.
MG_4952.jpg
I'm OK with it, just the little things that catch my eye. :)

 
^^^^ I'm with Panman...a nice sounding quieter pipe would make the bike!!

Looks great Hudson, can't wait to check out the new (old) iron when it arrives.

--G

 
Heard from Metisse that the bike is nearing completion. I have no idea how it takes to ship from UK though - guessing 4-6 weeks? At that pace, I might see it around Xmas....

 
French speaking Cajuns use the word "Metisse" as a derogatory term. I've heard it spoken at the card table by the old people. As with all matters of speaking, context is everything.

Holy Cow, is that bike gorgeous!!! The blueing on the single walled straight pipes is awesome, man. I like the finish on the shocks too. I might have picked another paint color for the tank, fender, and side covers, but the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. Maybe the shiny primer lends credibility to its heritage?

Hud, I implore you - please do not let that bike become art. Enjoy it for what it was built for.

 
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'Tis a thing of beauty, sir. Ride her carefully. Any mishap will be considered a felonious offense.

 
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