Classics
Words & photos: Rhys Jones
Race bikes for sale...
T
here was a time when ambitious
young riders could buy a genuine
race bike and head off to Europe
and the Grand Prix circus. Today the
grids are populated by contracted
riders, and buying a competitive
bike to race at that level is not a
simple undertaking. The term ‘private
owner’ has almost disappeared
from the vocabulary in modern racing.
AJS, Matchless, and Norton all produced purpose-
built race bikes for sale, and when the Japanese
factories pulled out of factory backed Grand Prix
racing in the late-1960s they began making genuine
race bikes available to private owners. One of the
most successful dedicated race models in history,
the Yamaha TZ250 and TZ350 two-strokes, could
be bought over the counter for around $3000.
As the factory backed teams began to return to
Grand Prix racing in the 1970s many of the privately
owned machines were no longer competitive, and
were moved into the rapidly developing classic
racing scene. I will look at some of the ‘over the
counter racers’ in future columns, but I would like
to start with one of my favourites. The AJS 7R.
The success of the AJS 7R, sometimes called
the ‘boy racer’, as a fast reliable 350 for private
own ers, raised the obvious question of why isn’t
there a 500cc model? AJS and Matchless had
been amalgamated following the financial crisis
of 1931, but the company was careful not to lose
the distinct identity of either marque. In 1958, 10
years after the first AJS 7R had been launched, the
company succumbed to the demand for a 500
and produced the Matchless G50. It was in fact a
bored out 7R, with the same stroke as the AJS, the
same chain-driven single camshaft, and the same
four-speed gear-box and cycle parts; the increased
capacity was simply the result of the bigger bore.
The G50 produced 50bhp, similar to a stock
Manx Norton at the time. It weighed 130kg.
These figures are from a 1959 catalogue. Figures,
however, vary, for example the weight-saving
Peter Williams takes the Arter G50 to second
place in the 1973 Isle of Man Senior TT