An unusual G-80

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Oct 7, 2005
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After giving a presentation on my N-V experience at a local vintage motorcycle club luncheon a few weeks back, one of the members , Alex Taylor, said he had an electric start Matchless G-80. He lives about 4 milles from me in Anacortes (Washington State). He invited me to stop by and take a look, which I did. He showed me some old magazines in which he was featured, in his younger days, as a very competitive dirt-track racer.

He has two bikes, his regular ride is a Triumph 900, just a few years old. His G-80 looks brand new. After he'd had an artificial hip installed, he didn't want to risk kick-starting a 500cc single so he and a couple of friends/relatives decided to convert it to electric start. They modified the clutch to take a starter ring and made a new inside chain-case to accommodate the starter motor. I think the starter motor is a Honda part, and it's powered by a Japanese battery. It's such a professional-looking job, it could have been a factory installation. One button-push and away it went.

The group of friends that did the design and manufacture have sold a significant number of kits around the world.
 
Gee Wiz Frank, how are you gonna give us this unique story and not include any photos, bad form my man, bad form, :shock: alll kidding aside any chance of a snapshot ? :D Cj
 
Sorry, CJ, I didn't take a camera with me. I'll give Alex a call and see if I can visit again.Frank
 
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