Stunning bike :) Every dent and scuff tells it's own story. G3l is one very cool bike being one of the first war department bikes to feature Teledraulic front Forks.
Just found your channel and subscribed ! -The colour of the tank is pretty much correct for mid to late World War 2, it was a standard Allied colour and I believe it's known as 'Light Olive Drab' or 'Light O.D.' for short. Almost all Allied military vehicles (including U.S.) were painted that colour in the European and Far East theatres. 'Deep bronze green' was only used after World War 2, 1950s onwards I think.. My own 1944 G3L (finally sold off by the Army as surplus in 1959) had been abondoned in a shed in Northern Ireland for decades and most of it had five coats of paint when I got it ! - Red Oxide primer followed by two coats of Light OD (with RO primer in between), then Deep Bronze Green, then black and finally Light OD again - If you include the primer coats it was wearing 8 coats in total, the top four coats all being brush painted. The first coast of RO primer and Light OD would probably have been factory applied, then another coat of primer and Light OD and the Bronze Green would probably have been it's last military paint. The black was commonly applied by civilian bike dealers who bought the bikes as surplus to sell as cheap post-war transport to the public and the final coat of Light OD was probably applied by a later owner to put it back into 'Army colours'.. While I was researching and rounding up parts for my own G3L I met a WW2 veteran at a vintage vehicle show in Kent. He'd been a REME mechanic during and after WW2 and he told me that during their military careers all these bikes had regular full overhauls by REME workshops where they were fully dismantled then every serviceable part was taken to a specific workshop (Frame shop, engine/gearbox shop, electricals shop etc..) serviced or rebuilt and given a fresh coat of paint where applicable then complete bikes were reassembled from parts, but not necessarily the parts the frame left the factory with (for instance, my 1944 G3L frame has a 1940 G3 engine) - In fact ANY parts were used, any engine, any magneto, any wheels, etc.. so today it's very unlikely that any authentic surviving WW2 British military bikes will have any original parts at all, even though all Matchless motorcycles left the factory with matching engine and frame numbers, so it's actually a good sign of authenticity that yours no longer match and you will very likely find that they're from different years/contracts. The British Army identified their vehicles only by the frame/chassis number with an assigned vehicle Identification/registration number (ie..C12345678) in the same way British civilian vehicle law does to this day, so officially no other components mattered..)
Well, this is disappointing. I am rebuilding my 1940 G3 WO (girder forks) and I am looking for all the information I can find to help figure out where everything goes. Mine came in boxes and boxes all taken apart. I hope you are okay but since you haven't made Part 2 of the restoration or any other videos in a long time, I am worried. Great first video but I hope to see more. And I vote for a mechanical restoration but leaving all the existing paint as is.
Hi jag , we have rebuilt the bike , however due to covid and all that stuff we have been unable to get the video footage finished ( we actually stopped all our restorations in April 2020 and have still not really restarted) I’d be happy to help you with your bike via email if you would like.
@@frankechr6915 That's great news! I'm subscribed so I will get notified when you are able to start posting videos again. Thanks for offering to help, I am getting help online in a couple forums.
My Grandad passed away and his bike that had sat in a shed was given to a family member who gave it to a guy that's said he would restore it and show it in his collection. That never happened and he sold it as parts in boxes. I kept saying to my grandad that I would restore it for him but I'll never get that chance now. Enjoy that bike in boxes that's the last time I saw my pop's one.
@@ShedDwellerMakerandRepairer That's very sad. Too many memories are passed on to someone who doesn't care. My father had a similar Matchless and that is one reason I wanted the one I found. They are very simple machines but they sure did things differently 80 years ago!
Stunning bike :) Every dent and scuff tells it's own story. G3l is one very cool bike being one of the first war department bikes to feature Teledraulic front Forks.
Lots of love from india😊😊
Any chance of a an update of what happened with this machine. I am considering doing a restoration on this model of bike... when I can find one. :)
Just found your channel and subscribed ! -The colour of the tank is pretty much correct for mid to late World War 2, it was a standard Allied colour and I believe it's known as 'Light Olive Drab' or 'Light O.D.' for short. Almost all Allied military vehicles (including U.S.) were painted that colour in the European and Far East theatres. 'Deep bronze green' was only used after World War 2, 1950s onwards I think..
My own 1944 G3L (finally sold off by the Army as surplus in 1959) had been abondoned in a shed in Northern Ireland for decades and most of it had five coats of paint when I got it ! - Red Oxide primer followed by two coats of Light OD (with RO primer in between), then Deep Bronze Green, then black and finally Light OD again - If you include the primer coats it was wearing 8 coats in total, the top four coats all being brush painted. The first coast of RO primer and Light OD would probably have been factory applied, then another coat of primer and Light OD and the Bronze Green would probably have been it's last military paint. The black was commonly applied by civilian bike dealers who bought the bikes as surplus to sell as cheap post-war transport to the public and the final coat of Light OD was probably applied by a later owner to put it back into 'Army colours'..
While I was researching and rounding up parts for my own G3L I met a WW2 veteran at a vintage vehicle show in Kent. He'd been a REME mechanic during and after WW2 and he told me that during their military careers all these bikes had regular full overhauls by REME workshops where they were fully dismantled then every serviceable part was taken to a specific workshop (Frame shop, engine/gearbox shop, electricals shop etc..) serviced or rebuilt and given a fresh coat of paint where applicable then complete bikes were reassembled from parts, but not necessarily the parts the frame left the factory with (for instance, my 1944 G3L frame has a 1940 G3 engine) - In fact ANY parts were used, any engine, any magneto, any wheels, etc.. so today it's very unlikely that any authentic surviving WW2 British military bikes will have any original parts at all, even though all Matchless motorcycles left the factory with matching engine and frame numbers, so it's actually a good sign of authenticity that yours no longer match and you will very likely find that they're from different years/contracts. The British Army identified their vehicles only by the frame/chassis number with an assigned vehicle Identification/registration number (ie..C12345678) in the same way British civilian vehicle law does to this day, so officially no other components mattered..)
First comment 😝 keep it Original it adds to the value ££££
Sir 2nd part please
Well, this is disappointing. I am rebuilding my 1940 G3 WO (girder forks) and I am looking for all the information I can find to help figure out where everything goes. Mine came in boxes and boxes all taken apart. I hope you are okay but since you haven't made Part 2 of the restoration or any other videos in a long time, I am worried. Great first video but I hope to see more.
And I vote for a mechanical restoration but leaving all the existing paint as is.
Hi jag , we have rebuilt the bike , however due to covid and all that stuff we have been unable to get the video footage finished ( we actually stopped all our restorations in April 2020 and have still not really restarted) I’d be happy to help you with your bike via email if you would like.
@@frankechr6915 That's great news! I'm subscribed so I will get notified when you are able to start posting videos again. Thanks for offering to help, I am getting help online in a couple forums.
My Grandad passed away and his bike that had sat in a shed was given to a family member who gave it to a guy that's said he would restore it and show it in his collection. That never happened and he sold it as parts in boxes. I kept saying to my grandad that I would restore it for him but I'll never get that chance now. Enjoy that bike in boxes that's the last time I saw my pop's one.
@@ShedDwellerMakerandRepairer That's very sad. Too many memories are passed on to someone who doesn't care. My father had a similar Matchless and that is one reason I wanted the one I found. They are very simple machines but they sure did things differently 80 years ago!
Bog standard is best.
Sympathetic clean and fettle but don`t do the whole resto bit.
Hello sir I'm cacaiq bike engier