Trade marks of products used by the Cateran
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Visit the
AJS and Matchless e-Group and the
WD & pre war AJS and Matchless e-Group
- I "cheat" by racing a converted roadster. Matchless made
purpose built racers and it is a lot harder to keep them running.
Here is a site dedicated to the only "production racing
twin", the G45
- Mervyn Stratford has raced his Rudges for even longer than I have raced the G3. His results have been just as consistent - one small difference - he wins! See these truly remarkable bikes and very fine rider
- The racing section of the
has its own web site
For 40 years I have owned only one race bike. For several years it lay unused but now I have returned it to action. I have no illusions about any startling performances but thoroughly enjoy my racing and have even been known to frighten myself and the odd marshal.
The story so far
My first competitive outing was grass track racing on a borrowed
Triumph Cub. After only one meeting (at
Forfar - that's me in the picture on the right struggling away on the bumpy
loch-side track), my mother witnessed a bad accident at a scramble. Although the rider later made a full
recovery, my racing off - road worried Mum and I gave up.
Then,in the late '60's a number of enthusiasts in the Dundee area initiated the setting up of a club for vintage racing - the Scottish Vintage Racing Club. Prominent among them were Dave Harris, Bob Andrew and Jack Gow.
This plaque hung in what was Jack Gow's shop in Dundee. One of the finest riders
I have every seen and had the privilege to ride with and a great friend
to many and supporter of bike racing, Jack was tragically killed in
1996 at the 32nd milestone (now Duke's) on the Isle of Man when his
Manx Norton hit a part of the road which had not dried out in morning practice.
The plaque was cast by Ronnie Flemming of the Rudge Club.
I was a student when the SVRC was formed but became enthusiastically involved. We tried to persuade the other clubs to add vintage races at all the meetings in Scotland and even held our own sprints at Errol aerodrome. The bikes were all pre war but most dated from 1930 -1940, although Bob Andrew did campaign a quick CS1 Norton and Jim Campbell of Banchory used a 680 Brough Superior (which blew up pretty comprehensively ventilationg the crankcases at Errol) both true Vintage. For a couple of years I was Secretary and Treasurer of the SVRC, organising some of the events - enough to realise what a thankless task it is!
I needed a bike to join in and being a student it had to be seriously
cheap. Dave Harris had saved an old army G3WO from scrap just for the magneto. He sold me the whole bike for
£2.50 - oh happy days! This bike became my racer, with the name
"Cateran" - a hill warrior - on the tank. I bought Jack
Gow's old leathers, as usual, probably for a lot less than they were
worth. These had been round the IoM faster than I dared think and,
with scuff marks, they looked the part.
During the next 10 years I raced the Matchless whenever I could afford, at
Beveridge Park (Kirkcaldy), Errol, Ingliston, Rest and Be Thankful, St Andrews, East Fortune,
Knockhill
and even
Kirkistown in Ireland
- without any great success other than having enormous
fun. It seldom broke - the gear change jammed at Errol, the engine
sprocket fell off at East Fortune and the original grease-filled
gearbox seized at Kirkistown.
In the early days I had it licensed and
rode it to meetings or blagged a lift. Then we bought a Saab 95
estate and crammed it in that. Next I made a trailer from an Invacar chassis and we hauled that
behind our Citroen Diane. For several years I used one of Dave Cooper's excellent bike racks
across the back of a Discovery.
After that has was sold on I went back to using a trailer, buying one
this time instead of trying to build.
The quiet years
I had kept racing sporadically through my student and post-grad periods and years of moving jobs and house but, with the arrival of family, I realised that racing was unfair to them and I could not concentrate on being a father and race. Your family don't like heading off at 6 o'clock on a Sunday morning to race meetings and I wasn't going alone. I had got too well used to my wife organising me. Then, following the loss of my father and stresses at work, I fell victim to Myalegic Encephalomialytis (ME). At its worst I could not push start a bike and certainly lost the co-ordination to drive quickly. I even went for a while without a modern road bike although I tided myself over with an immediate post-war Velo MAC
Recovering, I rebuilt an AJS for the road and dug out the G3 for a few parades - it was all a bit tentative but as I improved my long time friend, dating back to college days, Ian Whitehead persuaded me to try the G3 out at the Saltburn hillclimb. Suddenly things started to click back into place. Whatever ability I had was coming back and recently I have had some of my busiest seasons ever.
The Bike(s)
Originally from WD contract 5247 placed on 25/10/39 and delivered from 25/11/39 this is a G3WO, not the later, and more common, G3L. (This information courtesy of John Tinley of the VMCC and AJS & Matchless Owners Club,thanks). These early G3's had girder forks, 7" brakes, civilian gear ratios and 1" carburettor, all the better as a basis for a racer.
Mine had been road licensed in 1956 after being demobbed but did not seem
to have covered any great distance. I replaced the cast iron mag
chain cover with an alloy one, fitted higher lift cams and polished
the ports, chamfering the inlet valve guide. The compression plate
was removed. I removed all the surplus tin ware and fitted alloy
mudguards and an alloy LE Velo saddle. Wheels were rebuilt using Akront flanged alloy rims. Until recently I could run it on an open 48" pipe but I have a small custom style
muffler for the road or anywhere noise is a problem. For sprints I
use trials gearing (16T engine sprocket). On the quicker circuits it
pulls an 18T. I used Michelin M38 tyres until a few years ago.
The images show the bike freshly screwed together and on its very first test run minus the legal niceties
When I returned the bike to action I started tidying up all the jobs I
should have done years before. The brakes received modern linings and
tyres have now been changed to
Avon race rubber. An Amal TT carb has been fitted (courtesy of my pal Ian) and I run
on 50/50 unleaded/Avgas. A tank originally intended for a late export
Norton Commando engined machine has been modified to fit - its
profile matches the Matchless comp tank. I also managed to fit a
mechanical rev counter which has proved very beneficial.
The revcounter
is mounted upside down to put the "interesting" bit in line
of site. The "93" is the stroke for reference in noise tests.
The Tay Peril
My G3 has for years been called, the "Cateran" - a lightly armed and fast hill warrior. I have started work on a second racer. I had to name it so, although it is a little bit more convoluted it is the "Tay Peril".
The basis is what was to be a trials bike. It is
actually a G3WO from the same batch as the original. It was not as
well preserved. The engine was solid and the frame pitted. I felt
less guilty about fitting a set of '48 tele's and delugging the
frame. A BSA oil tank has been be fitted to the LHS to allow a longer
inlet tract and the engine is being worked on. I want to use a small
case WD bottom end but fit a BSA crankpin and scramble cams. I have an Amal RN carb,
came by a pukka HC piston. and
hope to run this one on methanol. Wheels have
been built again using Akront alloy rims and a friend cut alloy
engine plates. I am saving up to buy an alloy tank as well. Is this
all in interest of performance? No, it's to make it easier to load up!
