AFTER THE BRITISH INDUSTRY’S amalgamations in the 1960s, there were only Matchless singles produced until 1967, with the AMC concern folding, shortly to be followed by the rest of the British bike industry. Almost. I say ‘almost’ as there were a few embers glowing in the fireplace of British industry, including a certain Les Harris, who was continuing the build of Triumph Bonnevilles – the T140 version – under licence between 1985 and 1988 after the Meriden factory closed in 1983. It was clear that Harris wanted to expand his operation, obviously aware that the Triumph deal had a limited lifespan, and he set up the new Matchless Motorcycles company in 1987.
With the name in place, and with a supply of chassis components already set up with the production of the Bonnevilles, Harris launched a new G80, complete with a Rotax powerplant, which stayed in production until 1990.
Being shortly after the British bike industry had collapsed, when early Japanese bikes were just starting to be referred
