Matchless G12CSR 646cc twin AMC Plumstead 1961 framed BMS picture free p&p UK for Sale

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Matchless G12CSR 646cc twin AMC Plumstead 1961 framed BMS picture free p&p UK For Sale

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Matchless G12CSR 646cc twin AMC Plumstead 1961 framed BMS picture free p&p UK:
$14.20

Ablack and white picture of a 1961 Matchless 646cc G12CSR

The text on the picture is as follows:-

\"The 1961 Matchless 646 cc G12CSR\"

I HAVE never been quite sure what CSR stood for in Plumstead terminology and as AMC were, in the post-war years, rather secretive (not until the Sixties did they unbend enough to submit their machines for normal road tests by the magazines) it was not common knowledge. Competition-springer-roadster is my guess but whatever it stood for it sounded nice. Because of the absence of regular road tests it was not possible to chart performance and progress of the AMC twin as it grew from a 500 to a 600 and then to the beefy 650 seen here. But to its forerunner, the 592 cc Gil had gone the honour of being the first fully-equipped sports machine to put over 100 miles into an hour. This stunt was pulled off by The Motor Cycles ex-racer, then road tester now Technical Editor Vic Willoughby who rode the Matchless to MIRA and then wanged it round the 2.8-mile banked circuit at around 6300 rpm which gave a speed of 107 mph for an hour. And whats more, he rode it back to London afterwards! I have always rated that an outstanding achievement by one man and one machine and from that moment held a new respect for the Associated Motor Cycles twins.

The Willoughby model (known then as a Sports Twin) was equipped very much as the CSR with polished alloy guards, a very slim dualseat and a siamese exhaust. By this time the Woolwich twins were benefiting from the development attentions of ex-racer Jack Williams. Having waved his magic wand over the racing 7R and G50 singles with considerable success, he had in spare moments had a look at the twins and the G12CSR was the end-product of his work. As with all his development he had gone for a spread of power rather than a top-end peak and the result was a machine which would pull away from 30 mph in top and go right on past the 100 mark (certified top speed, rider prine, at MIRA was 108 mph which was roughly the same as the hour record 600 cc model). That Williams had gone about as far as was possible with the tuning was shown by the models preference, nay insistence, on 100 octane fuel if frequent use of the manual ignition control was to be avoided.

The Plumstead Road twins boasted a centre bearing for the crankshaft and although the man in the street might have imagined this feature would obviate the vibro massage of conventional parallel twins with cranks supported only at the extremities,the extra bearing did not confer this benefit. In fact there were grounds for believing that the extra bearing added to the problem by resisting the cranks desire to flex and get rid of some of the vibes itself. What did become painfully obvious at one stage in the life of the larger twins was that the stresses in the shaft did from time to time lead to fracture in spite of or perhaps because of the centre bearing and the trouble was only overcome in the end by the use of a steel of nodular specification.

So one is forced eventually to the view that although the AMC twins were perhaps the most sophisticated units of their day, the extra complications of the three-bearing shaft and the use of separate barrels and heads (not to forget two oil pumps) gave no worthwhile advantage over the simple type as instigated by the prewar Truimph twin. Performance-wise the 650 Matchless could just not compete with the Triumph Bonneville although the speedometer did by indicating 120 at a true 108 mph.

Chassis-wise the CSR had the edge over all its competitors save the Norton Dominators. The frame was taken from the competition line and development in the rough and in ISDT going and produced a machine of near-impeccable handling at all speeds. The gearbox, based on Norton principles and now made for the group by Woolwich was one of the best ever pity that the Norton brakes has not then been adopted for the narrow Matchless/AJS brakes designed for 500s years before were not up to the job. What comes as a surprise, bearing in mind the competition background, the alloy guards and the lithe look of the machine, is its weight. At 430 lbs kerbside weight, the CSR was giving away 28 lbs to the Bonny - C.E. ALLEN

I did the formal road test at the Motor Industry Research Association and confirm comments on speed, consumption and handling. It was amongst the first models releasedbyAMC to the Press under a revamped test procedure devised by my Editor Bob Holliday. The Companys unflattering reasons for being anti-roadtest have been documented elsewhere; their policy lost them many sales BMS\"

A superpicturein a30 x 24 cm. (12 x 10 inch) size clipframe.

The picture offered does NOT have the \"SAMPLE\" watermark!!