Superbox, Son of Matchbox

One cannot apply the same set of standards to a com-

petition machine that one applies to a street scrambler.

In some areas, one is tougher. In other areas, one may be

more forgiving. Thus, to clear up any misunderstanding,

it should be known at the outset that the .Matchless

G85CS 500cc single is “strictly for serious.” Otherwise,

at SI.400. it would have to be considered the most ex-

pensive play bike in production . . . and one of the worst.

Play bikes are for carefree fun, and a good one doesn't

require much fiddling. By way of contrast, the G85 is

somewhat of a thoroughbred and needs a lot of combing

through to keep her happy.

For perspective, we should harken back to the previ-

ous Matchless dirt single, the G80CS, which, for the dash-

ing (and not too particular) amateur-go-a-racing. was

ready to romp off-the-floor. Take off the lights and away

you’d go at the drop of a smokebomb. Or. if you were in

Europe, it was at the twang of the starting gate. We know

one American chap who used his G80CS for 6,000 miles

of reliable continental touring before he stripped for a

summer of international motocross, where he acquitted

himself with honor if not with laurel. His only complaint

about the bike was that it was “awfully heavy” (360 odd

pounds stripped) and he theorized that it had acquired

this rather anvil-like quality because the makers had a

habit of adding three more pounds of metal to whatever

part of the frame broke, until finally it stopped breaking.

All this brings us back to the new 500, which weighs a

relatively feather-like 318 pounds with about half a tank

of gas. In other words, Matchless, in the face of the suc-

cessful onslaught of lightweight 500cc class machinery,

has decided to fight fire with fire.

It takes a lot of slenderizing to bring a long-stroke

single like the Matchless down to such svelte dimensions

and still have a structure that resists the destructive effects

of dirt racing. To do so, the makers took what has become

the standard route these days by beginning with a frame

made of mild steel tubing. Of conventional design, this

frame is an improvement over its predecessor in that the

main unit, consisting of double down tubes and cradle and

single top tube, is of all-weld construction rather than

being bolted in several spots as was that of the G80CS.

The robust-appearing rear section is pieced together in

like fashion so there should be no question that the set-up

offers a great deal of rigidity.

Also lighter are the new Matchless forks, which, un-

fortunately, are springy in a way they were never intended

to be — laterally. While this will not be noticeable on

improved tracks, it will be a problem in rough scrambles,

where sideways tweaking forces are in considerable abun-...