Matchless WD G3L

[Sentryduty]

I took a motorcycle training course this summer, and during the introductions we had to mention if we had a bike or what we were looking to get. One older fellow replied he had purchased a restored Harley Davidson WLA, and after trying to ride it in his residential area, (Hand shift, twist grip spark advance, and unfamiliar controls) he decided to take a riding course and learn motorcycling before wrecking the machine...

[bigduke6]

Darren, there are a few differences between a Modern Bike compared to an old one....... the advance and retard once its set there is not much to do, its getting to know the settings same as the air valve.
To me the stumbling block was the gear shift on the right and rear break on the left.... and getting used to drum brakes and cable stretch etc.

To be honest getting a start made my day, few tweaks tomorrow and I'll be in business, although will not be going far as its a British bike it comes with all the associated leaks...... just another thing I wanted to check... but a full gasket set and gearbox one required plus seals and a few bushes to make etc etc........

Obvious you can guess what I'm doing this winter.......

[Doco overboard]

Dont stare to much into the oil tank to watch the return line, itll make you crazy! Way cool Bike.

[Paul S.]

Darren, there are a few differences between a Modern Bike compared to an old one.......
To me the stumbling block was the gear shift on the right and rear break on the left.....

You can thank the popularity of the Japanese built motorbikes in the 1960s for standardizing gear shift left foot, brake right foot.

[bigduke6]

You can thank the popularity of the Japanese built motorbikes in the 1960s for standardizing gear shift left foot, brake right foot.

Apart from a Ducati I've only ever had Japanese bikes, quite a few over the years, The Matchless was more towards the interest in the Military Vehicle side than just another bike...........also easier to park and store than a Chieftain tank or similar, then again away from the property I doubt there would be much issue with parking a tank....

[Sentryduty]

You can thank the popularity of the Japanese built motorbikes in the 1960s for standardizing gear shift left foot, brake right foot.

The influx of the UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle) stuff like my father owned and I grew up a passenger on, had no small impact on modern motorcycling for certain.

Darren, there are a few differences between a Modern Bike compared to an old one....... the advance and retard once its set there is not much to do, its getting to know the settings same as the air valve.
To me the stumbling block was the gear shift on the right and rear break on the left.... and getting used to drum brakes and cable stretch etc.

That is something I can completely appreciate, the fellow with the WLA did comment that his initial ride did not go so well and a vintage WLA is a poor choice to learn to ride for the first time. I imagine it's all a matter of getting to know the equipment, a friend of mine has a 1920's Model T Ford and he manages to drive it, despite having very different controls than any modern car.

[bigduke6]

WLA probably not the best to learn to ride on...... I learnt to ride on a Suzuki B120 which I traded an Air rifle and £5 for it.

The main problem was finding some straight SAE 40 oil for it...... although I did find some SAE 30 which I'm using at present mainly to flush it through etc. The Only SAE 40 is online or to order.
I'm reading bits and pieces regarding synthetic, as some of this will do the job just finding which one......

As for the gearbox it just got the standard gearbox oil for the time, until I strip it and rebuild it with grease (early Burman gear boxes used semi fluid grease ) plus I'll need to start using the additive for the petrol as we are unleaded now...... although I would think the valve seats are well hardened by now.

[Sentryduty]

I'm reading bits and pieces regarding synthetic, as some of this will do the job just finding which one......

As a guy that works with older muscle car engines as well as new stuff I can offer some information that may be helpful.

The main problem us car guys have with new (and synthetic) oils in engines has been chiefly from the reduction of Zinc as metal additive to oils. Typically, an otherwise healthy vintage engine fed a diet of new enviro friendly oil will eat the camshaft. A friend and I also work routinely on his Lada 2104 (Riva Estate) and those engines are prone to the same sort of wear. The solution has been either locating an oil with a high amount of zinc, or adding in a Zinc additive. Personally I prefer synthetic oils in my engines for a variety of reasons, but the lack of zinc rich oil in a vintage engine has been problematic.

I would think that your Matchless engine might be a similar case and call for a high zinc oil.

There is a very strong hotrod and vintage engine following in North America and obtaining a high-zinc option is usually rather easy, however I do not know what things look like in your market.

I can't say anything about oiling a matchless for certain, however I think high-Zinc oil might be a topic of interest for you.

[bigduke6]

Darren, had a bit of late night reading on the zinc etc, need to read up more though very interesting.

The reason for straight SAE 30,40,50 is it has less additives or next to none compared to multi grade which has all manner of additives such as detergents which I'm told do clean the engine but also hold the crap in suspension so not good for roller bearings I'm told...... a few oil producers for classic cars and bikes warn against using multi grade oil.

With the old bikes its really back to basics and simplicity, something which I'm keen on. The owners manual at the time recommends oil changes from new or a rebuild at 250 miles 1000 miles then every 2000 and to clean the filter (this is in the oil tank and what the return oil feeds through before running into the tank)

Its a catch 22 , as I'll be changing the oil a bit more regular than the 2000 (will be some time before I get around to clocking 2000 miles up) so carry on using a £25 gallon of straight SAE oil or go for a synthetic which will probably be double or more and how many more miles would you get before a change.

[henry r]

choosing an oil for a vintage engine is never an easy thing.

the way I looked at it when deciding what oil to use in my '58 beetle was I had 4 ways to decide:

use what the factory said. (or the closest modern equivalent)

find out what the previous owner used and go with that

find an engine builder that specializes in that particular engine and ask them.

do heaps and heaps of research and hope you made the right choices of reference materiel, compare it to all the options available, then decide for yourself.


the traditional thinking is changing the type of oil can have ill effects on an engine that has been run a lot using a specific oil. (I don't know enough to decide either way so took it as true), thankfully I knew the engine in my beetle had sub 4000 miles since rebuild so changing oil type wouldn't be a drama


each way to decided has it's pluses and minuses. I weighted them all up and went with the "find a engine builder..." option and as I trust his judgement, that is what I run.