As Monte Python's Flying Circus once said..."and now for something completely different!"OK, gnash your teeth, bloody purists! This rare and revered Matchless G80CS 500cc single has been modified back in its younger days when these British classics were worth just slightly more than the amount of petrol in their tanks. But hark! It has survived in this stripped-down, primal form longer than it carried its original sheetmetal! So it's a relic of the day...an authentic Sixties period custom—not a latter-day recreation of a long-lost, misty-eyed dream.Call 'er "Mellow Yellow." Or the "Yellow Peril." Or "Urine Trouble Now." Your choice. It's a stock-framed Matchless Competition Scrambler, the master of the California desert races in its day, as well as the choice of so many English scramblers, motocrossers, and even road racers. Way back when minds were still wide and tyres were narrow."Peril" runs like a scalded cat (and if you've never seen one of those, I suggest you request a viewing), shifts, clutches and brakes with aplomb. (Whatever a "plomb" is. I only know they're often praised.) With its fresh, beefy, gen-you-wine 19-inch Dunlop dirt track racing tyres (British misspelling of course), it handles the corners like it's on velcro.It's running a potent Lucas competition magneto for ignition sparks and total-loss 6-volt battery system for the lighting. A simple toggle switch activates the lighting circuit.It still has its original Amal Monobloc carb, ready to do the sucking for which it's so renown. It also sports its original "Made in England" Jones rims, and has a chrome, tubular toolbox complete with Whitworth tool kit for that occasional roadside rebuild.Savour the yellow ghost flames subtly applied to the face-puckering Lemon hue of the tank. Note the custom, form-fitting, one-off and lavishly-plated central oil tank, filled with fresh Castrol GTX 20W-50. Admire the braided stainless steel oil lines throughout. Observe the too-cool wrapped exhaust system in its edgy, urban vibe, to dispense with all those lovely, fragrant unburned hydrocarbons and that unmuffled, mellifluous bellow that puts a smile on any neighbor's face when awakened by it at 5am as you shove off to the factory.If you're skilled enough to kickstart a big single with a flywheel the size of the Queen Mary's and shift a one-up, three-down pattern on the right side (as opposed to the wrong side, according to my likeminded mates), and gladly suffer the slings and arrows of disapproval and perhaps outright scorn by the purists at the next All-British Ride...then this might just be the right motorcycle for you. Please check first with your wife, or, lacking one of those due to your irrepressible penchant for purchases such as this, your next-of-kin.Allegedly never owned by Steve McQueen...although I cannot prove it.Comes with a clear, open Washington (AC, not DC) title, signed off to me. I never got around to transferring it into my name. I will include a very businesslike Bill of Sale at no extra charge.$500 Deposit via PayPal. Balance preferred by bank wire transfer or cash in person.
~ Dave
