Matchless 500cc single

I got my motorcycle licence way back in 1968 in the BSAPolice driving school whilst in the training depot in Salisbury, (now Harare) Rhodesia, (now Zimbabwe). We were taught well and my love of riding developed from those days, even though I had been riding scooters illegally before then.

I remember the Police riding school very well, we rode the Matchless 500cc single and the BSA 650 twin, both fantastic motorbikes and although neither of them were well suited to off road riding we did quite extensive dirt road training on them as those who would later be posted to district stations would have to ride them for miles on virtually non existant roads.

The extensive training that we received stood me in good stead for the thousands and thousands of kilometres that I have ridden since then.

I came across this old photograph of my late friend Patrol Officer Paul Weinel on one of the Matchless motorbikes, probably taken whilst he was stationed at Kezi.

The old British bikes were gradually phased out and replaced with Yamaha 350's, much faster and more nimble but they lacked the panache of the early bikes, I would love to have a Matchless 500cc like this beauty in my garage next to the BMW.

Isn't that a beauty? Surely there's one for me somewhere.