Well, I rode the rigid Matchless on Sunday and I have to say it was a great experience.
I rode the clubmans route as required for the rigid class but the bike was a dream to ride. The engine was soft and allowed me to let the revs drop to nothing then feed the power in with good grip and loads of power and it actualy handed very well.
I lost most of my marks in one section in the stream where a little more ground clearance was required to get out of the section over a fallen tree from a muddy rut with no grip where it was not possible to lift the wheel high enough to get the sump over the log, so it meant running into the log then physically lifting it over to get out with anything less than a 5. I lost 4 marks on that section and the other marks were loose dabs here and there.
The rest of the trial went well and I found the tight sections on the banks in the wood quite fun to ride.
I am even considering building a pre unit bike for myself after this event as the engine was so easy to ride i think a good pre unit pringer would be competitive (doesn't seem to do the likes of Neil Gaunt any harm does it?). I think I might go down the AJS/Matchless route though as there are less of them being used.
Strangely enough, it was also funny to see that Joel Brayford, who also normally rides a Sprite, was out on a Matchless on Sunday and he seemed to be enjoying the day too....
Anyway, I managed to do the trial for a loss of 8 marks, which comfortably gave me the win in the rigid class and would have finished me 2nd in the clubman springer class, so I think it went pretty well.
The experts class was won by Neil Gaunt on 2 with Matt Neale and Alan Nicklin sharing 2nd place on 6.
I will post more pics and full results when I get them
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