AJS & Matchless Owners Club

Any 6v alternator system needs a good battery as it is the only regulator. The lighting switch controls how much the alternator produces but there is an excess amount to charge the battery as well. Without a battery, the system will produce too much voltage. As soon as it blows the weakest bulb, the others will soon follow.

12v systems should have a zener or other regulator & can be safely run without a battery.

Cheers, Don.

All G15, N15 models had 12 volt electrics. There is a place for a battery, or two of the MKZ9E, Lucas ones. These were two 6 volt batteries connected in series. The last series of the G15, & N15, or the coil ingnition system ones used the Lucas 4CA CB plus the 2MC capacitor, were designed to be run with out a battery. The bike will run and use lights with out a battery with a 2MC capacitor. Fit a Boyer electronic ignition or a BTH magneto, as those 6volt batteries never last. There is a single 12 volt Japaneese made battery that will fit, but the top of the battery box, may need to be filed a bit for clearence. What that bike actualy was i can tell you tonight when i get home. The later G15 and N15 used all the later Lucas electrics, along with a plastic Lucas stop light switch. A small point is the rear stop light switch bolt that actuated this later type switch was modified for this later switch. A small point, but you may have trouble if you fit the earlier black metal type. The earlier G15 models had square Zenor Diode plates, and the later models had round plates, with an alloy spacer. The head steady was also modified, as a rib section the length of the stay, was added to strengthen it. The earlier head steady stays were just a bent piece of flat metal.

The number 120395 is definatly a Matchless G15CS, and was dispatched to Berliner, New York, in February 1967. As for the other number, 114679, there is gap between 114270 then it starts again at 114870. The missing numberes were the 650ss and Navigator models. You may have typed in the number incorrectly. Upto 114270 these were the G15CS, from 114870 these were a mixture of N15CS, G15CSR, and G15CS models. If you build it looK on the NOC web site, and that is my 1966 N15CS, that is pictured. My N15CS was also tested and reviewed in Classic Bike back in 1994 and titled Storming Nortons. If you want a difinitive answer to your question, then you can pay the club to check their own records for those numbers, and then you will then be certain as to what you have. Try Walridge Motors, in Canada, for your parts, as they also have a web site and an extensive catalouge. There is also Baxter Cycle in Marne, Iowa, who are also very knowledgable, with a huge parts inventory. Have fun with the restoraton, as they are a fairly easy bike to work on and also restore.

Thanks much John. You are right, I typed the second engine # in wrong, it is 114879. Just past your deadline of 114870.

If I pay the club to do the research, do I receive a certificate of authenticity?

Yes if all is well

your number 114879 is a Norton N15CS, that i as i said previously was a 1965 model. It was dispatched to Berliner ,New York, on November 1965. So it is definatly was shipped as a Norton N15CS. This may be the transition period, when the models went from 1965 through to 1966 models, so they may have had a bit of both when dispatched. So you could make one as a 1965 model, and one as a 1966 model. Just send me the cheque. As for the club doing what you ask, then you would have to ask them.

If you want pictures of these two models, i have pictures, and copies of the Berliner issued brochures. The main difference between the years would be carbs, fenders, engine internal changes, and fork internals.

Berliner, or the Berliner Motor Corporation, - BMC - issued allot of brochures for the G15CS, and N15CS models, as well as magazine adverts, and road tests in Cycle, Cycle World, Cycle Sport etc. There is also a road test of a Norton N15CS, in Motorcycle Mechanics, issued, February 1967. This is a 1966 type model, with maneto ignition but the test shows it with Atlas, or Dominator type silencers. It was meant to show how the N15CS would look as a home market model, but in reality it was never issued to the home market, and only the very later coil ignition G15CS & N15CS models made it onto the home market. The MM test, has many pictures, and is a great article. When i first saw it back when it first came out, i really wanted one. It took me till the mid 1980's to realise the dream, and find one. There is a test of a very late coil ignition Norton N15CS in April 1968 of Motorcyclist, an American issue mag. A friend of mine found it when we were at an autojumble at Alexander Palace, back in the 1980's. It was pure luck to have found it as i have never seen another copy of it.

Did you get my note about the N15CS dates?