AJS Motorcycles
Bonhams Stafford Sale Features Lineup of MotoGP And Post-War Motorcycles
With the turning of the seasons, riders across the land look forward to the annual Bonhams Autumn Stafford Sale – and this year, the motorbike lineup is particularly well-stacked. RideApart states that two collections in particular – the Phil Morris Road Racing Collection and a series of motorbikes that used to belong to German film critic …
A Brief History of AMC Motorcycles
AMC = Associated Motor Cycles BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE Associated Motor Cycles was more popularly known as AMC (not to be confused with ‘the other AMC’, American Motors Corporation, the US company that owned Rambler, Metro & Jeep, which sold out to Chrysler in 1987). Associated Motor Cycles was the result of various takeovers & …
A Brief History of AJS Motorcycles
THE HISTORY OF AJS MOTORCYCLES The name AJS stands for A.J. Stevens & Co., the firm’s full official name. But that’s an awful lot to fit on the side of a motorcycle tank, so they made do with the initials. Founder Joe Stevens owned Stevens Screw Co. in Wolverhampton, England, and by 1987 had built …
1964 AJS Model 16
1964 AJS MODEL 16 BACKGROUND Parent-company AMC secured some lucrative contracts from the British government to build, among other things 80,000 Matchless G3s and G3/Ls. After the war, these became the basis for their civilian middleweight line. As always, every Matchless motorcycle had a near-identical twin in the AJS lineup. This was the AJS Model …
1927 AJS Model H4
1927 AJS MODEL H4 AJS built a fine line of motorcycles in the late 1920s, including side-valve (SV) and overhead valve (OHV) singles ranging in engine size and output. Horsepower was in the single digits across the board. The H4 was a 350cc SV single with advanced features for the day. Special alloys were used …
1959 AJS Model 31
1959 AJS MODEL 31 BACKGROUND AJS and sister-brand Matchless were late to the vertical twin party. Triumph started it all with the 1938 Speed Twin, the world’s first ‘modern’ vertical twin (aka: parallel twin). It took the world by storm, and suddenly every other British brand had to have one of their own. Alas, World …
1961 AJS Model 31
1961 AJS MODEL 31 BACKGROUND AJS and sister-brand Matchless were late to the vertical twin party. Triumph started it all with the 1938 Speed Twin, the world’s first ‘modern’ vertical twin (aka: parallel twin). It took the world by storm, and suddenly every other British brand had to have one of their own. Alas, World …
1946 AJS Model 18
1946 AJS MODEL 18 BACKGROUND Immediately following the end of World War II in 1945, every British motorcycle manufacturer rushed to convert from war production back to making civilian products. Millions of British troops were coming home, and they would all need transportation. But economic times were tough in England after the war, and many …
1950 AJS 7R Boy Racer
1950 AJS 7R BOY RACER BACKGROUND The 7R was a factory road racer produced by AJS from 1948 through 1963. It’s 348cc displacement put it in the middleweight, or ‘junior’ class of racing, and hence the nickname “Boy Racer”. With up to 40 horsepower and weighing only 285 pounds, they were fast (120 mph top …
1959 AJS Model 16
1959 AJS MODEL 16 BACKGROUND The Model 16 was AJS’s middleweight 350 single. They were rugged, well-designed and fast for their era and class. Since AMC owned both companies, both AJS and Matchless had nearly identical bikes. Matchless called theirs the G3 and besides styling, the only mechanical difference between the two was that AJS …
1953 AJS Model 18
1953 AJS Model 18S 1953 AJS Model 18C 1953 AJS MODEL 18 BACKGROUND Since AMC owned both brands, the AJS Model 18 is almost mechanically identical to the Matchless G80. Besides styling, the only real difference between the two is that AJS mounted it’s magneto in front of the cylinder, and Matchless mounted theirs behind. …
