RealClassic – August 2019

conglomerate,AJS mightwell have doneso
too.Inanill-fatedattempt tokickstartfalling
sales, AJSproducedat leasttwofour-cylinder
prototypes in the late 1920s,one of which
hasbeen uncovered andrestoredby the
irrepressibleSammyMiller.It’stobefound on
displayinhis eponymousMuseum alongside
the sole survivingexamples of the 500ccV4
and the title-winningPorcupine.It’shardto
think of anywhere moreappropriate foritto
have ended up!
Bornout of theStevens family’s Black
Countr yscrew factory at Wednesfield,

near Wolverhampton, which built itsfirst

motorcycle in 1897 and powere dbya

proprietaryAmericanMitchell engine,the

AJSmarquewasfounded in 1909 after

the four Stevens brothers–Harry,George,

AlbertJohn and Joe Junior–had begun

producing theirownengine designsat

the turnofthe century. These were sold to

various motorcycle manufacturers such as

Wolf andWerner under theStevens name.In

due course the inevitable happened,and in

1909 the brothers began buildingcomplete

bikes powere dbytheir ownmotors,but

neededanew nameto av oid associating

them with theStevens engines soldto rival

manufacturers.Since the eldest brother,

AlbertJohn (known as Jack)wasthe only one

withamiddle initial,theycalled thecompany

afterhim,eventhough allfour brotherswere

equal partners,and soAJSwas foundedto

manufacturebikes inafactory locatedinthe

heartofWolverhampton.

Convinced of the importanceofracing

forpromoting theworthoftheir products,

as well as aproving groundfortheir

development, the Stevens family’sfirst AJS

bike wasabelt-drive 298ccside-valvesingle

tailoredto the ACU’snew regulationsforthe

1911 TT,which divided the eventintoupto

300ccJunior andover 300ccSenior classes.

Although JackStevens rode the biketo the

finish ,hewas only placed 16th afterlosing

time straighteningtheforks afteracrash!

AJSsales took offnonetheless,and indeed

businesswassogoodthatthe brothers had

no timetopreparebikes forareturntothe

Isle of Manuntil the JuniorTT class limitwas

raised to 350ccfor 1914.In thatyear,the

newAJS single withfour-speed chain-drive

transmission dominatedthe race ,taking the

first four places inasweeping victory headed

by race-winner EricWilliams,which ledto

salesrocketingto such anextent thatthe

companyneeded much bigger premisesto

cope.Alarger factory wasbuilt at Graiseley

House,onthe outskirts ofWolverhampton,

and anew companywas foundedto

encompass this,A.J.S tevens (1914) Ltd.

Afte rspending the GreatWar making

Atrulystartling engine.Thecoil’s under thetank,
withadistributorbehind thecylinder blockanda
neatconduit for the HT leads

The 4-branchexhaustmanifold isathing of

wonder,asisthe frameconstruction

DDeettaaiillss...oobbsseerrvveetthheeooiillccoooolleerr.AAppppaarreennttllyyaann

afterthought,asthe unions with thecrankcaseare

drilledstraight through the metal

Details...observethesingle small-borecarb,and the length of the inlet manifold.It’shardtobelieve
thatthe frontpots didn’t runweak

26 I AUGUST 2019 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk