RealClassic – August 2019

componentsforthe burgeoning British
aircraftindustry, AJSreturnedto motorcyc le
manufacturein1919, and inracing picked
up whereith ad leftoff,dominating the
350ccclass with three successiveJuniorTT
victories in 1920, 1921 and 1922.Indeed,in
1921 ex-WW1flying aceHowardR.Davies
(latertof ound the HRD marque,which led
in turntothe gloriousVincent) actuallywon
the Senior TT for500ccbikes with thevery
same 350ccAJS he’dfinished second in the
JuniorTT on twodaysearli er in afirst-t o-
fourth AJSclean sweep–thefirsttimesuch
afeathad been achieved.
This competition success,repeated
throughout the 1920s inEuropean classics
like theFrench GPat Montlhéry, the German
GP run on the fastAvus circuit inBerl in,
and theBelgian GPat Spa- Francorchamps,
whichAJSrider JimmySimpsonwonin
1927 byfinishing no less than 27 minutes (!)
ahead of therest of thefield, wasmatched
Down Under,withAJS riders dominating
both JuniorandSeniorracesatt he
inauguralMaroubraSpeedway GrandPrix
at Sydneyin1925. Allthis,plus asuccession

of speedrecord attemptsat Broo klands,

Montlhéryand Arpajon whichresulted in

AJSriders holding no less than 117 official

Worldrecordsby 1930, established the

Wolverhamptoncompanyasone of the

leading British marques throughout the

Roaring ’20s.

Itsrange of ohv350ccsingleswere

Britain’s most popularsports motorcycles

of thatcapacitythroughoutthe decade,

during whichAJSofferedacomprehensive

rangeofother single-cylinder andV-twin

modelsrangin gfrom250ccto996cc in

capacity, as well as anextensiv erange of

sidecars.All of theseweremanufa ctured

in itsWolverhampton factories,which by

1925 employed3000 people,producing 600

motorcycles inagood week,with an annual

production of 35,000 bikes.

But then the wheels startedtofall off

the Steven sbrothers’chariot,ins tepwith

the economic downturnwhich ledtothe

Depression.Thanksto the extrem ely good

relations between its family management

and aloyal workforce, AJSwas hardly

affectedbythe GeneralStrike whichtook

Apartfrom being resolutelymonochrome,life

in the 1920s inside theAJSfactorywasplainly

spacious.The crowdscene shows workers

leaving thefactoryinaround 1931

HISTORYTIME

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1928 AJS632CCFOUR

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