RealClassic – August 2019

placeinMay 1926at atime ofgreatindustrial
unrest.But thatyear sawsales of its bikes
beginto declin efor thefirst time in thefirm’s
history, nothelpe dbythe appearanceofthe
attractively priced,mass-produced lightcar,
which eventually ledAJSitself to produce
suchavehicle.
Theslump acceleratedin1927, and in the
faceofmountingfinancial difficulties the
Stevens brothers bravely decidedto tryto
fighttheir wayout of troubleby investing in
newproducts–and notlower cost,humbler
specification ones,either,but excitin gnew
models which they hopedwould grab
market sharebymakingAJSstand out from
the rest.These wereled by the introduction
of theoverheadcamshaftsporting models
which enteredproduction in 1927, andby
something even moreluxurious,the four-
cylinder prototypes built in 1927 and 1928,
which didn’t howeverreach the marketplace.
Very little isknownabout theAJS vintage

prototypeFours,and ifit were n’tfor the

example in theSammyMiller Museum, the

rumours of theirexistencemightbetaken

withapinch of salt.EvenSammyhimself

wasn’t surewhathewas goingtofind when

afriendput him on the trail ofafour-cylinder

AJSmidway through 2009.

‘I had inmy mind that it’d be aV4, because

Ivaguelyremembered seeingamagazine

photoofone,which would’vebeen a

wonderfulthing ,’ admitsSammy, and AJSdid

indeed displaysuch astreetbikeatthe 1935

London Show. ‘But then the photos of the

actual bike arrived, and it turned outto be an

inlinefour instead,withalengthwaysengine,

whichIwas initially quitedisappointedabout.

But itwashowever very rare,and asyouknow,

at the MuseumTrust we like prototypes and

unusual,technically interesting bikes,sothis

fitted the bill.Thenwhenwegot hold of it

and began stripping itto restor eit, we found

it had lots of innovativedetailsforthe ti me,

like athree -bearing crankshaftwhenpretty

well all otherfours of the daywereonly two-

bearing,and arubber-mountedengin e. It’s

thefirst Isolastic motorcycle –built in 1928!’

Having decidedto investigate producing

afour-cylinder model,AJS apparentlyfirst

builta500ccprototype of similar straight-

four architecturetothe Miller bike,but with

four separatefully-finned cylinder barrels to

ensureoptimumcooling,alwaysaproblem

with lengthwaysair-cooled multis.However,

this format wasconsideredtoocomplicated

and thusexpensivefor production purposes,

so insteadalarger 632ccversion withaone-

piececast-ironcylinder blockfollowed.This

wasfirst registered in 1928to GeorgeStevens

himself, and it’s this bike which migratedinto

priv ate handsduring the 1930s.

Careful to keep his identitysecret –

presumablyforfear thatAMC, by then

owners of AJS, would come knocking at his

door askingfortheir property back!–the

The remarkableAJSway back,when itappearstohavebeeninregularuse.It’sinterestngtocompare eunr or ebike

Hefty but basic girder forks withasingle springandfriction damperscontrol
the front wheel,whileaslightlyterrifying drum brakeattemptsto stop it

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