ownerallowed an article about the bike,
by nowregistered KLR 924 andfitted with
asidecar,toa ppear in the UK’s MotorCycle
weekly in 1950.Afterthatitd isap peared
from view until 2009, whenSammyMiller
acquired it,and rebuilt ittogether withBob
Stanley,the Miller Museum’s recently retired
mechanical magician.
‘The engine wascompletewhenwegot it ,’
said Bob,‘just withvarious silly little things
missing,likethe distributor cap and suchlike.
Thebasic construction of the engine is quite
advancedforthe ti me,withthreemain
bearings,plusthe gearboxgoes into
ball-racebearingsforinput and
output of thefinaldrive,and even
the layshaft bearings areball-race,
whichwasquiteextravagantfor back then –
normally ,there wereonly bushes.
‘There’s evenarudimentarycush-drive
mechanism incorporatedintothefinal
driv esprocket,probablyto smooth out the
gearchangesalittle.Basically,thereare six
bolts which areshoulderedintothe sprocket,
each witharubber sleevesitting in large
hole s, withtwoplateseither sideto hold the
thingtogether,soi t’ll give alittle bit on the
transmission.Theengine actuallywasn’t in
thatbad acondition.We only replaced the
pistonrings, obviouslyre-cut all thevalves,
renewedall th eseals,and triedto update it
bearings-wise–the cr ank and gearboxand
all thatwereinquitegood nick.’
Fitted in therefurbished open-cradle mild
steel duplexframe surmountedbyashapely
saddle tank,the overhead-valvestraight-
four dr y-sump motor measuring 54x69mm,
withtwin pushrods percylinder andasingle
cast-ironten-studcylinder block,looks
undeniably handsome.The three-bearing
one-piececrank runs on white-metal plain
bearings,unusualforthe era,with similar
bearings usedforthe big ends,necessitating
ahigh-for-the-time 70psi oil pressure,
according to the Aerostyle gauge set into the
fuel tank that’sthe bike’s only instrument–
there’snospeedo.
Each of theoverheadvalves measures one
inch in diameter–both inlet andexhaust,
each withasingle spring–and is operated
individually via itsownpushrodby the
camshaftrunning through the base of the
cylinder block,and supportedonthree
ball-racebearings.This is dr iven by achain
running offthe frontend of the crankshaft,
employingaslipper-typetensioner,which
also drives the side-mountedCEV car-type
6V dynamo.There’s coil ignition, and the
Lucas DS4 distributor is driven viaaskew
1928 AJS632CCFOUR
Subscribe and save:www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs AUGUST 2019 I31