RealClassic – August 2019

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

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WHO’SDONEWHAT FROMTHEFRONT


Do youhaveafavourit emarque?Even a
favourit emodel?Formanyyears –maybe a
couple of decades–Iwas unfathomably keen
on AJSmachinery. Iowned threeforaverylong
time,althoughtypically only one of themwas
on theroad at anyone time,and indeed the
veryfirst AJStwin Iacquired is still mouldering
gently inaremotecorner ofTheShed.
Iread everythingIcouldfind aboutAJS,
which isafascinating marque,althoughalot
of the historyseemsto be unappreciatedin
recent years.Myenthusiasmwasfed beyond
reason in the manyyears Iwas privileged
to edit theAJS&Matchless OC’s magazine,
whereIdiscovered thatfine club’s excellent
Historian–who knew masses about the
AJSmarque.And hewould shareitifasked,
thanksto JohnAllen, then.Iremember some
photos ofAJSradios arriving in the post,and
being bewildered onlyalittle,asIwas by the
understanding thatAJS built cars and even
buses.Plainly they understood the meaning of
diversification, whereacompanyspreads its
risks by attemptingto av oid being dependant
on asingle market–motor cycles,for example.
Theirony wasthatAJS went bust
and were abso rbed into the Matchless
motorcyc le empire–AssociatedMotor
Cycles,AMC forshort.
In these days,almost all the emphasis among
almost allmy riding friends –with notable
exceptions–isinr idin gpost-WW2 motorcycles,
and it’s surprisinglyrare to stumble across pre-
1939 machinerybeing used as anything other
than transporttoanevent,wherethey tend to
be exhibits.And nothing wrong with that. What
is alittl esad is thatalmos tall th epost-war
AJSproductionwasofmachinerywhich was
effectively simply badge-engineeredMatchless
kit, whereas priorto theircollap se thecompany
built some delightfully adventurous machinery,
such asatransverseV-twin, sort-of a1930s
Moto Guzzi, ifyoulike.Thatwas the 1931 S3, a
delightful sidevalvewith engine and gearbox
connectedbyashaft, and thefinal driveby
chain.Work thatout!
AndalthoughIknew somehowthatAJS had

builtat least one 4-cylinder motorcycle,I’d no
idea thatith ad survived.More–thatitwas a
runner and entirelyrideable.Somorethanks,
this timeto Alan Cathcart, who not onlyknew
about it but had actuallyridden it.Did he have
anyphotos?Maybe afew words? Of course he
did,and youcan read themyourself further on
into this issue.Whataremarkable machine it is,
and howremarkable its history, too.
Acommon theme among those who talk
endless critically of the old British industry
is thatthe companieswereblinkered,
unimaginativeand conservative. But they
oftenwerenot.Decently oftenthose same
companies had developed and introduced
some fascinating,inventi ve and innovative
motorcycles.The snagwasthattheir
experiencesreve aled thatthe riding public
failedto buy them in numbers sufficientto
make them profitable,and thatwas alesson
they learned–although alltoooften not
quickly enough.
Ride safely
FrankWestworth
[email protected]

REALCLASSICis editedby Rowena Hoseason and
Frank WestworthofThe Cosmic BikeCompany
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We’reonlineat http://www.Real-Classic.co.uk where
FrankW’s amazingToastmaster saga is appearing
oncemoreinexciting (possibly...)weekly
episodes

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THIS MONTHwe’vebeen reading heaps of Nordic
noir by Jo Nesbø whowe sawinperson and who
turns outto be abit of arock-climbing rock-
star ring Scandinavian dude (and hisfirstname
is so rt-ofpronounced‘you’while the surname is
toocomplicated to describe).We also enjoyed
GREASY BENDby Kris Lackey;anauthentic
American rural backroads manhunt, andTHINAIR
by RichardMorgan, which isatremendously active
SciFiall-action thriller.And it is thrilling,also very
violentand withremarkably explicitrude scenes.
At leas tone of us is lookingforwardtothe next...

MEANWHILEATTHE MOVIES...Starship
Troopers:Invasion proved onceagain thatanime
can be so much better than liveaction; Spider-
ManFar From Home provedthatitp aystowatch
the post-credit sequences;TheTundr aBook
proves that18,000reindeer can be fascinating
(no,really), and howdid we livewithoutStar Trek:
Discoveryfor so long?MichaelBurnham is our
new hero!

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