AJS Model 18

This is the latest arrival to the ‘stable’, and came from a local member of the AJS & Matchless Owners Club. He was downsizing and needed the space…in addition, he was having mobility problems due to the passage of time. That will befall all of use eventually, if accompanied by longevity.

The motorcycle is a 1964 AJS Model 18, slightly shy of five hundred of your cubic centimeters.

It was originally supplied by AMC to a dealer in Johannesburg, South Africa towards the end of 1964. The chap I bought it from originally lived there and brought it back to the UK when he came to live here. In order to export, or more correctly ‘re-import’ it to the UK, he had to dismantle it, as complete bikes weren’t allowed to leave the country.

Since bringing it back, he’s been through a long restoration process on it, but simply can’t work on it easily anymore. There are many bills from AMC Classic Spares and the AJS & Matchless Owners Club. The bike hasn’t been finished, just loosely assembled. I will have to go through it from front to back to make sure everything is in order.

It will need fully recommissioning too.

I have applied for, and received, an age related number plate…as it’s the old system, it would normally have been issued in Northampton.

These motorcycles have the Norton wheels and front forks, Girling rear suspension, high capacity oil pump, alternator and coil electrics, ‘MA’ later type AMC gearbox and the final version of the short stroke engine. They are quite a different animal to the 1950s Model 18 and G80.

The engine itself is pretty much the same as the performance Model 18CS / G80CS, but with a cast barrel. Many of these bikes have been bought and robbed of their engines. People then bore out the inlet port and fit a racing carburettor.

This particular bike is quite rare, in the fact that the frame, engine and gearbox, all left the factory for South Africa together. I’m looking forward to riding it.