The Story of AJS

A J Stevens & Co created some of the most advanced and exhilarating motorcycles in the dawn period of combustion, and here is the story of this awe-inspiring marque.

A.W. Morrish – an amateur racer – on an AJS side-valve.

The story of AJS really starts with Joe Stevens Snr, an engineer who owned the “Stevens Screw Company Ltd”, in Wednesfield, near Wolverhampton. The business had a reputation for quality and in time his sons Harry, George, Albert John (“Jack”), and Joe Stevens Junior all joined the business.

The real interest in combustion commenced in 1897 when a motorcycle was cobbled up in the Stevens works. It consisted of a Mitchell engine mounted on the inside of the front downtube of a BSA bicycle frame, with the fuel tank suspended from the horizontal top bar. It was this prototype machine that was to act as the catalyst for AJS motorcycles.

The Stevens brothers were a practical breed, and it did not take long before they had sorted out their own engine under the watchful eye of their father, which featured automatic valves and surface carburettors. The Stevens power-units raised the eyebrows of William Clark of the Wearwell Motor Carriage Company Limited. Wearwell was already a manufacturer of bicycles, and realised that to make a powered machine, all that would be needed was an engine and a few modifications. This was the simplicity of the early motorcycles, and so an agreement was reached that Stevens would supply a minimum number of engines each week, which would be fitted to heavy duty Wearwell bicycles.

Stevens’ engines continued to sell extremely well over the next few years, with the introduction of other models, and the expanse resulted in a move to a larger premises at Fort Works, at the end of Pelham Street. Other motorcycle companies adopted the Stevens’ motors including the likes of Clyno and Australian manufacturer Lewis.

In 1909 Wearwell went into administration, a bittersweet blow for the Stevens Motor Manufacturing Company. At the time, the brothers had started riding in trials and speed events on their various creation, and in 1909 a Stevens-powered Wolf (built by Wearwell) won an ACU certificate for a 24 hour non-stop run. The demise of Wearwell and the success of the Stevens motors prompted the team into producing their own motorcycles, which they named using the initials of the only brother to have two Christian names, Albert John (“Jack”), and so AJS was born.

The first bike produced by A J Stevens & Co. was a 292cc side-valve – formed as such to enter and compete in the Isle of Man Junior TT. The road-going bikes were denoted as the model A and the model B. The Model A was the cheaper machine, fitted with a direct belt drive, and the Model B the same but fitted with a 2 speed gearbox, cork inserted clutch, and a chain drive.

The first production AJS motorcycles – the Model A and the Model B.

In 1911, two race prepped motorcycles were entered in the Isle of Man T.T.; one of the machines was ridden by “Jack” Stevens, and despite a tumble which required a quick realignment of some bent forks, came in a respectable fifteenth position – one place behind private owner J.D. Corke on an identical machine. Some would argue that the result was far from ground breaking… however what it did do was set a solid foundation for AJS and the world of motor sport.

The AJS products were displayed at the 1911 Olympia Show, including the all new model D, a 5hp V-twin with a 2 speed gearbox, chain drive, kick start – all yours for 60 guineas.

The next year, the Stevens brothers were too focused on the expanding business to take an official interest in the TT, but development had seen the old belt-drive system replaced entirely by a more modern and efficient all-chain drive. Sales boomed and the future looking extremely positive for the AJS enterprise.

AJS was back for the 1913 Junior TT, with W.M. Heaton finishing tenth (having been delayed by several punctures) and Cyril Williams being forced to retire due to mechanical gremlins. The model A was discontinued, and the model B updated. The alterations included a 2 or 3 speed gearbox and enclosed chain drive. The model D was also revised and allocated a 6hp. V-twin lump; a sidecar version was also introduced.

A 1915 AJS 748cc Model D. Credit: Bonhams Motorcycle Department.

The Stevens Brothers continued to chip away in the AJS workshop, and by 1914 they had developed a 350cc side-valve bike with a four-speed gearbox and chain final drive. The bike was put forward into the 1914 TT, and won the first, second, fourth and sixth places in the Junior race.

On their return to Wolverhampton the AJS team was cheered by a large crowd at the High Level Station and the factory partied at the headquarters of the Wolverhampton Motor Cycle Club. The achievement earmarked the start of lucrative company and a solid foundation for the bikes for years to come; orders flooded in and AJS were forced to move premises to deal with the demand. The 2¾hp 350cc was the most popular machine, however the Model D also did well due to its ability to haul a sidecar.

The outbreak of war put a dampener on the AJS movement, and the Stevens empire was directed almost entirely to war production. The factory worked flat out to fulfil wartime contracts for the War Office and the Russian Army, taking orders for a large quantity of military motorcycles. As the conflict eased, AJS returned to its peacetime occupation, and by 1920, they were back at the TT with a new and improved 349cc overhead-valve machine. The outcome was not quite as prosperous as the pre-war success; of the seven Ajays that were entered, only two survived due to mechanical problems or accidents. Cyril Williams did however win the Junior race, despite mechanical failure 4 miles from the finish line; he had to coast and push his way to the chequered flag!

The new overhead-valve bikes showed some serious promise, however the mechanical weaknesses needed to be ironed out and so the factory went back to the drawing board. In 1921, the bikes were back to their AJS-type reliability. The delicate transmission had been replaced with a new 3-speed box and chain drive, and the frame and cycle parts were all uprated. The result was an outstanding nimble and fast machine which monopolised the 1921 Junior TT. Eric Williams won the race and AJS ridden motorcycles secured second, third and fourth places. The most impressive achievement, however, were the exploits in the Senior race. AJS factory rider Howard Davies rode the sensational 350 in the big boy race, and took the chequered flag, beating the 500cc Indians of Dixon and Le Vack. Davies remains the only rider to win the Senior TT on a Junior machine! This was the start of the journey of a special motorcycle.

Howard Davies sat astride a 350cc OHV AJS. Credit: unknown.

A number of other success followed in trials and sporting events, and sales were greater than ever. Aspirant racers purchased AJS machines to use on the local pop-up circuits, and then used them to ride home via the shops to pick up groceries for the Sunday Roast. Almosty 600 people were now employed on motorcycle production, and yet more building work was undertaken at the Graiseley Hill factory.

In 1922, the diameter of the big-bore exhaust was enlarged to a diameter of 2 inches, and in November the firm announced that their race-derived, and race-proven 350cc overhead valve machine would be available to the general public for the 1923 season. The catalogued road-racer was a hit, and, characterised by its enormous exhaust port and pipe, it was quickly nick-named the “Big Port”. The bike was quick and nimble, and a favourite for club racing, being good for 80mph +. The standard sporting machine, the ‘B1’ had T.T. pattern handlebars and footboards, and the stripped sporting machine, the ‘B2’ had no kick-starter or side valance to the front mudguard, but included a lighter chain-case.

“More than once criticisms have been heard owing to the fact that the makers of AJS have repeatedly won the Tourist Trophy Race with an overhead valve model which was not available on the open market” remarked the Motor Cycle magazine.

“Nevertheless the manufacturer acted wisely, for they felt that until the experimental machines had been reduced to a form which was safe in the hands of the public it was better not to sell them”.

A rare 1923 AJS Big Port (note the huge exhaust port!). Credit: John Tindle.

The 1922 Junior T.T. was another triumph as Tom Sheard took first place in the Junior at an average speed of 54.75mph, closely followed by George Grinton who took second spot. The Senior race was not as lucrative as the previous year, as Howard Davies and George Kelly were forced to retire with mechanical problems. Ossie Wade finished in 12th place, a disappointing race for the team.

In 1923 there were nine A.J.S. entries for the Junior Isle of Man T.T. Only two of the riders completed the course – H. F. Harris finished in second place at an average speed of 55.16m.p.h. and Frank Longman finished in sixth place. In the Senior event, two out of the four riders completed the race -Syd Crabtree who finished in 17th place, and Charlie Hough who finished in 20th place. This was not to be the year for AJS, and it was in fact the last race for Howard Davies who left in 1923 to work for Hutchinson tyres, before starting his own company, HRD in 1924.

Despite the lacklustre performance in the ’23 T.T., 1924 was a still an upbeat year for sales at AJS, and the Graiseley Hill site was expanded once more to cover some 230,000 square feet. The 1924 T.T. also a bit of a flop, however there were positive results elsewhere, with AJS winning the French Grand Prix, the Speed Championship of Europe, and three gold medals in the A.C.U. English Six Days 1,000 miles Stock Machine Trial. The company also received an award for the best sidecar performance in the Scottish Six Days Reliability Trial.

The 1925 production machines were prepared in readiness for the Olympia show. The models were given a new letter prefix, starting with the letter ‘E’, followed by a number according to the type of machine.

Model E1 de-luxe 799c.c. V twin passenger combination – listed at £115
Model E2 standard 799c.c. V twin passenger combination – listed at £90
Model E3 349c.c. de-luxe touring machine – listed at £57
Model E4 349c.c. de-luxe sporting machine – listed at £57
Model E5 349c.c. standard sporting machine – listed at £49.10s.
Model E6 349c.c. overhead valve sports machine – listed at £60
Model E7 349c.c. overhead valve special sports machine. Price according to specification.

The 1925 T.T. was more upbeat on the previous year. In the Junior, Jimmy Simpson had the best race, finishing in third; and in the Senior, the only rider to complete the course was Frank Longman who finished in second place. Ironically, the winner was Howard Davies riding his HRD machine. Elsewhere, Hanford Stevens won the French Grand Prix at Montlhéry, while Jimmy Simpson entered and won the 500c.c. race at the same event, over a distance of 248 miles. In the Scottish Six Days Trial, AJS won the manufacturers team prize for the third year in succession. All in all, life was pretty good at AJS.

In the Autumn, AJS introduced a 500cc overhead-valve machine. The standard version, the Model G8 sold for £62.10s, and the racing version, the G10 was subject to specification. Sales continued to be pour in and the total workforce now exceeded 3,000 members.

A 1926 500cc over-head valve “bitsa” racing motorcycle.

AJS continued to have strong results in events on the continent for the next couple of years. By the late 1920s, the Big Port was nearing the end of its development, and in 1927 the works race bikes appeared with a new overhead-camshaft (OHC) engine resulting in a fast, raucous beast of a machine. After initial lubrication problems had been resolved, works rider Jimmy Simpson rode the 350cc Cammy to victory in the Belgian, Swiss, Austrian and European Grands Prix in 1927. A catalogued model from 1928, the OHC AJS was built in 350cc (K7) and 500cc (K10) capacities with a civilian versions being equipped with three-speed gearboxes rather than the works four-speed unit.

A 350cc AJS Overhead-Cam K7 at the Brooklands 100.

1928 was the final year before AJS moved to the more popular and fashionable (at the time!) saddle tank. At the time, the 1928 K Series comprised no less than twelve models with options of 248, 349 and 498cc capacity bike with either side-valve, overhead-valve, or overhead-camshaft setups. There were also the big side-valve 749cc side-car combos.

A 1928 350cc AJS Big Port with acetylene lamps.

Although side-valve machines were starting to be phased out by many manufacturers in the late 1920s in exchange for the sportier, faster, and higher revving overhead-valve/ cam engines, AJS stuck with their reliable and usable thumpers. The lasting appeal of the side-valve was their fat wallop of torque at very low rpm and absolute ease of maintenance for the most novice of riders. There are many a story of riders fixing these old machines at the side of the road, such was their simple nature. The 500 side-valve offered a broad top-gear performance range and an impressive load-carrying ability, which appealed equally to commercial carriers and private enthusiasts, especially when coupled to one of the firm’s own sidecars.

A 1928 AJS K9 500cc side-valve.

Racing success began early in 1928 when Len Cohen won the South African junior T.T. over a distance of 240 miles, at an average speed of 64.5mph. This was followed by first class awards in the A.C.U. Standard Stock Trial, and wins at the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix, and 350c.c. German T.T. Six AJS machines were entered for the 1928 Junior Isle of Man T.T. however not one of them finished the course due to mechanical problems primarily with the valve springs. The AJS crew jumped on the issue and managed to rectify it for the Senior race and George Rowley managed to finish in 2nd place, closely behind the winner, Charlie Dodson on his Sunbeam.

Unfortunately for AJS the Great Depression, fired by the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 lay ahead, and sales were strained. In spite of this, AJS pushed forward and a unique prototype was born out of the AJS development programme – a 632cc air-cooled OHV longitudinal in-line four cylinder. Although four cylinder motorcycles had been around for some time, in particular across the pond with the likes of Indian and Henderson, they were relatively untested in the UK. The bike had a 3-bearing camshaft, driven by a chain from the front end of the crankshaft. It had a detachable cast iron cylinder head, and a built-in gearbox. The oil from the sump was pressure-fed to the rocker box via an external radiator with four tubes. The concept was an ill-fated attempt by AJS to kickstart falling sales in the late 20s; however the bike never came to fruition – an untimely by-product of the Great Depression. It is believed that at least two 4-cylinder prototypes were built in the late 1920s, one of which has survived and resurrected by the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum.

The 4-cylinder AJS Prototype at the Sammy Miller Museum.

The 1929 M range included a grand total of fourteen models with thirteen sidecar options. The flat tank had been replaced with the rounded and modern saddle tank. The machines were given improved weather protection and featured cleaner and quieter engines with dry sump lubrication. Although times were tough, AJS still continued to compete which a number of successes throughout the season. George Rowley, Clarrie Wise, and Leo Davenport all won first class awards in the Scottish Six Days Trial in May, and the manufacturers’ team prize for the best performance in their class, and Wal Handley came second in the 1929 Junior TT. The same year, AJS made an attempt on the motorcycle land speed record on a 990c.c. machine, thought to be capable of 150mph. The project was championed by Jack Stevens. Captain Oliver M. Baldwin had several positive test runs at Brooklands before travelling to Arpajon in France for the record attempt, which ended in failure when the engine seized at 130mph! Still, it demonstrated the passion that AJS in pushing the boundaries of the motorcycle.

In 1930 the 350cc OHC R7 won 8 of the 9 Grand Prix races, and at Montlhery established a number of world records, including 1 hour at an average of 104.5mph and 2 hours at an average of 99.5mph. Although the vibes on the race scene were positive, sales back at the factory were still falling and for the third year in a row the company failed to declare a dividend to its shareholders. In 1930 a 10% reduction in pay was made throughout the works in an attempt to reduce running costs – a sign of things to come, albeit at the time they had no idea what was in store.

In April 1931 the ambitious S3 made its debut. It was an unusual bike a featured a 498cc transverse V twin, an instrument panel above petrol tank, and was said to reach a top speed of 65mph. It had been an expensive machine to develop and was slow to sell. In spite of the pressure on AJS, they still put up a fight and Freddie Hicks was entered in the 1931 Isle of Man T.T. alongside others. In heartbreaking circumstances, Freddie Hicks was killed at the event, after a mishap that led him to crash into the doorway of a small shop. This was the nail in the coffin for AJS at the T.T.

An AJS S3 at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum.

Sales continued to decline, and financial pressure hit the company. AJS went into liquidation and in 1931 Matchless Motorcycles Limited of Plumstead, London, purchased the AJS name and manufacturing rights for £20,000. The Collier brothers moved AJS production lock, stock and barrel to their Plumstead works in London, south of the Thames and by 1932 the land and properties associated with AJS were sold – a sad end for a company that had been so important to the people of the Black Country.

The later years…

The lead up to the Second World War was an exciting time in the motorcycle revolution, with all sorts of innovative engine configurations being tried and tested. In 1935, H. Collier and Sons unveiled their AJS 500cc V4 to the world at the Olympia Motorcycle Show in London as a touring motorcycle. The elaborate motor was designed by Bert Collier and used the foundations of the 1931 Matchless Silver Hawk. The V4 was intended as the next in the AJS line up, however the economy had other ideas and only a small number of civilian machines were produced.

The concept however, was the backbone for a series of impressive racing bikes. In the spring of 1936 AJS began testing the V4 at the Brooklands circuit. The racer had alloy barrels and sported a bolt-on supercharger in a bid to out-class the fierce Bavarian Kompressor bikes. The V4 produced an impressive 55hp and claimed a top speed of 135mph. The design and concept was complete in a matter of months, and the machine slotted into the AJS line-up at the Isle of Man Senior. George Rowley and Harold Daniell took the bike to the track, however despite its admirable top speed, there were issues with the handling, trouble with carbonation, and a lack of acceleration. Rowley and Daniell both retired due to mechanical problems, however AJS persisted with the V4 over the next few years, with the machine setting several records and breaking the 100mph lap speed record at the Ulster Grand Prix.

George Rowley cranking over a supercharged AJS V4 at the 1936 IOM Senior TT. Credit: unknown.

In 1938, AJS and Matchless became part of Associated Motor Cycles, the parent company of a group of motorcycle companies which included AJS, Matchless, Norton, Sunbeam and more. Matchless and AJS shared almost identical motorcycles moving forward but used their own unique branding; the main difference between the two brands was the positioning of the mag-dyno; forward of the cylinder on the AJS; and rearward on the Matchless. What difference did that make? None what so ever, but it made them look different enough to pass them off as two different bikes. The AJS name was applied to a handful of exclusive race machines to continue with its strong racing heritage.

One such machine was the AJS Porcupine in 1945. This mechanical masterpiece was a 500cc, DOHC twin, with horizontal cylinders and heads to enable the bike a low centre of gravity. It had originally been supercharged until the FICM banned blowers in 1946. The Porcupine made its debut at the 1947 Isle of Man TT but mechanical issues plagued the bike and it finished down in a lowly 15th place. In 1949, after improvements were made, victory was finally on the cards for the Porcupine and it secured the title of the FIM 500 cc World Championship. The next and final evolution of the Porcupine arrived in 1953 with a new engine and an improved output of 55 bhp at 7600 rpm.

Financial pressure hit AMC in the ‘60s and in 1966 they were acquired by Manganese Bronze Holdings, which formed Norton-Villiers to oversee operations. MBH decided to re-manufacture the AJS and Matchless models with Norton engines to increase their appeal, however this move ultimately proved unsuccessful and all production discontinued in 1969. In 1974 the former AJS Competition Manager and racer, Fluff Brown, purchased AJS and began production of the AJS Stormer. AJS motorcycles are still being manufactured to this day, as small capacity retro bikes that are exported around the world.

AJS, born in the halcyon days of Wolverhampton, inspired racers, budding racers, and stirred up the motorcycle industry as a whole, in a very positive way… and for that, the Stevens brothers will go down in history as crucial pioneers and grandfathers of our beloved sport.

— written by The Girder Club —