There are builds that restore history, and there are builds that rewrite it. A few years back, in a quiet West Sussex workshop, retired engineer Richard Johns decided to build a bike inspired by a true purebred racer.
If we want to understand the tale behind this fantastic machine, we will need to rewind the clock almost 100 years and to behind the factory doors of A. J. Stevens & Co. In the pre-war period the need for speed was in its finest hour as manufacturers pumped out ferocious machines that aimed for the top spot in the record books.
In 1929-1930 the AJS team came up with a V-Twin that would attempt to outsmart the competition. The project was headed up by Jack Stevens, with the original idea coming from Nigel Spring who had been recruited by AJS to run its race team.
The motorcycle used the top ends of their overhead camshaft R10 500cc racer, mated to a bespoke crankcase with the cylinders set at 50°. The new weapon from AJS had a quoted 104hp at 4800rpm. The ambition was the for the bike to set the new speed record and the team had the 150mph barrier planted in their minds.
The AJS sprinter was unofficially tested on the Wolverhampton to Bridgenorth Road by AJS works rider George Rowley where it seemed to fly without any serious complication. Captain Oliver M. Baldwin then had several positive test-runs at Brooklands before he took the machine to Arpajon in France for a record attempt. In the initial sprints Baldwin averaged 134.5mph but looking to improve on this he took to the track once more when a piston collapsed and the top speed of the meet went to a BMW rider at 137.58mph. It was a blow for the AJS camp who had failed in their quest for 150mph.
At this point in time AJS were in dire straits and the record breaking machine was temporarily abandoned. Later down the line, the bike was revived when Matchless (who had acquired the motorcycle in their 1931 takeover of AJS), wanted a crack at the record books. The bike continued to be developed and with the addition of a supercharger it achieved a momentous 156mph at Pendine Sands with works rider Joe Wright at the bars. This was a massive achievement for the factory and smashed the previous world record of 150.74mph.
The climax was short lived however, and speed records started to fade into the backdrop of new ownership and new priorities. The iconic motorcycle wilted with this movement and ended up in Tasmania where it was raced on the beaches, before it was repatriated in 1981 and resurrected by enthusiast Geoff St John. It is now on display in the National Motorcycle Museum.
It was a shame that AJS had never decided to look at a road version of their V-Twin monster. A racer for the road. The only one is in a museum, and so there is no chance that one would ever be able to experience the thrill of such a machine, would there?
Fast-forward ninety years, and to a talented enthusiast – Richard Johns.
Richard was a fan of the over-head camshaft AJS machines and already had a 1930 500cc R10 that he took apart and rebuilt. This process clearly scratched an itch, where he then went on to rebuild a 1927 AJS 350cc K7 OHC that had been purchased in a sorry state, followed by a bespoke motorcycle that he constructed from the ground up using a motor that he assembled from a Velocette top end and an AJS bottom end.
Once the AJcette was complete, you would think that Richard may have wanted a break from it all. However, he then happened across a photo in the Classic MotorCycle of Owen Baldwin stood next to the first incarnation of the AJS. The prowess of the machine clearly took a hold, and so Richard opened the door of his next endeavour. The plan was not to build an exact replica of the factory machine, but a road bike inspired by it.
The concept was simple, the execution anything but. In Richards web memoir he describes his vision and provides a detailed chronicle on the build.
“It would not be an exact copy, and it wouldn’t be 1000cc, but I would try and make something that closely resembled this amazing looking bike. The idea in its basic conception would be to use 2 x mark 1 OHC Velocette cylinder barrels, heads and cam boxes and to make the rest of the engine. A chassis and gearbox etc would then be added to make the rest of the bike. What could be simpler….?”
What could be simpler….?”
Well there are quite a few things that spring to mind! A number of components had to be built from scratch, most notably the impressive motor. In fact, the crankcases started out from two pieces of 10-inch diameter aluminium bar which were used to create patterns; these were then machined and cast in aluminium. The top ends are Velocette which run on Ducatti pistons, and the camshafts were adapted to be chain driven in the style of the original machine with the distinctive three-pronged timing cover which Richard had to cast from scratch.
There was then the question of what to plonk the motor in, and while scanning the classifieds in Car and Classic, Richard came across a 1931 AJS 500cc SB8 in a dismantled state. This was one of the last models to come from the Wolverhampton factory, and because of its sloper type engine, there was enough room between the downtube and the saddle tube to accommodate the new V twin engine and the gearbox. The SB8 also provided some donor parts for the build which included the Sturmey Archer AJS type gearbox, girder front end, and front hub. The tank was made in India; it started out as an Ariel Model G which was then adapted to recreate the dimensions of the record breaker.
The bore and stroke of the finished machine is 76mm x 86mm which equates to a swept volume of 780cc. The result took three and a half years and around 3,500 hours of pure craftsmanship. The attention to finish is unbelievable and the chrome-plated details shimmer like a showpiece from Olympia in 1931.
Richard remarks: “As far as I am aware, this is the only replica (albeit approximate) that has been made of this bike”. The finished machine, unveiled in 2021, is a tribute not just to the marque, but to a British craftsmanship. The AJS that is not simply a replica; it is a resurrection of an idea and the bike that AJS might have produced had the Depression not intervened.
In this video produced by the Classic Motorcycle Channel, Richard provides a wonderful insight into his incredible build, with footage of its first start-up on the rollers.
In 2025, Richards remarkable AJS appeared in the Bonhams Autumn Stafford Sale where it drew widespread attention. It fell into the hands of Sammy Miller and the incredible museum down in the New Forest – the hand-built machine will now sit with some of the finest motorcycles on the planet, and it will be right at home.
Click here to be taken to the blog that Richard put together on his build which is well worth a read.
Thank you to the Sammy Miller museum for linking us in with the photos and for keeping this awesome motorcycle in motion.
an article by The Girder Club
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