This is the story a 1912 Rex-JAP AH 2192. From its documented early life in rural Norfolk to an extraordinary nut-and-bolt rebuild and its first proper outing at Still Kicking, this is the story of a pioneer motorcycle brought back to life by the dedication of its latest custodian.
Words + Photos: Rich Orriss
As I wandered around the recent Still Kicking event held at the Bottisham Air Museum I took the opportunity to look at some of the motorcycles that filled up Farmer Johns field. There were some incredible bikes and many I had never seen before on the UK scene – however there was one old steed that kept drawing me back. It was full of purpose with dropped bars; it oozed character; and it was unique. The motorcycle in question was a c.1912 Rex-JAP, and it became one of my favourite motorcycles of the weekend.
Bike located, and I was on the hunt for the owner. John is a top chap, and I have met him at events in the past in the UK and abroad – he had kept this old beauty on the quiet and once I had pinned him down, I started on the cross-examination to learn more about the Rex-JAP and the story behind it. The more John talked, the more I understood that this was a story that had to be shared. I soon had the camera out, photographing the bike from every angle as John explained how Still Kicking marked the first time it had been properly ridden since completing the rebuild.
To understand why this motorcycle is so special, it helps to look back to the years before the First World War. Rex was one of the first and foremost manufacturers of motorcycles in Britain and proudly advertised themselves as ‘The King of British Motors’. It was a one-stop-shop. Rex built their own engines in-house, at a time when most were outsourced, and the firm continued until 1920 when it fused with Acme and became Rex-Acme as many of us know.
In the meantime, the Premier Motor Company of Birmingham had become popular dealers of motorcars that were shipped in from Europe (such as Minerva and Marchland). In 1909 they started a relationship with Rex and sold a two-stroke motorcycle which was badged as a Premo. The next step came in 1912. Rex frames were fitted with JAP engines and sold by Premier. The motorcycles carried the distinctive ‘Rex JAP – The Premier Motor Company Ltd, Birmingham’ tank badge. Although built by Rex, they were sold only through Premier and never marketed directly by the Rex company itself. The Rex-JAP was therefore a distinct marque rather than simply a Rex fitted with a JAP engine.
That distinction is an important one because it has caused confusion for many years. After Rex merged with Acme in 1920 to become Rex-Acme, later machines were also fitted with JAP engines and are often casually referred to as ‘Rex Japs’. These are in fact entirely different motorcycles. A true Rex-JAP refers only to the Premier Motor Company machines produced between 1912 and 1916, making AH 2192 exceptionally significant.
John first encountered AH 2192 at an H&H Classics auction held at the National Motorcycle Museum in 2023. It wasn’t a running motorcycle or even an incomplete restoration project. Instead, it was exactly as he describes it – a kit of parts.
All the major components were present, but almost everything showed the wear and tear you would expect from a machine that had lived for well over a century. One particularly intriguing item accompanied the collection of parts: a small notebook containing sketches showing how various components fitted together, along with bearing prices written in pounds, shillings and pence. That little notebook implies that the bike was dismantled sometime during the 1960s and then simply never put back together.
From that point onwards, the restoration became a complete engineering exercise.
The 964cc side-valve JAP engine was stripped and rebuilt using new bushes throughout. Original valves were beyond serviceable condition, so John cleverly adapted Harley-Davidson WLA valves, machining the stems down to suit the JAP engine. Like much of the project, originality had to be balanced with practicality, all while preserving the character of the machine.
The front forks required new spindles and bushes to remove decades of wear, while the wheel hubs were discreetly converted to accept modern sealed deep-groove bearings. It is one of those modifications that improves reliability without changing the outward appearance of the motorcycle.
The wheels themselves presented another challenge. The original rims were an obsolete size for which tyres are no longer manufactured. Rather than compromise the bike, John sourced beautifully made replacement rims from Richards Brothers in Cardiff, allowing modern 26 x 2½ tyres to be fitted while retaining the correct period look.
One of the most fascinating features of AH 2192 is its transmission, which tells another chapter in the story of the bike. Although the Rex JAP originally left the factory with a fixed-pulley direct belt drive, it now wears an NSU two-speed free-engine pulley – a proper period aftermarket conversion that would have been available to owners looking for improved practicality.
The NSU pulley was a clever piece of kit that was available to motorcyclists in the years before the First World War. Introduced around 1910, it used an epicyclic, or sun-and-planet, gear system to provide both direct drive and a lower gear ratio, giving riders valuable extra pulling power on hills and poor roads. It also introduced a free-engine position, allowing the engine to idle without driving the rear wheel – something that made stopping, starting and general riding considerably easier (especially useful in modern traffic!).
Weighing just 9lb and measuring around five inches wide, NSU promoted it as a lightweight and compact solution to the limitations of early belt-driven motorcycles. The company even offered to machine each pulley to suit the crankshaft taper of different motorcycle manufacturers. In many ways, it was an ingenious period performance upgrade that owners could fit to make their machines more practical in everyday use.
The pulley fitted to AH 2192 was already on the engine when John acquired it from the auction, although it does not appear in historic photos. The conversion still required some careful engineering to make it work correctly. Rather than simply adapting existing parts, John had a new male clutch cone manufactured by a local engineering company. This presses into the female cone of the pulley to provide direct drive, allowing the system to operate as it would have done when new.
Had the bike retained its original fixed pulley, starting it would have involved running alongside the machine before leaping into the saddle once the engine fired – a perfectly normal procedure in 1912, but one that requires considerably more commitment than most riders would volunteer today.
Thankfully, the NSU pulley makes the process rather more civilised, although riding the Rex-JAP is still very much an involved experience. John explained:
“You start with the bike on the main stand. The coffee grinder handle that operates the NSU pulley needs to be turned fully anticlockwise to give direct drive. Set the air throttle and advance and retard levers, pull in the valve lifter and crank. Drop the valve lifter and hopefully it will start.”
“Once the engine is running, turn the coffee grinder handle clockwise approximately three turns. You should then be able to stop the rear wheel spinning with the brake, take the bike off the stand and you are ready to go.”
“Apply a bit of throttle and turn the coffee grinder handle approximately half a turn clockwise. This engages the planetary gears and the bike will be on the move. The coffee grinder handle can then be turned fully anticlockwise to engage direct drive.”
For John, the experience of riding AH 2192 is every bit as rewarding as the restoration itself.
“Riding on the open road is quite pleasant,” he explained, “but junctions are a bit awkward as you spend a lot of time with one hand on the bars and the other operating the NSU gear. At least you don’t have to perform a run and jump start.”
As impressive as the restoration is, the story behind AH 2192 became even more fascinating thanks to research carried out by Mike Merrick of the Forncett History Group.
While researching the history of Church Farm in Forncett St Peter, Norfolk, Mike uncovered a remarkable collection of photographs rescued from destruction after the death of Marjorie Thurston. Amongst those photographs were several showing AH 2192 during its earlier life, which added another layer to the motorcycle’s remarkable story.
The bike belonged to Dick Sutton, a Norwich motor mechanic whose passion for motorcycles is well documented through the surviving photographs. Mike’s research also traced the bike’s later ownership. It is believed that after Dick Sutton’s health deteriorated during the post-war years, the Rex was sold to Henry Spurrell, a retired policeman from nearby Wacton. Following Henry’s death in 1960, the motorcycle was registered in the name of his son, William Henry Spurrell, who retained it until his own death in 1984.
From there, the trail falls silent for several decades before the machine eventually resurfaced from an estate in 2020, leading to its sale through H&H Classics three years later, where John became its latest custodian.
That continuous chain of ownership, together with period photographs showing the motorcycle in use, is something very few pioneer motorcycles can boast. It transforms AH 2192 from being simply a fantastic machine into one with a genuine social history that connects generations of enthusiasts.
Watching the Rex-JAP being used at Still Kicking felt entirely appropriate. This wasn’t a polished exhibit hidden away behind barriers; it was exactly where it belonged, ridden and appreciated among fellow enthusiasts. The deep, measured beat of the huge side-valve JAP engine echoed around the airfield much as it would have done over a century before around the countryside of Norwich.
Machines like AH 2192 only survive because someone is prepared to invest the time, patience and skill needed to preserve them. Thanks to John’s dedication, this remarkable 1912 Rex-JAP has been given a new lease of life. Better still, it is once again doing exactly what its makers intended, thundering down the road under its own power. And that is exactly what the event was all about.
Thank you to Mike Merrick at the Forncett History Group and Debbie Sutton for the historic photos of this motorcycle. If interested, visit their website here.
an article by The Girder Club
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