- AJS is also an abbreviation for the American Journal of Sociology. Established in 1895, the American Journal of Sociology (AJS is the oldest scholarly journal of Sociology in the United States.
AJS was the name used for cars and motorcycles made by the Wolverhampton, England company A. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland J. Stevens & Co. Ltd, from 1909 to 1931, by then holding 117 motorcycle world records, and after the firm was sold the name continued to be used by Matchless, Associated Motorcycles and Norton-Villiers on four-stroke motorcycles till 1969, and since the names resale in 1974, on light weight, two stroke scramblers and today on small capacity roadsters and cruisers. Matchless is one of the oldest Marques of British Motorcycles with the first models manufactured at the start of the 20th century Associated Motor Cycles (AMC was a British Motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and Norton-Villiers was a British motorcycle manufacturer formed in the 1960s following the collapse of Associated Motorcycles.
Contents |
History
Motorcycles
Joe Stevens, father of Harry, George, Jack, and Joe Stevens, first built an internal combustion engine in 1897, although his engines did not enter production until after 1900. His first engines, of 125 cc, were sold as proprietary engines to other manufacturers. In 1905 the Stevens built a JAP V-twin engined motorcycle, with leading-link front forks and a swinging fork at the rear. This was done at the father's Stevens Screw Company, where the family were all employed. [1]
A new company, A J Stevens & Co (AJS), was founded in 1909 to manufacture motorcycles and the first model appeared in 1911, a two-speed 292 cc side-valve. One was entered by AJS in the 1911 Isle of Man TT races and A J Stevens came 15th in the Junior TT. The 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races took place for the first time over the " Snaefell Mountain Course "
Albert John Stevens had his name on the company, but it was really a family company, with, in 1926 for example, Harry Stevens as Engineer, George Stevens as Chief Salesman, Joe Stevens junior as Production Engineer and Albert John ("Jack") Stevens in charge of the design office. [2]
By 1914 the AJS motorcycle had grown to 350 cc, with four-speed gears and chain final drive. AJS won first, second, third, fourth and sixth place in the Junior 1914 Isle of Man TT race that year. The 1914 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last held before the outbreak of the First World War. Internal expanding brakes and chain primary drive were introduced in 1920. AJS went on to win the Junior again in 1920, 1921 and 1922, and won the 1921 500 cc Senior TT on 350 cc OHV machines. An 800 cc V-twin was also produced.
On 3 November 1916 the Ministry of Munitions prohibited the production of non-military motorcycles, but in early 1917 the Ministry received an order from Russia for military vehicles, and AJS was given a contract to produce part of the order. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending This kept AJS busy until Ministry of Munitions restrictions were lifted in January 1919. [2]
In 1920 Cyril Williams won the first post war Isle of Man Junior TT on an AJS. AJS took the first four places in the 1921 Isle of Man TT, and Howard R Davies won the Senior on a 350 cc AJS. The 1921 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Junior 350cc race took place on Tuesday 14th and the Senior 500cc was on Thursday 16th This was the first time a 350 had won the 500 cc Senior TT race. [3] In 1922 Manxman Tom Sheard won the Junior on an AJS, with G Grinton, also on an AJS, taking second.
In 1928, AJS introduced two new chain driven overhead camshaft racing models, the 349 cc K7 and the 498 cc K10. In 1929 there were again two machines with an overhead cam, this time the 349 cc M7 and the 498 cc M10. Wal Handley came second in the 1929 Junior TT for AJS. Motorcycle racing OK-Supreme He was the motorcycle messenger for the OK-Supreme factory and in 1922 he rode an OK-Supreme in the first Lightweight TT The following year Jimmy Guthrie won the 1930 Lightweight TT on a 250 cc AJS. Biography During the 1937 Isle of Man TT Races he won the Junior TT but retired on lap 5 of the 1937 Senior TT race at The Cutting on the [2]
In 1931 the AJS S3 was released, a 496 cc transverse V-twin tourer with shaft primary drive[4] and alloy cylinder heads. [5] It had been expensive to develop and was slow to sell. Even though they held 117 world records, the AJS company was now in financial trouble.
Automobiles, Omnibuses, and Coaches
Although best known for their motorcycles the company made a few experimental cars with Meadows engines in 1923 but decided not to go into full production. Henry Meadows of Wolverhampton, England were major suppliers of engines and transmissions, to the smaller companies in the British motor industry
AJS had manufactured car bodies for Clyno, but in 1929 Clyno went under. [2] AJS returned to car making in 1929 with the Nine powered by a 1018 cc side valve Coventry-Climax engine producing 24 bhp and driving through a three speed gearbox. A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter (symbol cm3 —the abbreviation cc, though widely used is deprecated is a commonly used unit of Volume Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump and speciality Engine manufacturer The cars were quite expensive at £210 for the two seater and £320 for the fabric bodied saloon. About 3,300 were made.
The company also started making buses and coaches. The first model was the Pilot with a Meadows engine. Henry Meadows of Wolverhampton, England were major suppliers of engines and transmissions, to the smaller companies in the British motor industry This was followed by the Commodore with a Coventry Climax L6 engine and finally by the Admiral. Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump and speciality Engine manufacturer Just over 200 buses were built. [2]
In 1931 A. J. Stevens & Co went bankrupt. The motorcycle assets were bought by the Collier brothers London company Matchless and the car manufacturer Crossley Motors. Matchless is one of the oldest Marques of British Motorcycles with the first models manufactured at the start of the 20th century Crossley Motors, based in Manchester, England produced approximately 19000 high quality cars from 1904 until 1938 5500 buses from 1926 until 1958 and 21000 goods and Crossley incorporated some improvements such as a four speed gearbox and using parts acquired from AJS built about 300 cars between December 1931 and May 1932. Assembly took place in the Stockport factory used by Willys Overland Crossley. Stockport ( is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground on the River Mersey at the influx of the rivers Goyt Willys Overland Crossley was a company jointly owned by Crossley Motors and Willys-Overland. Motorcycle production moved to Plumstead.
A 1½-litre model was planned, but failed to materialize except to appear on the Willys-Overland-Crossley stand at the 1932 London Motor Show. The British International Motor Show is an Automobile show held biennially in the United Kingdom.
In 1938 AJS became part of a group called Associated Motorcycles, formed by the Colliers as a management company for its various interests. Associated Motor Cycles (AMC was a British Motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and After this Matchless and AJS shared models using different badging. Matchless is one of the oldest Marques of British Motorcycles with the first models manufactured at the start of the 20th century
Stevens Motorcycles
The Stevens brothers tried again and started a new company as Stevens Brothers (Wolverhampton) Ltd to make 3 wheel delivery vans. (They could not call them AJS, as that name belonged to the Colliers. ) These used a 588 cc single cylinder engine driving the rear wheels through a 3 speed gearbox and chain drive. The van could carry 5 cwt. Hundred weight or hundredweight is a Unit of measurement for Mass in U It was improved in 1935 with shaft drive and uprated to 8 cwt. The last ones were made in 1936. In 1934 they also produced a new range of motor cycles under the Stevens name. These were made until 1938 after which the company continued until 1956 as a general engineering business .
AJS Racing under AMC
Under AMC the AJS badge may have been put on the "bread and butter" Matchless motorcycles, but the Colliers were mindful of the AJS racing heritage, and used the name on some innovative racing machinery. These racing bikes kept the AJS name alive.
In 1935, at the Olympia Show, an air cooled SOHC AJS 50° V4 was shown, a fully equipped road going version, which did not make it into production. In 1936 Harold Daniell rode a supercharged race version in the Isle of Man Senior TT, but despite its high top speed, it lacked acceleration. [6]
In 1939 a water-cooled and supercharged version of the 495 cc AJS V4 was built to compete against the supercharged BMWs then dominating racing. The AJS V4 (1935 – 1939 started out as a prototype air cooled V4 road bike but became a water cooled and supercharged racing bike In 1939 the dry sump V4 was the first bike to lap the Ulster Grand Prix course at over 100 mph (160 km/h). It weighed 405 lb (184 kg). and its top speed was 135 mph (217 km/h). Then World War II intervened. [7]
At the end of the 40s and start of the 50s, the AJS Porcupine, a 500 cc forward facing parallel twin, and the AJS 7R (32 bhp, 350 cc OHC single) were being raced alongside their AMC stablemates the Matchless G50 (effectively a 500 cc 7R) and by 1951, the Matchless G45 (a 500 cc vertical twin). The AJS 500 cc Porcupine was designed to be supercharged as were a number of pre-war racing bikes and was announced in 1945 but the FICM banned supercharging in 1946 The AJS 7R was a 350 cc racing Motorcycle built from 1948 to 1963 by Associated Motor Cycles, also known as the ‘Boy Racer’ first won victories for [8] The AJS Porcupine had been designed for supercharging, before the rules changed banning supercharged racing motorcycles, but even so, Les Graham won the 1949 World Championship on an unsupercharged AJS E90 500 cc Porcupine. A supercharger is an air compressor used for Forced induction of an Internal combustion engine. Robert Leslie (Les Graham ( September 14, 1911 - June 12, 1953) was a British Motorcycle road racer who The 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the inaugural World Championship for motorcycle racing with all the events held in Europe [9]
In 1951 AJS development engineer Ike Hatch developed a 75. 5 mm bore x 78 mm stroke, three valve head version of the 7R making 36 bhp (27 kW). It was called the AJS 7R3, and was Ike's response to the Italian multi-cylinder racers. They did well enough in their first year, not as well the second. For 1954 Jack Williams, the works team manager, developed the bike further, lowering the engine in the frame, and making some tuning changes that gave 40 bhp (30 kW) @ 7800 rpm. It immediately won the first two rounds of the World Championship and took first at the Isle of Man TT. These were factory specials, but one has survived, and a second has been reconstructed from spares. [10]
AMC withdrew from the world of works and one-off road racing at the end of the 1954, with the death of Ike Hatch, and in the face of fierce competition from the other European bikes. After this AJS made a production version of the standard two valve AJS 7R, for privateers. In 1954 Norton was also moved to the Plumstead works.
With the G15 line, AMC had built on the merits of the G12 but there were numerous changes to frame, forks, swinging arm, primary chaincase, transmission, cycle parts and lubrication system. The P11 was the last line of bikes with bonds to AMC. It used a modified G85CS frame but there were stronger forks, completely new cycle parts (making some was rather costly), altered lubrication and modified primary chaincases, to mention a few.
The G15 series was offered as 3 brands: Matchless G15 comprising G15Mk2, G15CS and G15CSR; AJS Model 33 comprising M33Mk2, M33CS and M33CSR; and last not least Norton N15CS (no Norton-branded roadster made as it would compete against the Atlas). The G15 series was produced from 1963 to 1969. They were initially for export only, but by 1965 these models were available in UK and Europe too.
Associated Motorcycles and the AJS name eventually ended up with Norton-Villiers in 1966. Norton-Villiers was a British motorcycle manufacturer formed in the 1960s following the collapse of Associated Motorcycles. In late 1968 the Plumstead works at Burrage Grove, where engines from the Wolverhampton plant and frames from the Manchester plant were assembled into complete machines, were presented with a Greater London Council compulsory purchase order. This article is about the district in London For other places names Plumstead see Plumstead (disambiguation Plumstead is a place and electoral The Greater London Council (GLC was the top-tier Local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986 The Plumstead works closed in July 1969. It is believed that production of the G15 series was halted late in 1968 (model year '69) with unsold samples on offer through 1969. The AJS Model 33 was the last AJS badged four-stroke produced.
A Government subsidy allowed assembly to move to a factory at North Way, Andover, with an aircraft hangar on nearby Thruxton Airfield housing the Test Department and Moto-X competition department. Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is situated on the River Anton some 18 Manufacturing was concentrated at Wolverhampton.
AJS, Villiers and Cotton were linked through competition development ties. Development was carried out by an enthusiastic team which included Fluff Brown and Peter Inchley. Fluff Brown was a competent scrambles rider and enthusiast where Peter Inchley favoured road racing. Peter developed and successfully raced the prototype AJS 250 6 speed Starmaker engine road racer. Unfortunately, the road racer never made it to production.
The AJS name was used for the off-road two-stroke scramblers, produced by Norton Villiers. AJS scramblers were produced from 1968 until 1974 in 250, 370 and 410 guises. The early 250 was designated the Y4. In 1969 The 370 (Y5) was added and the name changed to Stormer. The 410 followed in 1972. Famous British riders included Malcolm Davis, Andy Roberton, Vic Eastwood and Roger Harvey. Fluff Brown (formerly of Cotton (motorcycle)s) was the competition manager. The Cotton Motorcycle Company, was a British Motorcycle Manufacturer of 11a Bristol Road Gloucester, and was founded by Frank Willoughby Cotton
A little known motorcycle was the 37AT Trials bike which was partially built by Cotton Motorcycles using some AJS parts and Villiers's 37A engine. A pretty bike, of which probably 10 or so have survived.
When Norton Villiers hit financial problems the rights to manufacture AJS motor cycles was purchased by Fluff Brown who moved operations to Goodworth Clatford near Andover, Hampshire during September 1974. Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is situated on the River Anton some 18 Fluff Brown continued to produce AJS Stormer based motorcycles under the FB-AJS name. Later models used Rotax 250 & 410 engines.
AJS Motorcycles Ltd. (Today)
| AJS Motorcycles Ltd | |
|---|---|
.jpg){kind=logo} |
|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1974 (in Goodworth Clatford, Andover) |
| Headquarters |  Andover, Hampshire, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Nick Brown director |
| Industry | Motorcycle |
| Products | Motorcycles |
| Website | www.ajsmotorcycles.co.uk |
AJS Motorcycles Ltd. Wildlife Hampshire has wildlife typical of the island of Great Britain The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Nicholas Hugh "Nick" Brown (born June 13 1952 Hawkhurst, Kent) is a British Labour Party Politician and Member of For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" MotorCycle is the title of a 1993 album by Rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records. In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need MotorCycle is the title of a 1993 album by Rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages is headed by Nick Brown (Eldest son of Fluff Brown). It is now an enthusiastically run family business. Since 2002 AJS have had a range of 124cc to 300cc road bikes in trail, roadster and custom cruiser styles. Their main market is Learner Legal 125's. Bikes are sold through a UK dealer network. Over the years the AJS company produced many fine motorcycle models and has lead the way in technology and motorcycle production. Today AJS continue their ethos with a range of small and medium sized motorcycles which are designed to be eye catching, fun, economical and exceptional good value.
AJS Motorcycles Ltd. also sell Stormer/Villiers Starmaker spares and Classic Competition Accessories. On-Line Shop AJS motorcycles Current Models
See also
- List of AMC motorcycles
- Alan John Saban I
Sources
- ^ Title: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles, Editor: Erwin Tragatsch, Publisher: New Burlington Books, Copyright: 1979 Quarto Publishing, Edition: 1988 Revised, Page 70-71, ISBN 0-906286-07-7
- ^ a b c d e [1] WolverhamptonLocalHistory AJS (Retrieved 28 November 2006)
- ^ IoM tt.com Howard Davies. This is a partial list of motorcycle models produced by the Associated Motor Cycles (AMC from its foundation in 1938 to incorporations as Norton-Villiers-Triumph Retrieved on 2007-01-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign
- ^ [2] ClassicIssues The Classic MotorCycle, December, 1985, Feature List (Retrieved 28 November 2006)
- ^ [3] Motorbyte Uncle Paul and his 1931 AJS S3 (Retrieved 28 November)
- ^ Title: Classic Racer magazine, Issue: 121, Article: Ahead of the Game Pages: 34 - 40 ISSN 1470-4463
- ^ [4] Motorcycle The Sammy Miller Museum(Retrieved 25 October 2006)
- ^ [5] Jampot AMC (Retrieved 25 October 2006)
- ^ [6] Goodwood Revival Meeting, September 2000 (Retrieved 25 October 2006)
- ^ [7] RealClassic AJS 7R3 Racebike Revival (Retrieved 25 October 2006)
External links
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