Super sporty sceptre
When I first clapped eyes on the AJS Sceptre Sports perched proudly upon Sandy Bloy’s bench, I fell on my knees and begged my friend for a ride. On catching his charitable grin I risked pushing Sandy a little bit further. ‘How about a road test for our revered magazine?’, I teased. The jolly good fellow and RC member patiently nodded, not at all fazed by my tomfoolery. He knows I’m an excitable chap – especially when confronted by an unusual and rare motorcycle. Fortunately we share a common love of post-war classics, and there are far too many in Sandy’s emporium that I would like to ride home.
Sandy Bloy needs no introduction to readers, being the proud owner of two Norton twins already immortalised in RC ink. I stumbled across his short-stroke Sceptre while writing up his red Dommi feature, and I was in confident mood that he would consent to another outing.
For me it would to be a déjà vu experience, for I had owned an AJS Sceptre M16S in the early 1980s. A decade earlier I also had a ’62 Mercury G3, but I only ran the Matchless for one summer before I became bored with its modest performance. Being young and impulsive, I swapped it for a broken Ariel VH, which was delivered in a van load of crumbling tea chests that didn’t auger well for their contents. Needless to say I never got the Ariel running, and ended up yearning for my G3.
The Sceptre I bought for a song, restored it at great pain and cost, and then sold it for a sonnet. I should have realised that no self-respecting biker would be seen on one, especially when the 1980s spawned the superbike era. Collectively, we became obsessed with Jotas, Le Mans and Z1s, and sadly British motorcycles were boring old hat.
Moving on... How did Sandy acquire this rare AJS Model 16 Sports?
‘The bike turned up through the AJS &
