AJS Model 16S
“Some of the wiring was a bit confusing, with the same grey wires used for connecting many things, but the actual wiring job was very well done.”
T WAS ONE OF THOSE SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS. MY mate Johnny had posted a picture online of his latest acquisition, a 1954 BSA M21 with an old Watsonian chair attached. As he already owned several desirable classic motorcycles, I needed to know how he managed to keep coming across them.
He revealed a few closely guarded secrets... and then he mentioned that he had heard of a 1956 Matchless G3 that was for sale, complete with the famed Jampot rear suspension. Now, I had fancied a Heavyweight AMC single for ages, and this seemed right up my street.
Arrangements were made to come and view the bike, which turned out to be not a Matchless G3, but an AJS 16MS (S for sprung), which is pretty much the same thing.
WHAT IS A 16MS?
THE MID-1950S AMC single is, as a collection of parts, as simple a modern motorcycle as it gets. The M16 and the Matchless G3 are to a large extent the same bikes with different badges on them. There are 19in wheels, full width hubs, Teledraulic forks and a smart headlamp nacelle. The 1956 model had an SR1 Lucas magneto with automatic advance retard which makes life easier for the novice and means the bike will run without a battery. The mag is mounted in front of the cylinder block. There is a tall cast iron cylinder with big pushrod tubes and an alloy head.
Behind the cylinder there is a dynamo, driven by a chain from the crankshaft behind the primary drive, and there’s a four-spring clutch. A separate four-speed Burman gearbox transfers the power to the back wheel. The frame is a cradle with a bolted on rear subframe, which holds the famous Jampot shock
