It is hard to believe in this day and age that Britian was once capable of producing such quality products as this motorcycle.

You and Mr Stevens should be rightly proud of this beautiful piece of British engineering. Fantastic.

Outstanding! Nothing sweeter than a big thumper.

One of my favorites, along with the Matchless Typhoon. Great color on that AJ . It sounds great. Thanks.

Now that's a pillon(ow) seat! I'm not surprised at the excellent start. If the 441 special that a customer brought into the shop in the trunk of his car would start, this lovingly built AJ will have no trouble!

Brought back a lot of memories. I worked as a motorcycle mechanic in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1966 when I was going through Aviation Mechanic school at Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa. Our shop dealt in Nortons, Motoguzzis, Bultacos and Ducatis. A 1954 AJS 500 single came in as a trade in and it was offered to me by the shop owner in trade for a Suzuki 250 Scrambler I was riding at the time. I thought it would be a good upgrade in ccs, so took the deal. I remember having to use the compression release on that bike due to very high compression, and if it kicked back it would literally lift you up or hurt your leg! The headlight was a joke as was the electrical system. No battery and it all ran off the magneto. Rev it up and the light brightened, and at low rpm it was too dim. I got my first ticket on that bike because I didn't have any rear view mirrors! But it was a fun bike to ride and the sound of the motor was like music!l I wish I had that bike now.....

Gold ... Sweet ..Danny Australia ...Gold

Love these old thumpers

Beautiful machine Mike , I've had 2 similar in style 16MS 350cc ' 55 models and they in my opinion , one of the finest machines ever to leave the British motorcycle industry and utterly reliable and when set up well could be almost started by hand !.If you wanted to demonstrate just how beautiful and comfortable a British bike can be - this is it !.

What a nice looking bike! and it really suites you! 👍🏍🏍👍

your workshop is immaculate!!

Oh that is such a sweet bike! Make the owner an offer he can't refuse!

What a treat to hear that sound again! Mine was always an easy starter and I just love magnetos.So easy to work on and time.If I remember the timing was 1/2 inch BTDC with the counterweights wedged out for full advance.I used an old spoke in the plug hole as a guide to piston travel.Mine caught fire once because I tickled it too much and it backfired out the carb and whoosh.Good thing to have an extinguisher on hand! Brought back so many memories from the early 80's in N.Z.

Amazing bike! having a 16MS 1953, good to see some other AJS rolling!

Magnificent

What a beautiful old AJS and what a great starter.

Nice! I really liked that first kick start! Heading to Hillsboro this week for a visit to my daughter and son up your way. May give you a shout.

Nice one Mike, love the comment bills mothers any one would think you came from England may be even suffolk 🤔😅

Wonderful bike. Theses big singles, they are not the most powerful bikes, they are not the fastest but they are so nice to ride. Very good job, Mike. Congratulations.

I was pretty surprised at that first kick startup too. That's rare on any machine from that era as I think we all know too well. Such a beautiful machine!

Took me way back down memory lane watching that video. My first bike was a 1949 Matcless G80 (very similar to that lovely AJS) I remember the magneto drive sprocket came loose on the tapered shaft once and my brother (who was somewhat braver than I,) got the ignition timing somewhere near the mark by holding his thumb on the spark plug hole while holding the spark plug lead in his hand while I kicked the motor over. We kept rotating the sprocket on the shaft until he got a shock at about the same time as the compression blew his thumb off the hole! Love your videos!!!😀

What a beautiful machine Mike. I laughed out loud at the ‘looking dark over Bill’s Mother’s’ comment - I haven’t heard that here in England for a long time, and I bet your Oregon friends just shake their heads - ‘what’s he on about?!’, hahaha! I’ve off now to watch all the earlier AJS videos. Cheers!

What a beautiful machine no wonder you fell in love with it😊 First time kick fantastic😊 I bought the 18s about 4 years ago but I struggled with the seat height The stands on these are not good not sure how good yours is but they need a bit of metal welding on the bottom pad .. love yours gorgeous 😊😊😊 Phil green Uk 🇬🇧

What a handsome machine! She's eager, too! What an easy starter. I loved the big smile on your face when she fired up first kick! Well done! Too bad you have to relinquish it to its owner ;-)

Well Done Mike! Best Wishes from Floral Park, Long Island, New York.

First kick? :) Wow. Great job Mike!

Hey-hey! First prod Mike! Well done! That's a beautifully proportioned bike. A classic!

Great stuff Mike. Thanks for sharing.

You've done a beautiful job bringing this AJS back to life!

Wonderfull to watch and listen to! You, for good reasons, look like a very happy man. Gordeus bike, I realy miss mine.. ;o)

That was very cool!

just catching up with your videos Mike been a bit busy of late, that's a cracking little bike and a nice restoration, not overdone. God to see you haven't lost some English sayings " a bit dark over bills mothers " 😄

Congratulations Mike, on the rebuild and the one kick startup. Great looking and sounding bike. I can understand how you could fall in love with that bike. Cheers, Dan. 👍🇨🇦

The low pressure, low volume plunger oil pump can make it seem like an age before the return flow appears at the oil tank, particularly if the bike has been sat for a while: 30 seconds is not unusual. If everything has been put back correctly and there is oil on the bits that move (from the last run) then worry not, flow will appear... Eventually. Lovely bike and video, thanks. (Matchless G3L lifelong owner.)

Great starter Mike 👌 sounds great.

Great stuff Mike, this has been an enjoyable little 'get this one going again'. These old bikes were the go to work every day or home for the weekend for so many back in the day. I'm sure Vince is going to be well pleased with the result & hope to see him on it on a club meet/run real soon .. 👍 .. 🏍 atvb t ..

So nice and so well restored! Waiting for a little trip with on board cam now! Edit: oh, I saw in the comment there was one on the go, will look after that!

Great work Mike ,what a stunning bike!

Good as new

Can't say I like this bike but you sure have it tuned nicely. It starts wonderfully. I'm just not a fan of singles so it isn't the bike , it's me.

Suggestion that I saw on a dirt bike video for backing a bike down a ramp: Put the bike in 1st then use the clutch as a brake along with the front brake to provide 2 wheel braking. Works for me when I back my bike off the traylor. (Yes I know it's spelled wrong but that's how I do it!) Ronn

Beautiful bike, and it seems you have it running flawlessly. Well done!

My brother had one in 1966 and it was a hard start. Beautiful machine.

Beautiful old bike and a dream to start unlike the BSA B33 500 single I used to own. The bike wanted to kill me and regularly fired my right leg skywards trying to bring the beast to life!

Bravo Mike...a job well done!

That was a very fine "check for spark", That turn over after stopping the fuel spill, then first kick, it sounds beautiful, those old single sound so good. Something about that big cylinder, piston sweeping the full of it. My old Ducati 250 was sort of like that. That bike is something special, just sounds so great. You really look at home on this bike, that smile says it all.

Success! I love it when they leap to life after work.

Nice!

Great job Mike, a joy to watch an expert at work and wow what a gorgeous bike. It's got me looking on 'Classic Motors' for one, cheers mate.

Hey,Mike,another beautiful project, with a “one-kick-only”-start,, great job! Manfred

Wow that was cool

Thank you Mike. And happy Fathers Day my friend. 🌞🏍

those bikes are very confortable to ride, and the gear box is the best!! i have a 57 ajs 350 and it is lovely... just a great simple bike.

TOP !

Great result Mike! All your efforts paid off.

Nice.

She sounds sooo sweet 👍

Sounds great!

Hi Mike brilliant job again, beautiful looking bike..😊👍

What a beautiful bike to look at 👍

Hola tenga un hermoso saludo desde Cuba tengo una acá en mi país y no tengo piezas de repuesto para seguir montando hermosa máquina

Congrats Mike ! Lovely bike. 👍

What a lovely bike, well done! My 51 G80S is a first cousin, but much louder in trials trim.

Bravo mike!!!

Are you very happy man or what 😃 Nice sounding bike and what a looker, bet it won’t go home 😂 Have a relaxing week Mike 🍻👍🏻

Will it start at the first kick ? Yes, of course ! 😉👍👍

Un trabajo maravilloso saludos desde malaga españa

Lovely bike, well done Mike but no copper on the plug please. 👍🇬🇧

Beautiful AJS but, I can hear, piston slap! Or is the timing on full advance? Hopefully once warm the noise will stop? If not: rebore + piston! Also I love those jam pots, very comfy, I had a 600cc twin years ago which had the same setup. Without a doubt it was the most comfortable bike I have owned. Lovely.

👍👍👍👍👍🏍️☺️🌞

No, not jealous, not one bit.

Beautiful bike ,first kick awesome! will she be taking up residency? 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Hi Mike it's become a ritual watching your vids at sunday breaky. What a great bike! Not sure it's a good idea to kill the engine using the valve decompressor though, it'll knacker the lever in the head. Keep up the content!

Apart from those silly, fat in the middle NVT 70's grips and l think spark plug manufacturers now advise against anti seize on the threads, it looks and sounds great and has the correct pitch AMC transmission whine!

It didn't take long to crack the throttle a bit sportingly !!

Nice bike I have 1955 Matchless G3LS virtually same bike but 350cc ,like the look of the earlier bike with separate tool boxes and earlier frame . Chrome tank looks good was it on bike or have you added it ? mine is just painted

😜👍🏍

The sprung swingarm AJS and Matchless singles from around 1950 onwards 'felt' very 'stable' bikes to ride, very 'safe' to the beginner. The BSA and Triumph full size machines did not feel like this to me. They 'felt' rather short and high, narrow, and 'wobbly-floaty' handling bikes. Sorry. That was my honest observation of them, from firsthand riding experience of them all. The Norton Featherbed full size bikes however DID feel good to ride. Surprisingly (to me) the installation of the pre-unit 6T Triumph engine into the Featherbed frame was a 'perfect' combination of riding 'balance'.. the Thunderbird engine sat a tad further back in the frame and perhaps that made for a more stable centre of gravity. Certainly the 6T engine, though a tad less powerful at the top end (despite Bonneville cams and twin carburetion) was a sheer delight to start, and was a smoother, more torquey engine, that gave less trouble and the 'vibration' that came from the original Norton 750 Atlas engine that had been in the bike (and that had 'shaken' itself to pieces in just two years). Even the 650SS version of that engine had a harshness to it that there was none of in the Triumph equivalent engine. Mr Ed Turner had designed a superb engine, whether the 500 Speedtwin or the 650 Thunderbird, they were just delightful engines. One always noticed with the Norton parallel twins there was a proclivity to blow burnt oil residue from the timing side (righthand) of the engine due to high pressure oil being feed straight from the adjacent oil pump right up under the piston. Perhaps a limiter here would have evened out that excessive oil feed to that part of the engine. These for what they are worth were my observations as a young first timer rider of all these machine types back in the heyday prior to the first of the Japanese big bikes appearing on the scene. One went then straight to the Kawasaki H1A 500 triple and received the fright of one's life . . !

You keeping that one Mike?🤔

G'day, Mike. Where are you from originally? The only time I've heard the 'Bill's mother's' saying is by people from the Midlands. I'm an ex-pat Yorkie living in Australia.

The legengdari motor old