The World of Autojumbles at your FIngertips

Richard Johns responded to Ernie Warmington’s appeal for photographs of Cornish-registered bikes. It’s a March 1931-registered AJS 350cc Big Port – the first time the factory actually used this model name which the general public had previously adopted because of the large diameter exhaust port. It was found in Helston and was said to have never left Cornwall. It seems to have been last on the road in 1949, and after getting it running, Richard discovered that the drive-side main shaft was turning in the flywheel – probably the reason it was laid up for 60 years! Sold as a ‘tax beater’, it was pared down to weigh under 224lb, taking advantage of the lower tax rate. It was the last real AJS model before the bankruptcy and Collier takeover.