Description
H&H Classic Auction @ National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
30th Oct, 2024 13:00
c1961 AJS 7R
Authentically presented 7R 'Boy Racer'
Estimate
£18, 000 - £22, 000
Registration No: Unregistered
Frame No: 1659
MOT: Exempt
A beautiful example of the legendary 7R
Authentically restored back to factory condition
Supplied with manuals and paperwork file
A. J. Stevens & Co Ltd began producing motorcycles in 1897 and soon developed their own engines sold under the more recognisable AJS brand name. Success in racing soon followed with Eric William's win in the 1914 TT with the firm also taking second, third, fourth and sixth places, beginning a long and proud history of sporting achievement. An amalgamation with Matchless in 1931 formed Associated Motor Cycles which continued until the group's closure in the mid-1960s. The 7R was a single cylinder 350 cc racing motorcycle built from 1948 to 1963 that became commonly known as the ‘Boy Racer’. Together with its bigger brother, the Matchless G50, it became the mainstay of racing throughout the 1950s and 1960s winning many races for both the works team and privateers alike becoming one of the most successful over the counter racing motorcycles of all time.
This beautiful 7R has been part of the Brian Ditchfield collection, a retired engineer and lifelong motorcycle enthusiast who has in the past run a very successful Sidecar GP team, finishing in the top 6 in the 2003 World Championship. Bought by Brian in 2016 from a private collection in Sweden and ridden by him occasionally in classic parades, it has been restored to a very high standard keeping it as close to the original specification as possible, winning a VMCC concourse event in the past. Not much is known of its history but its a head steady model so thought to be circa 1961 and it comes supplied with an extensive paperwork file of technical information and set up instructions.
