AJS Model 18 500 Statesman - Specifications & Review

Company History

AJS traces to Wolverhampton, where the Stevens brothers built precise, reliable singles that quickly earned podiums on the Isle of Man and in British trials. The initials honor Albert John Stevens, but the company’s identity is collective: meticulous family engineering that prized strong crankcases, effective lubrication, and stout frames. Between the wars AJS titles and speed records made the black-and-gold tank a byword for competence. Corporate reshuffling saw AJS absorbed into Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) alongside Matchless; engineering cross-pollinated, and racing continued with the exquisite 7R ‘Boy Racer’—a jewel of a DOHC 350 that taught generations how a well-sorted single should feel. The Porcupine E90/E95 twin, bristling with cooling fins, became legend for its rarity and world championship pedigree. Post-war commuter machines carried the badge into daily life, but car ownership and global competition squeezed the British industry; production ultimately ceased, with the name later licensed for small-series machines. Historically, AJS stands for the golden mean of British motorcycling: elegant but purposeful design, road manners honed by competition, and a parts culture that kept bikes alive for decades. To ride a tidy AJS today is to experience clear, communicative steering and a mechanical cadence that made British singles beloved across continents.