1928 AJS 350cc Model K6 'Big Port'

• Classic Vintage-era sports roadster
• Restored by Robin James Engineering 2007-2009
• Present ownership since 2017

After victory in the 1920 Isle of Man Junior TT, AJS's new overhead-valve 350 racer scored a memorable double the following year, Tom Sheard winning the Junior race and Howard Davies the Senior, the first time such a feat had been achieved on a '350'. Although it retained the 74x81mm bore and stroke dimensions of the 1920 Junior TT-winning prototype, the machine that brought AJS that remarkable Junior/Senior double victory had been extensively re-designed in the light of experience gained from racing, featuring a new cylinder head with reduced valve angle; a conventional three-speed gearbox (the 1920 machine employed a double engine sprocket to achieve six speeds); and a new, lower frame fitted with Druid forks.

The production version made its debut in November 1922, delighting clubmen everywhere with its 'racer on the road' performance. A right-first-time design destined to achieve countless successes in the hands of privateers, the overhead-valve '350' AJS - latterly known as the 'Big Port' - changed only in detail before being superseded by a much revised M6 model for 1929. The latter's engine incorporated a number of improvements including enclosed rocker gear and dry-sump lubrication, while the frame was redesigned to accommodate a saddle tank, and Webb forks replaced the earlier Druids.

Before then, the 1928 K-series had abandoned AJS's traditional method of employing a bridge piece and tie rods to locate the cylinder barrel and head, adopting conventional studs and nuts, while larger cooling fins represented another advance.

Registered to the current owner on 1st June 2017, this wonderful flat-tank 'Big Port' was totally restored between 2006 and 2009, mainly by Robin James Engineering, at a cost of £23,650. All the related invoices and correspondence are on file together with a VMCC dating letter; although the frame and engine do not match, the letter confirms they are both from 1928. The file also contains an HPI check sheet; BM-S photocopied Maintenance and Instruction Manual; BM-S photocopied Sales Catalogue; assorted marque-related literature; and a current V5C Registration Certificate. The AJS last ran two years ago and may therefore require recommissioning to a greater or lesser extent, and is described by our vendor as in terrific condition.
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