Motorcycles That Matter

SOMETIMES, AS A SPECIAL TREAT, I SEARCH FOR ‘AJS 7R sound’ on YouTube just to hear the 7R’s majestic, visceral purr (I’m from Rochdale – it doesn’t take much). But the 7R has many feline qualities, even beyond its sensational growl: it is deceptively powerful, light, agile and one of the ‘prettiest’ machines of the postwar period.

It’s also thanks to the 7R that we have the term ‘boy racer’, for this dainty little beast – which first rolled out of the factory in 1948 – was designed and built for the amateur racer. It was one of the most successful over-the-counter racers of all time. And as such, it is a marvel of economy, on every level. As the Vintage Motorcycle Club’s marque specialist Ray Carter said: “There is nothing on an Ajay that isn’t necessary. There