Description
1953 AJS 348cc Model 16MC Trials
Registration: TNU 520?
Frame No: 3829C?
Engine No: 53/ 16M 1402C
A truly exceptional example of the AJS Model 16MC Trials, recently recommissioned with incredible attention to detail and presented in fantastic condition for a 73-year-old competition motorcycle.
Importantly, this is the 16MC the dedicated competition model and should not be confused with the standard road-going 16M. The "C" denotes the competition specification, making the 16MC a considerably more specialised and desirable machine.
What really sets this bike apart is its remarkable history. With just two previous owners, it has spent virtually its entire life in long-term ownership:
1st owner - approximately 30 years?
2nd owner - approximately 42 years
It's incredibly unusual to find a motorcycle of this age that has passed through so few hands.
This matching-numbers example, retaining its frame, engine and registration identity, was restored in 1980 by a VMCC member. Following his death, the AJS passed to its next long-term owner in July 1983.
It was subsequently laid up for many years before being brought back to life earlier this year. The bike has now been carefully recommissioned and brought back up to standard with superb attention to detail.
It is offered with its V5 document together with an old-style continuation logbook dating from 1955, adding further provenance to an already fascinating machine.
A Little History
The AJS Model 16MC comes from one of the great periods of British trials competition.
Using machines developed from the wartime Matchless G3 military motorcycle, Associated Motor Cycles (AMC)became a dominant force in British trials in the years following the Second World War.
Legendary riders including Hugh Viney and Gordon Jackson competed for AJS, while Artie Ratcliffe and Ted Usherrode for Matchless, achieving considerable success in national trials events.
Development of AMC's competition machines brought revised steering geometry, lightweight components, alloy cylinder barrels and heads, and increasingly specialised competition frames.
Although larger 500cc machines were produced, the works riders generally favoured the lighter and more manageable 350cc machines, as did the majority of private competitors.
Today, finding a genuine AJS 16MC Competition Trials machine with matching identity, documented history and ownership measured in decades is becoming increasingly difficult.
A beautiful and wonderfully historic piece of British trials competition history.
PX welcome - car, bike, watch, etc. considered.
