Novice restoration Ajay 14 1961

Phil Nadin. · Post by **Phil Nadin.** » Mon May 16, 2005 1:52 pm

Hi, I'm a new member and have just been given a 61/14 Ajay 250, together with a box of bits , the Bruce Main Smith manual, one from Gus Kuhn's and a collection of paper ephemera allegedy relating to the bike together with the original RF60 and VE 60 log books, but no V5.

The bike is "complete" though a good number of parts are non-original. It has the 17" wheels with the full width hubs shod with Avon speedmaster tyres. The front guard is probably japanese judging from the angular section, the tank has been chromed (and showing its age) and has two fuel taps ??, the seat is homemade from plywood and ally angle , the rear guard is s/steel, chain guard is over the top type, not the enclosed variety, rear shocks are Konis. The electrics look fairly standard including elastoplast joints. The speedo is a Smiths with the white faced 8-0-0 ammeter mounted in the headlamp shell with two simple toggle switches one either side. The kickstart lever hangs sadly in the quarter to position and skids around the splines of the shaft whilst the clutch is immovable. An Amal monobloc carb is there, but no air-filter. The exhaust and silencer are one piece and probably original judging from the rust. There's no centre stand just a spindly sidestand with a weak spring. The orinal engine no was 61/9897 accordingly to the log book, this number appearing on the spare set of crankcase halves which came with it together with a spare crankshaft (Condition unknown) whilst the engine fitted shows the no 59 G2/1101.

the BIG question is this:

Is this a viable restoration project or the key to a whole load of grief, pain, misery and expense ?

I've rebuilt a number of bikes in the past (with varying degrees of delight and pure misery) so my intention is to try and get the thing running first before I start ripping it apart and squandering my kids inheritance on an old mans folly.

Any advice on pitfalls, problems, solutions, warnings, do's and don'ts, spares availability, supplier info etc. would be gratefully received.

Many thanks for reading this far.

Cheers

Phil[:o)][:o)][:o)]

Tolly · Post by **Tolly** » Mon May 16, 2005 6:04 pm

Hi Phil, welcome to the forum.

What you need to look at is what can you afford! Bear in mind that this model was not very popular in it's day, although they are a nice little bike to own now, the price is lower than the heavyweights, your's will only be valued at between £700 - £1200 good condition. If you want it original most parts are easy to come by, the problem parts are things like the closed in chain guard.

You need to assess how much it will cost and if you think it's worth it, but remember you will spend more than the bike's value in the end, but it will keep another old bike on the road.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike T

itma · Post by **itma** » Mon May 16, 2005 9:25 pm

As an old hand, I`d advise, if you really like this model to buy a better one and use this for spares.Sounds a horror story,and a money pit. you have to be rational in cases like this, I mean if it was worth any thing, why was it given away? Brutal fact of life is it costs much the same to restore a nondescript machine as a rare one.
Be it heresy to say it on this site, however well you restore it it`ll never be up to much as they where nowt special to begin with, and not the easiest bike to unload either.

chris kelly · Post by **chris kelly** » Fri May 27, 2005 9:58 pm

Hi, Probably be best as advised above to buy a 14/ G2 in better condition. I believe a lot of club members relate adverse accounts of this model incorrectly . When you actually read reviews of this model from the 1960"s the bike consistently had good reviews. It was this model ,ridden by Peter Williams , which won with, " a clear cut class win in the Thruxton 500 mile race ." in 1964 . A more recent article I thought ,fairly commented,"Give a dog a bad name " and ended with " So what went wrong ? Timing ,rumour and attitude. Rumours may have hit sales slightly,but every motorcycle,no matter how accomplished , has its decriers. But ,in the end,potentially larger sales figures were hit by British attitude to the quarter litre class. And by the time the Japanese factories began to make 250s respectable in the the mid Sixties , it was on its last legs." So its about attitude, even today. I like my 250. However, I have spent a lot more money than its current market value . But its a hobby !

Chris

Ian 14 G2 · Post by **Ian 14 G2** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:33 pm

I have just come across this article on the forum and recognised the bike described is the bike I bought on ebay, I have never owned or worked on a bike in my life but decided to have a go and after a lot of reading and long hours in the garage its been a good learning curve for me and have found that doing the job yourself you gain experience you could not gain in any other way.
The bike is not finished yet, I have the bike stored in a friends garge at the minuet as I have no space in my own at the min. I hope to have the correct seat soon and have just purchased a new exhaust system and hopefully should have the bike on the road very soon.

The bike was in a very poor state when I puchased it and hope my first attempt at restoration is acceptable by members standards, Well a least I've saved an old bike if nothing less. I intend to post before after pictures when finished.

bigwol · Post by **bigwol** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:27 pm

Can i suggest you join the club Ian? You can show your efforts off to other members and get advice on any remaining jobs!

Rob Harknett · Post by **Rob Harknett** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:29 pm

CSR lightweight tanks were chromed, all have 2 petrol taps, the L/H side is the reserve tap. Take things as you proceed asking questions along the way. Difficult to go through everything in one go.

Janet · Post by **Janet** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:02 pm

quote: The bike was in a very poor state when I puchased it and hope my first attempt at restoration is acceptable by members standards, If you get a lightweight back on the road it will be acceptable by a lot of members standards purely because they can be difficult. That doesn't mean it will be desirable to all but most people will appreciate what you've managed to achieve. I bet it looks better than any of my bikes.

SPRIDDLER · Post by **SPRIDDLER** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:40 pm

quote: and hope my first attempt at restoration is acceptable by members standards

'Acceptable'!? ...cough... splutter... gasp...choke...wheeze, (wipes coffee from keyboard). Course it will be. You should see our President's latest proud restoration:
http://www.ajs-matchless.com/pic_display.asp?id=2513

Nice, natural girl eh? Beauty is in the eye...fortunately, for most of us

Edited for gibberish - (not that you'd notice).Edited by - SPRIDDLER on 09 Feb 2012 10:23:32 PM

cbranni · Post by **cbranni** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:21 pm

If you want to rebuild it or put the bike back on the road then join the club, there is a vast amount of knowledge and experience on here, as I have found out, makes the task a lot easier and quicker all for around 50p a week..............bargain

PS.............what ever you do dont ask about oil

Colin