18s project finished

[Harold2110]

Greetings all,
This my rebuilding of a 1955 AJS 18s, its not concours and I change a few things around to suit me and I'm happy with the end result.
The big difference is of course the seat, I just couldn't put the standarb block of a seat back on it and so got the upholsterer to put some shape and texture along with the blue piping.

the seats wrong but i prefer the profile.jpg

The engine cases, crank and cylinder and head were rebuilt by Martin Adams in the Adelaide hills, beautiful work.
Cams came from Newman cams in Kent and were ground to his "Fast Road Spec" the bike feels very torquey, but haven't had it out for a decent ride yet .
Parts were supplied by the Club and Steve at AMC spares, Steve was most helpful and very quick on supply subject of course to Royal mail delivery and covid.
Special thanks goes to John Ward (Pharisee) for his excellent stories about rebuilding Bess,I learned and laughed alot from his epistles, Thanks John
The magneto and Dynamo were rebuilt by Antique Auto electrics in Victoria another fantastic job
The speedo was provided by Russell at Chronomertic instrument services, he was marvelous to deal with and the speedo is the finishing touch to the bike, I reckon its the face of the bike.

engine 5.jpg

Drive side.jpg

speedo by Russell.jpg

beautiful vinyl cut.jpg

[Andy G]

It's a work of art Ian!
I like the personal touches, they work.
Almost too pretty to ride....Almost.

Enjoy

[Pharisee]

That's a beautiful bike, mate. Now go out and enjoy it. I would be interested to know how the Newman cams perform, once you've had a chance to assess them. I changed my '55 M18S slightly by advancing the inlet cam timing one tooth (to the 350cc timing mark) and installing a shorter inlet pushrod rocker from a lightweight model. That did make a noticeable difference but a bit more performance would always be welcome.
John.

[Harold2110]

Pharisee, I've included your 350 timing recommendations in this build but wasnt able to get hold of the shorter rocker arm and so havent done that. As soon as i get registration I'll go for a hack and let you know how she performs. My aim is to be able to cruise at 110 kph
Cheers Harold

[Harold2110]

Andy G,
Thanks for that Andy, they should never be too pretty to ride, i think the 55 is one of the nicer looking bikes next to the later models with the larger oil tank but still have magneto ignition

[Ralph]

That really is rather nice, great job.

[Andy G]

Where did your tank vinyls come from, they look very tidy?

[les ward]

A great restoration. You should share it with the majority of club members who don't read the forum by sending some photos and a few words to the club magazine Jampot at editor@jampot.com

[spookefoote1956]

Gorgeous

[56G80S]

Sweet job. What about those "tank vinyls"?

JohnnyB