Tag: British

1969 Royal Enfield Interceptor 750

I have a soft spot for Royal Enfields. I own a new 650 Interceptor and a 2006 Electra. These bikes aren’t the most exciting, but they are really, really nice, have a great heritage and are very well-built.

The original Interceptor was really an awesome bike. It was originally a 700 that was only sold in Canada and the US. Royal Enfield introduced their all new 736 cc twin cylinder engine in 1962 on the 750 Interceptor. The new engine was similar to the 692 cc engine; but there was hardly any part that was not modified or improved. The engine cases were beefed up to withstand the increased torque.

What sets this engine apart from other contemporary British twins is that the crankshaft was dynamically balanced from the factory which made these bikes one of the smoothest British twin engines ever. The Series 1 bikes had an automatic advance magneto, coil ignition and a new seat. There was a rare single carburetor model as well, but most were twin carb.

The Series II was introduced for 1969. It included a wet sump engine to improve oil flow to the crankshaft. The CB points were moved to the end of exhaust camshaft and the timing cover was redesigned accordingly. This engine was used on the Interceptor until the end of production in 1970.

This Interceptor is on ebay, and priced about double what it should be, since the close up pictures show flaws in the paint, no insignia and with that minimal attention to detail and high price, I personally wonder what else mechanically might be found.

1969 Interceptor 2 on eBay.

I checked out the NADA book, and pricing for this model tops out just under $12,000 US for a show-ready model (I’m being generous), with “nice” models running around 6k. This model might be “nice” if it can be looked at and run. It seems to have much more chrome than what came from the factory. But when you look close up at that tank:

1969 Royal Enfield Tank — Close up on dents, scratched chrome and weak paint.

You can easily see the scratches in the chrome, dent in front of the filler cap and really bad copper paint. I’ve done much better in my garage. Also, where are the logos? look at the filler cap? When asking 2K over what a concours bike would cost, it should look like it was built by Vulcan.

I think this needs some work.

Find it here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Royal-Enfield-750-Interceptor-II/333841938315?hash=item4dba87b78b:g:yI8AAOSwv8ZfdeZO

1956 AJS 16MS

“Restored a number of years back, but still looks great. Recently gone through. Runs Great.”

A Very nice 350cc Ride in the Inland Empire (near Temecula, CA)

1956 AJS near Temecula, CA

Seller writes: “Rare 1956 AJS 16MS 350cc. Motorcycle is in incredible condition and sat many years in a private collection. Restored a number of years back, but still looks great. Recently gone through. Runs Great. Clean Title. Come take a look. Would trade for scrambler (triumph, Ducati) Bought through eBay in 2011 for $7000. Big price drop, so no low balls. Only selling to get a small trailer or offload style motorcycle.”

Find it on Craigslist here: https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/mcy/d/murrieta-rare-1956-ajs-16ms/7250377858.html.

This really does look like a clean restoration. I spotted a few nits, but really not that much. These are great riding bikes that will happily zip along at 60 mph, and they handle very sweetly.

The “S” stands for “Springer”.

The rigid framed AJS Model 16M 350 cc single was developed in 1945 from the military Matchless G3/L World War II motorcycle. Well proven in war service, the 350 cc single remained in production selling large numbers to the civilian market well into the 1960s. Simple and practical, the Model 16 needed minimal maintenance and was very economical. The company also produced an almost identical motorcycle under the Matchless name as the Matchless G3L. The only difference between the two was that the Matchless carried a magneto at the rear of the cylinder barrel, whereas the AJS magneto was at the front.

In 1953, the Model 16M was modernized with a dual seat replacing the saddle and rear pillion seat. In 1956 the Burman gearbox was replaced with a new four speed unit of AMC’s own design and in 1957 further improvements included replacement of the outdated generator with a crankshaft mounted Lucas alternator. The leaky pressed-steel primary drive cover was replaced with an alloy casing.