AJS V4 unvieling party

[AdminGuy]

Last Sat I attended a backyard garden party for the showing of a local fellas AJS V4. YES! A V4. This engine painstakenly recast and machined from 2 photos. One being from the 1935 motorcyclist magazine. I think that was the mag. The casting boards were displayed around the yard for inspection. Just incredible and very inspireing. This project was roughly completed in 2yrs. What is Crocker doing? Oh well....

A photo of a V4 (ahhh.. with blower) can be seen on the front page of the Sammy Miller museum web site. Visualize the bike without the blower and rad.
With dual mags, 4 pipes. She just screams with power to spare. 500cc displacement. A very interesting sounding engine. I think only two of these bikes exist. His would be the third. Bragging rights are well earned.
So it was a very neat little backyard party. I look forward to riding with him.

A V-twin is really boring in comparison to a V4. It really stirs your imagination. Well, it really turned my crank! Anyone interested in V4s?

[HarleyCreation]

The project that Harley-D had going for a time around 1928-29 called for an 80-ci chain-drive FOUR and a 90-ci SHAFT-drive FOUR for a 1930 model year intro.

That much I know as FACT from official H-D records.

In his excellent book, "Inside H-D" author Jerry Hatfield argued that they were V-4 engines.

If V-4 is correct and even one example had been prototyped and survived (stranger things have happened), the 90-inch SHAFT job would be the ultimate Harley-Davidson collectable IMHO bar none (except for the now-vanished 1904 prototype Meyer-Sparough-Neg599 bike which did exist and is still out there).

[Smarty]

The AJS V4 in the Sammy Miller collection is the same un-blown V4 that AJS used/raced in the mid 30's and "developed" by bolting on a blower and water cooling to try and compete with the pre-war blown BMW's, DKW's and the threat (un-realised at the time) of the supercharged Velocette "Roarer".