AJS Silver Streak
Movin' on the queen's highway, lookin' like a streak of lightnin' Chris Sped ding, Motor Bikin'
IT WAS MY FIRST RIDE OUT SINCE LOCKDOWN TWO months earlier, a round trip of 80 miles or so on my modern, monoshocked, upside-down-forked Husqvarna with the big fat tyres. I was going to see Mike Larcombe's 1938 AJS250 Silver Streak. This is not a shiny all over concours AJS,but it is still rather lovely to look at. The 250 and 350 Silver Streaks are, Mike says, very similar: "It's quite a useful bike and I don't think there's a great deal of difference between the 250 and 350.
"I think that unlike a lot of bikes the 250 was a sleeved down 350, rather than the 350 being a bored out 250.That's one of the reasons it's so nice to ride.
It's quite light, lighter than the average bike from back then, and 50-60mph is no problem at all. Handling is very good. We've got this one running on total loss electrics, just draining the battery, with the magneto providing the sparks. All the electrics are in the hole on the petrol tank."
Introductions over, it was time to take it to the road. The Silver Streak hadn't been started for a year, and it took a few prods to get it running, then it stopped again, started, stopped, coughed a little. I took it off the rear wheel stand and decided to try it while in the saddle, so ifit did start, I could get it nicely warmed up.
This stand worked really well. These rear wheel stands can be unusual to handle for those not used to an older bike, but with something as light as the Silver Streak, it's easy to operate and you aren't left clutching the rear guard in a panic, hoping you've got the procedure right and worrying the lot will tumble one way or the other. You haven't even got to screw it in place, like some Vincents I could name.
Sitting on the AJSI kicked it a few times to no avail and had a feeling the carb needed tickling, so searched for the button. This was as hidden as it could be, sitting on top of a float chamber which is lurking in the darkness under the petrol tank. You can't reach it with your left hand and a triple-jointed finger would be handy as you try to get at it with your right. Still, after a little digit contorting, and four or so pushes, and a couple more prods on the easy to operate kick-starter, it burst into life. Then I stalled it and needed to do the tickling thing again.
This time it was right on the money - we're all a bit grumpy when woken up after a long sleep after all. This Silver Streak has taken part in the 65-mile DorsetVMCC Giants run, performing faultlessly all the while, so once it had warmed up, all was well. It's got a one-up-three-down gearbox, and the gear lever is substantial and requires a good lift off the foot peg to operate. Once the oil had warmed up a bit, there was no real crunch into first, and future changes were as smooth as any modern gearbox. Better than a lot, in fact. There was an easy to find neutral and just a gentle but positive 'snick' as you went up and down. The torque was impressive for a 250. Once you found the right gear for the road, you barely needed to change at all.
You are down low on the sprung saddle and sitting on this lovely old girl, with her rigid rear end and two inches or so of girder travel, was like being in an armchair. It was considerably comfier than my modern Husky. And the AJSfair flew along, with next to no vibration, and a lovely chuff-chuff-chuff coming out of the silencer. Handling was as surefooted as you like, not a wobble or a squeak. There's an impressively tight turning circle and the low height and weight made it handy to paddle about. Burbling along the narrow Devon lanes felt effortless, there were no outrageous rattles, and everything just felt ... Well, you know when you've got on a bike that just feels right? It was like that. It felt like it could go on forever.
This particular Silver Streak of lightning might not be totally original. The all over chrome has gone, the headlight is polished brass, and the mudguards are alloy. The low-slung exhaust isn't standard but could have been specified as an option. The last word on its originality goes to Mike Larcombe: "I do think a few people miss the point of what riding a motorcycle is about. These bikes were for riding. They were used to ride to work, to ride to a weekend race meeting, take part in a race and ride home again, where they'd be just leant against a wall until it was time for work again. If they were lucky, they'd get covered in oily rags.
"Better a bike with the wrong bits on it that runs, than a bike in a shed, waiting for the right bits, that doesn't."
THE SILVER STREAK: A HISTORY
Prewar motorcycles sometimes look a little under finished to modern eyes. They are mostly painted in brown and green and black enamel, and frequently used silver paint instead of expensive chrome plating. But, thank goodness, this was not always the case.
At the end of the 1930s the world was still sluggishly emerging from a decade or so of grinding poverty since the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression. Wars and invasions were breaking out everywhere. The world was a dangerous place, but it was exciting too. There were plenty of opportunities for the young daredevil to get his adrenaline buzz, not least on two wheels.
The motorcycling world had endured a shake out. Several brands had vanished, and others had been absorbed by rivals. AJShad succumbed to the worldwide crash in 1931, and been taken over by the Collier Brothers, who owned Matchless.
In the midst of this, in 1938 someone in Plumstead decided this was the time for something shiny and outrageous. Well, it had worked for Brough Superior... And so was born the AJSSilver Streak. You could get one of these glittering marvels as the 22ss 250, the 26ss 350 or the 18ss 500.The 350 version, the most common, was a seriously sporty mount and cost around £60 in 1938, or about £4,000 today.
As a base, AJSused their standard single cylinder engine, but swapped the twin port head on the standard bikes for a single port head on the Silver Streak and then set to work on making it the best engine they could. It was hand-built from components checked in minute detail for compatibility. The cylinder head was polished, and the ports too. Only the very best would do. They used a four-speed gearbox which was quite racey for the time, and buyers could specify one of three states of tune. A 6.6:1 piston, an 8.18:1 or a mighty 11:1 item for those with fortitude, access to special racing fuels, confidence in the engineering and a right leg as strong as Jesse Owens'.
Many experts will tell you the Silver Streak came with a 26T trials frame, but marque expert Rob Harknett, prewar specialist of the AJSand Matchless Owners' Club, says that the factory parts lists confirm this competition frame was not used for Silver Streak.
It came with an upswept exhaust and 26in exterior-measured tyres. The frame geometry and a design with decent ground clearance meant it could perform well off-road and was sporty on road too, making it a truly dual-purpose motorcycle before the name existed.
In the days where pretty much everything on a bike was an optional extra, the Silver Streak boasted high quality electric lights and horn. Ignition was by magneto, a slightly retrograde step as many bikes were now using coils. There were many options, including the buyer being able specify one of three Smiths speedometers, including a 120mph item, which was mounted on the steering head.
The removable tank panel could be fitted with an
eight-day clock and came with an inspection lamp and ammeter. A stop light was extra as were a pillion seat and footrests. There was gold tank lining and the decals were silver grey and blue on SS models. The rear mudguard transfer, unlike the gold AJSlogo on the 22, 26 and 18 models had the words Silver Streak.
TheMotorCyclewas impressed with the Silver Streak. They tested a 250 which they said was a little heavy but could perform as well as most 350s. Despite the high state of tune, the SS was said to be comfortable at speed, with none of the harshness usually found in sporting mounts, no doubt due to the precision construction. Top speeds of well over 70mph were possible and it would pull in top from 14mph.
But it wasn't the performance or the fine engineering that first caught the eye. It was the chrome. Where once black enamel had ruled the roost there were acres of the shiny stuff. You got chrome mudguards, chrome headlamps, chaincases, chain guards and fork links. There were chromed wheel rims (with a classy black line in the middle, as you can overdo things), chrome on the oil tank and toolbox and the seat and fork spring and most dramatically, all over the petrol tank too. AJSwere proud of their plating shop and claimed their chrome was as tough as enamel. Special polish was required in extreme circumstances, but AJSsaid that the finish only required a duster or a polishing mop to keep it tip top.
The need to care for the unusually shiny trim was recognised in the owner's manual. This gave very precise instructions on cleaning the chrome, including avoiding the use of the conventional metal polishes available as they contained acid that would eat into the finish. Removal of any corrosive salty deposits that might appear should, they advised, be done with a chamois leather or specialist chrome polish if the blemish was severe.
This motorcycle had class written all over it. The Silver Streak was gorgeous and was also significantly modern. It arrived just 10 years after AJShad been turning out flat tankers. It had decent lights and a gearbox with a proper kick-start. It had a premonobloc carb, but one that used the same starting process with a tickler that Amal persevered with for decades. The clutch was light, and the gearbox a Burman item that was close to faultless. The brakes were good and the handling useful, even if the front girder forks were at first glance a little spindly and insubstantial. Setting up the single spring girder involves fine adjustment of the dampers. Too loose and things might flop about. Too tight and you'll struggle to get it round a corner. It's got a low centre of gravity, which aids the handling.
The Silver Streak fits into that glorious period in British motorcycling history between the basic, primitive flat tanker with its hand oil pump and acetylene lighting, and the increasing complex world of telescopic forks and rear suspension. A simple motor bike, with just enough on it to keep it rolling, just an engine and wheels and a frame, and the shine. It offered freedom and excitement and, in the Silver Streak, glamour as well. The best of all possible
worlds. AJSthemselves didn't hold back in their claims for the Silver Streak, saying, with some justification the singles were: "Definitely the most handsome motorcycles ever offered to the public. The AJSSilver Streak is the answer to a sportsman's dream".
ORIGINALITY
The Silver Streak was only made in 1938 and 1939 with a mere handful of 1939models registered in 1940.Even though they were a premium model they were not entirely beyond the grasp of every man, the 350SSbeing £4 more expensive that the standard model (around £270 in today's money). They are highly sought-after and finding one will cost you twice or even three times the price of a more prosaic AMCsingle of the period.
You need to check carefully that the object of your desire isn't a fake, and even with all the checks possible you can never be truly sure. Rob Harknett points out that a correct engine number just confirms that the left-hand crankcase is the real thing. The Silver Streak in these pictures is certified as the real deal, though it does lack one significant feature, the full chrome tank. Chrome doesn't last, and rechroming a blemished old tank is no easy task ..
Finding parts for such a machine is always going to be a lengthy task, especially after 80 years. The outbreak of war meant that lots of the components used quickly went out of production, as AMCwent over to producing G3 and G3/L singles for the armed forces. Some owners use a G3 manual for a lot of the settings and technical detail on a Silver Streak. It's hard to restore any motorcycle of this age to completely original specification and even harder if the model is a hand-built to order machine like the Silver Streak. Line-drawn catalogue images show a slightly different exhaust, but advertisements show this silencer as being correct. Some images show black painted toolboxes and a completely different gearbox, yet period photographs show the gearbox fitted to this model as correct. It should have an exhaust clamp with three circular fins.
The sales brochure says the toolbox and girder fork links should be chromed, yet the catalogue image shows them in black. Had it been chromed, the tank should have had a black panel below the instrument panel. The mudguards should have a rib down the centre and of course for true period accuracy there should be a 'cheese cutter' front numberplate. On this bike the front wheel might be off a different machine and the brake is not standard. The horn, guards and numberplate are not Silver Streak, and the saddle springs would have been stiffer. Eagle-eyed AMC experts might spot a Matchless toolbox (the knob and hinge are in different places) The oil tank cap is also Matchless. There's a correct head and rocker box but from a 1939 model.
It is documented as being a genuine Silver Streak with a certificate from the AJS/Matchless Owners'
Club confirming that both the frame and engine numbers are correct for the model.
With so few made and examples of the Silver Streak rarely turning up for sale, they really are part of a sellers' market. This one was sold for just under £10,000, while you can expect to pay a good bit more for one with the elusive full chrome tank.
Thanks to Rob Harknett from the Owners' Club, to Lawrence at Classic Motorcycles Ltd and especially to Dave Robson, custodian of Mike Larcombe's Silver Streak and to Mike Larcombe for the loan.
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