Racing History
The motorcycle was originally designed by AJS to be supercharged, as were a number of pre-war racing bikes, but the FICM banned supercharging in 1946. The motor was then worked on to allow it to perform without a supercharger. Jock West first rode the machine at the 1947 Isle of Man TT where he experienced teething problems relegating him to a 15th place although, he recorded the third fastest lap time of the race. Leslie Graham then rode the bike to victory in the inaugural 1949 FIM 500cc world championship. This was the only World Championship win for AJS. Despite this victory, the bike is often cited as unreliable, and not living up to its promise.
Read more about this topic: AJS Porcupine
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