Photo ou archives : D. Ganneau
1202
AJS
Porcupine – E95 – 1954
A prickly customer
Five years after the E90 "Porcupine” with its horizontal cylinders, A.JS launched the E95 in 1952. This evolutionary model had its cylinders inclined at 45 degrees, permitting a cylinders inclined at 45 degrees, permitting a shorter wheelbase, but it scarcely merited being called "Porcupine" anymore, for instead of the studs on the cylinder head which had inspired the nickname, it had conventional cooling fins.
First Revision
The engine was carried in a double-cradle frame interrupted beneath the engine, and the machine appeared in the Tourist Trophy Races, as did the three-valve single-cylinder 350cc 7R3. The following year, the E95 appeared with two separate cylinder heads instead of one common to both cylinders. The angle of the inlet points was reduced from 43 to 25 degrees to the perpendicular and the frame was also modified, gaining two side cradles supporting the engine.
The End of Works Entries
The final, 1954, Mk 2 version was merely cleaned up aerodynamically, though it was not given a fairing. The front fork and steering head were shortened and the fuel tank was carried down over the flanks of the engine, so that a mechanical gas pump could be fitted, driven from the magneto shaft. As their business worsened, the Associated Motor Cycles group decided that there would be no entries in 1955: it was the end of the road for the E95 and 7R3.
Specifications
Engine: 497cc (68x68.5mm) air-cooled twin-l cylinder four-stroke
Power Rating: 54 hp @ 7500 rpm
Valves: twin overhead camshafts driven by pinions
Fuel System: carburettor
Transmission: 4-speecl; dry clutch; chain final drive Suspension: telescopic forks (front); swinging forks with twin damper units (rear)
Brakes: drum (front & rear)
Wheels: 19 inch
Weight: 335 lb
Low and compact, the ultimate version of the E95 was typical of the aerodynamic theories of the Fifties. It was raced in the Sixties by Mike Duff and tuned by Tom Aster.