Back on the AJS for startup:

After some medical distractions, I'm back on the AJS startup. Thanks for the previous help.

I got a battery in and wired up and get a nice spark. Reassembly: I've got to vent a little: I put the battery cover and seat on today, a nightmare! I would hate to have to do a roadside repair. You guys know this, but the seat mount at the tank is 2 large Whitworth nuts on a threaded rod. You can't hold one and tighten. The loosest one turns. Each hex side is a different size, 1/2W and 9/16W, that's a lot of steel weight to carry in the toolkit. The rear bolts are hard to remove, but even harder to remount as you have to hold the nuts in a narrow crooked passageway while turning the bolts and hoping to catch a thread. After an hour of trying, I finally glued a nut onto my index finger and got them both started. I don't see anyway to do this on the roadside. Why were the nuts not welded in place? Sometimes the Brits just baffle me.
So I put some gas in, and she fired up on the fourth kick. Oil flow showed in just a few seconds, looked good. What a pleasure, it sounds real good.

I've got to get help getting it out of my basement and up to the front driveway for a test ride. Hopefully I can get a neighbor tomorrow to lend a hand.
I'm 82 now and just don't have room or energy for this bike. If any of you AJS'ers want it, I'd love to help you get it. Otherwise, I guess I'll list it on some auction sites.
PS: I just noticed that some of the pics (like the oil tank) look scratchy and terrible. They are not, those lines are just reflections off my tool box drawers. The paint is near perfect.

Pretty bike. I rode a 1956 600 for many years back in university days. 1970s.

Glad to hear it sounds good. A nice example should run with only minor mechanical noise from the valve train. Worn, they can sound like a bag of bolts.

Yeah, the seat is a right old pain to fit. You may well ask why the Brits thought this was ok? While contemplating finally getting it in place, maybe a German or Japanese guy would conclude: “stuff this, I’m going to fix it!” I think the typical British reaction was: “job done, time to head down the pub!”

The good news is that you rarely need to remove the seat, (unlike a Norton) so it’s only an occasional inconvenience.