The Stuart Waycott 600 Velocette ISDT Outfit.

In the 1930's British factories supported the countries effort to win the various ISDT...International Six Days Trial...... trophies.
Our interest in this blog is the Velocette outfit ridden by Stuart Waycott for the period from 1936 to 1939.
The ISDT in 1939 was in Salzburg, Austria, and with the clouds of war over Europe  there was great concern that should WW2 breakout during the ISDT, the safety of the British riders could not be guaranteed...  
I've taken the following quote from the post on the 1939 ISDT from the Speed Track Tales Site and acknowledge it's copyright....so it was probably the most controversial ISDT ever held, at least for GB riders. The controversy started the previous year when the Germans announced changes to the traditional event rules. The event started on cue and lasted the six days but saw a large number of riders retire on the 4th and 5th day due to emergency situation that developed by the announcement of the Germany – Russian Pact which saw the taking and splitting of Poland by the two nations and within days Germany and Britain were officially at War. The evacuation of competitors, often with stealth, saw the British military riders being escorted to Switzerland. As the event was an important annual event for European Army Motorcycle riders the British Regiment soldiers competing had then to travel across hostile territory to reach the ports in order to return back to England.
 Although Germany was declared the winner the results stood until after the war when the FIM annulled the event and so there was no official awarding of the Trophy or Vase for this event.
In my original post on Dec.6th 2010 I had noted there was no 1939 ISDT and this anomaly was brought to my attention by Ralph Brown......
Thanks Ralph.....
As it was WW2 commenced in early September 1939.
But what is this ISDT...?
It was the International Trophy presented to the Federation International des Clubs Motocyclistes as a perpetual trophy by the British Cycle and Motorcycle Manufacturers' and Traders' Union, in 1913.
It is a road trial, seemingly always on tracks and trails, that runs for six days duration, with controls to pass through and route etc cards to be stamped, culminating with a speed trial often held on a road race circuit.

 Later the number of trophies were increased under the title "Challenge Trophies".
After I wrote this I realised the original Phil Irving notebook on the trials bike with all his design calculations still in my possession had interesting stuff that needs to be opened to all...and so I'll do a blog on this notebook shortly....
Left click on the images to enlarge...

The 1936 ISDT was run in Wales......

Stuart Waycott was a member of the three solo and one outfit British team for 1936,37 and 38.
We used a Velocette OHC engine in a Velocette framed outfit. 
For 1938, the period we are going to look at, the outfit was a modified Goulding sidecar that Phil Irving comments was at Veloce at the time.
The chassis of the outfit was altered considerably with springing and a sidecar wheel brake.

For 1936, Waycott used a KSS Mk.2  engine, but the actual capacity of the engine I cannot ascertain,although Phil Irving in his article detailed further down this blog indicates it was a TT engine, but my notes from a letter I wrote to the late Bob Currie in Dec.1981, editor of "The Classic Motorcycle", indicate a photo in "MotorCycling" of 2 Sept.1936 showed Waycott being farewelled by Percy Goodman and George Denly as he left for the 1936 ISDT and he is clearly riding an outfit with a KSS Mk.2 engine in it, but I didn't know the capacity. They were nominally 348cc.

Search as I may that copy of "Motorcycling" seems to have disappeared from my library.......but for 1937 and 1938 he certainlyused a 500cc OHC TT engine that was altered to 595cc with a bore of 85mm and stroke of 105mm.

Phil Irving was involved with this project in his time at Veloce Ltd.
Ironically the entry in the 1937 ISDT program is 595cc whereas in the 1938 program it is 598cc.
The bore and stroke information came from the notebook of Phil Irving and a calculation from them reveals 596cc.
Just the same the outfit looks super for it's day....

When you've good original photographs, and these original 1938 "Motorcycling" photos taken with a plate camera give fabulous detail when enlarged.
Two items I'll feature...
The special carburettor swill chamber off the float chamber to ensure under extreme cornering on the outfit that the float level kept a semblance of a level over the jets.
The other slightly less obvious is the exhaust valve lifter mechanism...difficult work starting a big single without a valve lifter, especially a Velocette with the low kickstart ratio...OHC racing TT Velocette engines didn't need valve lifters, so this was likely a job PEI attended to...

Back to the entry...

From "The Motorcycle " report of 15th July 1938

As mentioned PEI was involved with the bike and after reading an article in the Dec./Jan. 1980 edition of "The Classic Motorcycle" with a report on the "600 Velo engine"...I urge you to get a copy...he wrote to Bob Currie, setting out his views...
I've made copies from the original PEI carbon copy ( no computers for PEI then...) and while it is 9 pages, it is historical and deserves to be in the public domain.

Stuart rode earlier in the ISDT on other makes, always an outfit...
He emigrated to Australia and had a farm in Western Australia....
David Main of Albany,WA in an email to me takes up the finalisation of the story...

"...The latest issue of FTDU reminded me of my friendship with Stuart Waycott whom I met in 1969 when I emigrated from the UK  I rode out on my Vincent to visit him on the farm at Kweda WA. He was delighted to take it for a ride but it was only last year when I very regrettably sold the 'Rapide" that we discovered it had been first registered to Waycott Bros in Bristol!  How's that for coincidence!

Stuart had a house full of awards, cups, photos etc.  Sadly all were lost when he died.  He did give me 2 press photos taken outside their Bristol Premises.  One was the ISDT Team, 2 Velos but Stuart is riding a matchless!  Ivan Rhodes dates the photo as 1934/5.  The other photo shows Stuart on a Rudge outfit.  I believe one of his passengers was called Rowley but have no more info.  Maybe some of the members can help out Stuarts Velo outfit had special QD wheels and a hole in the petrol tank for easy S plug changing.  Tools clipped on the side somewhere."

The photos emailed to me follow...