The KDT Velocette....Velocette's attempt to break into the Speedway machine market in 1929....

Little is known of the KDT Velocette.... a variant of the KTT Velocette introduced by Veloce Ltd in late 1928 as a production racer motorcycle for the privateer rider.....
In fact a glance through the Veloce factory records for the time show 20 machines listed of which one appears to be an engine only, during 1929.
Speedway had become all the rage, Vincent's had a flutter, Douglas and Rudge reigned supreme for some years before the Speedway JAP swept all before it until it too succumbed to the JAWA speedway engine.
The details of the specification for the bike is also vague...it was first announced in The MotorCycle, August 1st, 1929 as a new 415cc OHC dirt track model....

Regretably there was no photo at the time and even the capacity of 415cc is in doubt.
The bore is 80mm and the stroke 81mm and this calculates as 407cc...

Volume =πr²h

  with pi 3.142, r  as 4cm  h, the stroke as 8.1cm
Bob Currie, for many years the Midlands editor of The MotorCycle claimed it was 411cc in an article he did in the 1970's, below ...

Speedway Velocette

An article from Motorcycle in late 1970s, by Bob Currie.

Speedway followers of the dim and distant past could buy “ genuine autographed photographers” of their heroes from kiosks at the stadium, just as can today’s aficionados of the shale.

And it is a faded postcard from 1929 that I show you here by courtesy of Vintage MCC photographic registrar, Dick Platt.

The subject as you can see is Bert Clayton from Huddersfield who not only competed at the northern UK speedway tracks but took part also in hill-climbs and other branches of motorcycle sport.

It was on August 4 1928 that Huddersfield Speedway opened up at Quarmby before a 6,000 crowd Bert Clayton a local Velocette agent was one of the many riders who sampled the dirt for the first time that night.

And he certainly seems to have acquired a taste for it because when the “Yorkshire Championships Belt” competition was organised for Quarmby’s second meeting Bert on a 350 cc cammy Velo, finished second to Sheffield’s H W (“Skid”) Skinner.

The Huddersfield track was short-lived and had gone by the time Northern League came into existence in 1929.

Still there were plenty more Leeds (Fullerion Park) Halifax (Thrum Hall) Sheffield (Owlerton) and Barnsley (Lundwood) were all in the Northern League as were their Lancashire counterparts of Salford, Rochdale, Belle Vue, Liverpool, Warrington and Preston; Wombwell ran invitational meetings only.

In fact there were too many tracks – & although Leeds were on top of the Northern League at the end of the 1929 season they had already gone into liquidation.

Their star rider George Greenwood moved south and eventually he was to take over the manufacture of JAP speedway engines but that’s another story.

Nearly every major factory tried to cash in the new craze and the Velocette contribution was the 411 cc Model KDT using an overboard version the 350 cc overhead-camshaft engine.

The standard Velocette gearbox shell was employed but this had no internals and was used as a single-speed countershaft. No separate oil tank was contained in a compartment of the little fuel tank.The Velocette register still exists and from it we know that machine number KDT149 was delivered to H Clayton of Huddersfield on 29^th July 1929.

But Bert was one of painfully few customers. Only 22 model KDTs were made in all and the late Bob Burgess formerly service manager at Hall Green confirmed that some of the batch were returned unsold to the factory to be converted into 350 cc KTT models.

For how long Bert Clayton rode the Velo on the northern tracks is unknown – but KDT149 (or, at least its engine unit) survives today He has too the correct type of KDT rear wheel and a suitable Webb speedway fork. At present the engine powers a reasonable replica of a Velocette speedway frame but that isn’t quite the same thing as having the genuine article.

The poor quality photograph scans as... 

The engine, KDT149 ended up in the 1970's in an attempt by the late Jeff Clew to rebuild it as a speedway dirt track Velocette.

I had some photographs from the one KDT that was imported into Sydney,NSW, Australia in 1929, details were 30th Sept.1929, engine KDT151 frame 16. The photos were of Billie Woodman riding what he had told me was a dirt track Velocette at Penrith  Speedway in 1936...

The above photo shows Woodman leading Cec Weatherby on a standard KTT Velocette. Note the fork spring on Woodman's machine in this and the previous photo.

 At the 2012 National Australian Velocette Rally in Bundanoon, Dai Gibberson was an entrant from the UK and keen to swap Velocette photos and literature, we downloaded to each others computer.
I have not had as much time as I'd like to review his items and it was only the other night when I opened a file "1929 DT  Special".
There to my amazement was a large resolution timing side photo of the 1929 DT Velocette and it shows much of the specification we had not been really aware of...

So I've carefully cut various items for closer viewing...

The tyre size appear to be 28 x 2.75" and the rear is a Hutchison. But interestingly, to me anyhow, the rear rim appears to be a beaded edge type while the front a well base type...??

The front forks appear to be an interesting type of Webb fork with a form of bottom slider and the top spring is unusual and if you scroll back to the Woodman bike further above you'll see it has the same spring arrangement.

The transfer on the fuel tank appear to have "The Velocette".....

The petrol tap is unusual in that it is on its side and the knee handle is clearly visible and differs from the Clew Velocette.
The frame also appears to differs from Clews in that the engine and gearbox shell and there is no gear linkage, so the gearbox is "empty" of ratios...both are in front of the seat tube whereas Clews has a more usual Velocette frame of the time.
And finally...while visiting Ivan Rhodes at "Fellside Cottage" in September where I took many photos and the next episode of that oddessy will appear shortly...Ivan showed me two new KDT pistons he had, one fitted to a mid 1930's works machine...in this case the piston was a 1 mm oversize, but its crown shape is clearly visible in the photo following...

The Velobanjogent visits Velo friends In The Netherlands and Germany….September 2013

You know I'm rather ashamed to admit I haven't been back on a visit to Europe since the early 1990's...!!
I had been to the USA since that time yearly sometimes twice yearly where having perhaps read some of my previous posts you would know I regularly rode in the North American Velocette Owners Club's various events on loaned motorcycles, for some 15 years on a Velocette special I owned and left there, which the other year I imported into Sydney and ride locally.
My wife, Judy, The Best Pillion Passenger in the World...a term I unashamedly borrow from that great UK motorcycling journalist BMS..... was going on a European train trip with a group of retired friends from Sydney...a search of the internet and we added a river cruise on the river Rhine which we both went on and then my plans for a Velocette oriented oddessy, albeit short in time...unfolded.
Great Velocette friends with whom I keep up a regular email correspondence, Carl Drees, president of the Netherlands Velocette OC, Heinz Limbers and Gert Boll also members of the Dutch VOC and in retirement living close to each other provided me with a two day visit to the "Velocette Sheds" from Amsterdam where Judy and I were for 4 days...
So come with me, pictorially as we have a brief look at my journey....
The introduction photograph above, taken at Gert Boll's place shows, L to R.. Gert Boll, Carl Drees, The Velocbanjogent and Heinz Limbers with Gert's very rare KTT Mk.6 Velocette, the only surviving one of the three built by Velocette in 1936. Others are nice, but just replicas....
Let's look at some closer pics of the Mk.6....

 Gert has a very nice largely unrestored 1925 moel K Velocette...

We'll pop into Gert's workshop and take in his Mk.4 KTT and an interesting cylinder head and DOHC cambox that originally Gert hoped was Velocette but research revealed it was a home made setup, believed for an NSU....

Before we leave Gerts'...he's a windmill he is restoring close by, currently less the sail....

This photo above shows the windmill in winter..the name..?
I'll let Gert explain it to you....
"Called The Velodroom, because it's owned by a Velosoph. 
Velodrom with just one "o" is a bicycle racing stadium, droom means dream in Friesish, the local language of Northern Germany. 
So it's a Velocette dream."
Returning to Carls house we dropped Heinz to his home and had a brief peek at his Velocette's...
A Mk.2 KSS engine in an RS Velocette spring frame...a Mk.4 KTT and a Mk.8 KTT....

Heinz has built an intriguing test bench to take a variety of Velocette engines and allow him to make running adjustments while the engine is running....

Then we were off back to Carl and Julia's where I spent the night and had a brief tour through his shed and will share a little with you....

 Then I left Carl to make some notes for the next edition of the excellent Netherland Velo OC magazine "de Visstaart"....

 I must learn to read Dutch.... but the Velocette Clubs throughout the world actively collaborate and it's great to share photographs and articles...

 What was next for TheVelobanjogent??

Well I flew to Manchester, UK, caught a train to Derby, and caught up with THE Velocette guru....Ivan Rhodes...

More of this fascinating three days in future posts to this blog.... 

 

Another sad day for Motorcycling with the passing of Keith Bryen...International racing motorcyclist, "Continenal Circus" member 1953-57, A great ambassador for our sport and "an all round good egg...!"

Readers of my blog will have come across the many posts I had done on Keith Bryen with a vast number of his and wife Gwen's personal photographs from the time the were members of that unique group of traveling racing motorcyclists with wives, partners and friends in their case from 1953-1957, loosely known as the "Continental Circus"...alas now long gone as the modern era of motorcycle racing embracing the MotoGPs with its highly commercialised band of gladiators is a far cry from the era I speak of...
With great sadness I tell of the passing, suddenly, on Tuesday 22nd October, of Keith Bryen, aged 86.

                              A great photo of a devoted couple, Gwen and Keith.
I realise we don't live forever, but Keith appeared in good health for his age and had just returned from visiting another former "Circus" member...Jack Ahearn....
His memorial service was held on the 28th October with poignant eulogies from his daughter Stephanie and son Mark....
Come share some of his motorcycle racing life again in Keith and Gwen's personal photos....
Many of these can be found in previous posts and a look to the index to the RHS of this webblog will lead you to more...

1946 Speed Twin one of the first bikes Keith used for racing....

 Many circuits were dirt...a good way to hone racing skills...

Keith on a 1939 500cc. Gold Star B.S.A. at Bungaribbee.

 Bathurst races, Easter 1949 with a 1939 BSA Gold Star...

Bathurst 1950, this time with an AJS 7R production racer. 
Pictured with Tommy Han.

 Bathurst 1952 now with the ex Frank Mussett 500 SOHC former factory racer of Ted Mellors.

Keiths first IOM TT...weighing in for the 1953 350cc TT with his Manx Norton.

A bunch of "Commonwealth Riders", Keith among them on the promenade, Douglas, IOM.

Keith's first foray to Europe in 1953, pictured in the pit following the running of the 1953 Dutch TT at Assen.
Returning to Australia by ship he  met Gwen on the boat home...a shipboard romance.....
One that lasted, though sadly Gwen is in nursing care following a gradual slide into dementia some years back.
 Keith returned to Europe in 1954 full of hope but a heavy crash in the Ulster GP saw a badly broken collarbone and shoulder...no plating of such injuries in those days, just a long 4 or 5 month recovery, so he returned to Australia.
He married Gwen in 1955 and they "settled down" in a house they bought, but the racing bug  persisted and he raced in local events during the year, co-riding to a class win on a Triumph Thunderbird in the 1955 24 hour motorcycle production race at Mt. Druitt circuit on the outskirts of Sydney.
Selling their house, Gwen and Keith returned to Europe for the 1956 season...

Floreffe, Belgium, May 1956....

 Awaiting the start of evening practice, 1956 IOM TT races.

On the grid...1956 Belgium GP

After winning the 1957 350cc race at Norisring ( Nuremberg), with Sweden's Valle Lundberg on the left and Australian Eric Hinton on the right.
A Works Ride........ 

1957, the Moto Guzzi depot...

Keith tests the 350cc Moto Guzzi at Monza for the Italian GP.

Keith and Gwen with Keith Campbell and his fiancee Jerry Reid.

Retiring in 1957 following the shattering news that now a factory Moto Guzzi rider for 1958, Moto Guzzi with Mondial and Gilera had retired from International GP racing, Keith settled down to family life.
But the bug bites hard and he rode an AJS 7R for John Surtees at Brands Hatch in 1981 and in some of the newly introduced classic races locally from 1978-1994...

Ferry Brouwer, arch Classic Enthusiast and former Arai MD set up the Centenary of Assen meeting in May 1998 and invited many of the older former riders, supplying bikes to ride and most expenses...
Another "works" ride? 
Well Keith spent the weekend having a great time and is pictured on a 350 Ducati...
Then Tuesday 22nd October 2013..... with son Mark at a railway station preparing to visit a friend,  a sudden fatal heart attack and Keith was gone and motorcycling lost another great ambassador for the sport....
Keith Maxwell Bryen.... RIP.