Another look at a small photo album from the 1920's and a glance through the 24th edition of "MotorCycles and How to Manage Them".....

If you've been through much of my blogsite you'd realise I must be an avid collector.... my office bulges....
My daughter, Felicity, an archaeologist says to me "Dad, don't keep doing it....you've got to make a stop.."
Aghh, but when you stop collecting and disseminating information and photographs you seem to me to have one foot in the grave....
So this offering is of a small photo album, red in colour for the cover and features photographs taken by an unknown family in the period 1929-1931...
Initially it covers motorcycles before they seemed to move into cars...so I'm only displaying the motorcycling stuff....
Then, asked by Velo man, Tim Thearle about information on the M.L. "Maglita" combined magneto and dynamo I ended up in a copy of "MotorCycles and how to manage them"...the 24th edition which seems to be written around 1925/26...
Around the time of the photo album....so as another fascination for me is the pen and ink sketch and drawings, we'll look at some from the book....
I'll do an item on the Maglita in a future blog...
Left click on the images to enlarge them....

On a 1926 EW Douglas in 1929...

On the Portsmouth road in 1929 on a 1926 Douglas.

A "refit" (??) in 1929..again on the Douglas...

Earlsfield in 1930 on a 1929 Douglas...

1929 in The New Forest on a 1926 Douglas...

Stourport, Wales..1930...

The cover of "MotorCycles and how to manage them"..

Section of a typical two lever carburetter in 1925...

Vapourising details for Senspray, Cox-Atmos and Amac carburetters in 1925..

Brown and Barlow single lever carburetter,1925..

Brown and Barlow two lever carburetter and control levers,1925...

Amac two lever sporting carburetter,1925..

Amac carburetter control levers,1925...

A bit of "ad hoc miscellania" from DQ........

This blog is a bit of motorcycling miscellania that should prove interesting......
Left click on images to enlarge....
When the automobile first arrived on the scene, they had really no dashboard and primative instruments.
The three following photographs are of what you did in 1910 to tell the time while you were driving...remember you were out in the open, suitably rugged up for an English winter and access to your watch was pretty difficult.
You purchased the brass holder, screwed it to the firewall, slipped your watch into it and fitted the cover over it....
The watch incidently is a 1918 Waltham.....
















































I had an email from Barrie James in the UK...he'd just purchased a Dodkin "Special" from Geoff Dodkin, who had built it in his retirement.
Geoff Dodkin was the well known London Velocette dealer in East Sheene.
When he took delivery of it in February this year, 2009, Geoff produced a special clock which he gave to Barrie and mentioned that I had given it to him sometime in the 1980's...I then recalled building it in my shop...both are pictured below....









































Always time for a cartoon.....























This little Smiths booklet comes up on auctions from time to time and is well worth having...
A few pages from it follow.
Of interest because they tell you how to determine the speedo ratio of your motorcycle and compare it to your speedometer. Only Smiths speedos had the instrument ratio on the dial, and even then not on prewar ones. It is the three or four digit number following the dial code.
Examples are 1600, 1584, 1610 etc, or 900, 1000 if a kilometre version....
Japanese motorcycle speedos are ALWAYS 1400TPKM or 2240 TPM.





































































Finally, I often get asked after the name of my business.... KTT Services..... well I was and still am a KTT enthusiast, although I no longer have one...
The logo I un-ashamedly "pinched" from the 1959 edition of "Motor Cycling" Sports Road Tests....
The car was my then 1970 Rover 2000 TC.
















This was taken a while back...


































































Did you look closely at the dial behind the rider, who incidently is the late John Griffiths, a "MotorCycling" road tester and journalist aboard the Veloce factory licenced Venom Clubman, licence number SOX-631.
SOX-631 appears on road test machines a lot...Vipers, Venom Clubman, Venom with Steib sidecar and so on...
It indicates 100mph a figure that was held in "awe" at the time....
But the dial is a 120mph version, altered by the art department at Temple Press to show 100...look where the 60 is halfway down the dial...

DQs absence from Sydney, Sat.10th May until Sat.24th May 2008

I’m out of Australia for two weeks and so no new blogs until I return.
I’m visiting North American Velo OC friends and attending with them the 2008 NA VOC “Spring Opener” weekend at John and Sue Ray’s “Rancho Veloce” in the Napa area, north of San Francisco.









My 1948 KSS engined/1960 scrambler special.
Mick Felder with his Venom.
Mick Felder and I are travelling up to Paul Adams place, some 500 miles from LA area with our Velos…my KSS/scrambler special ( more of it in a future blog) and Mick’s Venom…a little riding in the area around Lake Tahoe, some “tyre kicking” and then off to the “Spring Opener”.
Attached are a variety of pics from past US trips, my KSS/Scrambler special ( more of this in a blog on my specials) and pics of Mick Felder and Paul Adams with whom I’m spending time.
Perhaps a report in a future blog.

The US/Canadian relationship in the NA Velo OC.

Paul Adams with his 1956 Venom Left click on photos to enlarge.

Mountain scene on a previous US Velo OC Rally.

My KSS/scrambler special in Mick Felder's shop in Los Angeles.

Check out my blog around 26th May.....

The Velocette LE Industrial Engine.

During the 1962 Earles Court Motorcycle Show, Veloce Ltd. were approached by J Lyons Ltd., to supply them with a free standing engine to power their refrigerated vehicles.
This was not the first time Veloce Ltd. had had inquiries about supplying a stationary engine. The previous year they were approached by S.P.D Ltd. who made refrigerated vehicles for Birds Eye foods and by Ice Cream Equipment Ltd about the supply of LE based stationary engines for the refrigeration units of their vehicles.
The concept of a stationary engine based on the LE appeared to show some promise, the smooth, quiet running water cooled twin appeared to fulfil a corner of the market and there seemed a demand there.
Veloce Ltd also had considerable expertise by this time, in the small flat twin engine and many common parts and production tooling could be utilised.
At this time motorcycle sales were low and the future of the motorcycle production appeared bleak. The seasonal demand of the motorcycle market caused production and cash flow difficulties and Veloce Ltd were in need of some other product they could make or provide work that could relieve this situation.
So it was decided to go ahead with the Industrial engine project, and by the end of May 1966 the first prototype had been delivered and had undergone a 1000 hour test and proved satisfactory.

Veloce Ltd, however, were unable to supply the engines by the required deadline and their customer was forced to seek out an alternative engine to supply their immediate needs.
Approximately 50 engine units were supplied to A.C. Morrison Ltd., which were fitted into ice cream vans and delivered to a customer in Australia, a creamy type ice cream supplier trading as "Mr. Whippy". They used modified Bedford vans with the refrigeration unit mounted up on the cab in a metal box and the company franchised them to individuals who drove around suburban streets, usually on a weekend playing the tune "Greensleeves" from a loud speaker to attract customers. They also parked outside sporting venues etc.

The engines proved to be troublesome and were replaced. The Australian customer refused to pay Morrisons and they in turn sued Veloce Ltd. for the cost of their replacement, some £12,000. Veloce Ltd. counter sued for £3,648 for non payment of the debt for the supply of the engines. The legal proceedings dragged on for some years until they were finally withdrawn in 1970 and Morrisons later went into liquidation.
It seems that in accepting the order for the engines, Veloce Ltd were bound by conditions, one of which was a 12 month guarantee. For the continuous use to which these engines were put, in the ice cream business in sub-tropical climates, this could easily amount to the equivalent of 100,000 road miles for an LE; a ridiculous guarantee life for a 192cc engine.
A successful claim by Morrisons could possibly have caused the earlier demise of Veloce Ltd and the industrial engine saga proved to be very unfortunate after appearing to hold such promise.
Peter Wolfenden, current Aust. Velo OC membership secretary and "Mr LE" in Australia compiled this article and initially published it in the UK LE Owners club magazine, then again in revised format in FTDU (Peter sourced information for this article from “A History of Veloce Ltd.”, by Joseph W.E .Kelly)

I owned the engine pictured, which had an engine number "SE151"..."stationary engine 151??".

I acquired it from the chap who came out with the ice-cream vans referred to above and who saved one engine after they were scrapped, using a single cylinder Kirby engines as a replacement. He told me the Velo engines failed in the Australian summer, 40+ degrees C and the engine running at 3500rpm continuously by the governor under load, driving the refrigeration unit and in a metal case housing, with little air movement & the engine using no water pump, just the thermo-syphon principle to circulate water around the engine castings to the small radiator ( identical to the LE motorcycles)...a disaster. Many only lasted several hours.

Veloce contested this claim during the legal stoush, and claimed to have run the engine on their dynomometer for 1000+ hours... probably true, but likely in an air temperature of 20 degrees C.

Quite unrealistic for their impending use.

I never ran the engine as such, but it has a 12v dynastarter( a combined generator and starter motor) behind the distributor at the front and so I ran it on the starter.

The dynastart and distributor stuck out so far at the front , that it would not have been possible to fit it into the LE frame and the sump was a large cast-iron casting.

The engine had caged roller big end bearings, visible in the exploded diagrams.

Veloce were obviously serious, as they produced a spare parts booklet, illustrated above ( which I still have). The engine is now owned by Peter Wolfenden.

Left click on the photos to enlarge.

The "VELOCETTE" knitting pattern.

You don't have to be a Velocette enthusiast to appreciate the scripted "Velocette" logo... Many people stop me on the street and ask how they can get the pattern, well no excuse now, all you need is a compliant friend, wife, who-ever and of course who can knit......













Modelling the finished product is popular US and Aust.VOC clubmember, Californian Mick Felder.

VELOCETTE KNITTING PATTERN
Row
1 81b 2m 17b b= black
2 2m 13b 6m 79b m=mustard
3 77b 13m 5b 4m 1b
4 2b 23m 75b
5 72b 25m 3b
6 6b 25m 69b
7 65b 24m 11b
8 16b 23m 61b
9 57b 22m 21b
10 5m 21b 21m 53b
11 49b 20m 24b 5m 2b
12 3b 5m 2b 6m 20b 19m 45b
13 41b 18m 19b 2m 2b 3m 6b 1m 1b 2m 5b
14 6b 2m 1b 2m 6b 2m 1b 4m 5b 2m 15b 17m 37b
15 33b 16m 18b 5m 3b 7m 6b 1m 2b 2m 7b
16 8b 2m 2b 1m 6b 3m 2b 3m 1b 6m 2b 4m 16b 15m 29b
17 25b 14m 20b 5m 1b 9m 4b 3m 5b 1m 2b 2m 9b
18 9b 2m 3b 1m 5b 4m 3b 5m 2b 8m 5b 4m 15b 12m 22b
19 19b 10m 12b 2m 4b 7m 3b 2m 3b 3m 3b 4m 2b 2m 1b 2m 5b 1m 3b 2m 10b
20 10b 3m 3b 1m 4b 2m 3b 1m 2b 3m 4b 3m 3b 2m 2b 8m 2b 5m 15b 8m 16b
21 13b 6m 13b 2m 4b 6m 1b 2m 3b 3m 2b 2m 4b 3m 3b 3m 2b 1m 3b 2m 4b 1m 3b 3m 11b
22 1b 4m 7b 3m 3b,1m 3b 3m 2b 2m 1b 3m 4b 2m 3b 4m 1b 3m 5b 8m 3b 4m 3b 3m 10b 4m 10b
23 7b 4m 6b 1m 4b 5m 1b 6m 1b 2m 4b 3m 3b 1m 2b 8m 2b 2m 4b 3m 2b 2m 1b 2m •4b 2m 3b 3m 5b 7m
24 2m 2b 4m 5b 3m 3b 2m 4b 3m 4b 3m 3b 3m 3b 2m 2b 2m 2b 3m 2b 4m 3b 6m 2b 7m 2b 4m 7b 4m 4b
25 3b 2m 8b 6m 1b 2m •1b 4m 3b 4m 3b 2m 1b 2m 2b 2m 1b 1m 1b 2m 3b 1m 3b 2m 4b 4m 11b 1m 3b 4m 5b 2m 5b 1m
26 1m 6b 2m 4b 4m 3b 2m 11b 4m 4b 5m 3b 2m 4b 2m 1b 2m 3b 1m 3b 3m 4b 3m 3b 9m 7b 2m 2b
27 1b 2m 6b 3m 4b 3m 4b 2m 4b 3m 3b 2m 2b 2m 2b 2m 3b 2m 5b 2m 5b 1m 1b 3m 10b 2m 3b 4m 5b 2m 5b 2m
28 1b 2m 2b 1m 1b 3m 4b 4m 3b 2m 11b 2m 2b 1m 12b 6m 2b 3m 2b 2m 2b 3m 4b 3m 3b 4m 4b 4m 4b 2m 1b
29 3m 3b 3m 4b 5m 4b 2m 4b 3m 3b 1m 2b 3m 4b 2m 14b 1m 2b 2m 11b 2m 3b 5m 4b 4m 2b 2m 2b
30 3b 2m 3b 2m 3b 6m 4b.2m 10b 3m 2b 1m 20b 5m 4b 3m 3b 3m 4b 2m 2b 2m 4b 7m
31 1b 3m 5b 2m 3b 3m 4b 2m 4b 5m 3b 3m 20b 1m 3b 2m 10b 2m4b 8m 5b 3m 4b
32 6b 15m 4b 2m 9b 3m 3b 1m 28b 9m 4b 2m 4b 2m 8b
33 8b 2m 2b 3m 2b 5m 4b 3m 27b 34 2m 2b 4m 8b
34 2m 5b 13m 8b 10b 12m 5b 2m 9b 3m 1b 2m 28b 3m 3b 3m 6b 5m 8b
35 9b 3m 6b 3m 3b 3m 29b 5m 8b 3m 5b 4m 3b 3m 13b
36 14b 1m 5b 1m 1b 2m 5b 3m 8b 3m 30b 3m 3b 3m 18b
37 17b 3m 3b 4m 23b 1m 15b 3m 31b
38 32b 5m 11b 3m 29b 4m 16b
39 41b .2m 4b 8m 4b 7m 34b
40 37b 20m 43b
41 46b 14m 40b
42 44b 6m 50b

This was written and published by me in the Australian Velocette Owners Club magazine, "FishTail DownUnder", #339, Autumn edition.
Left click on photos to enlarge.