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I'm off to this years National Australian Velocette Rally...some 900km from my home, up in northern NSW at Lennox Head....
My good friend Mick Felder from California has flown in, is travelling up with me, and will ride one of my bikes.......
Perhaps a blog report when I return in a week and a bit.....
Meanwhile a sort of pot pouri of pics to tide you over......
Left click on the images to enlarge......
Royston Hill Climb, UK...John Griffith's Brough Superior.
From a French "Moto Revue" road test in 1927.....
I've likely included this before, but though I no longer have the KTT-348 license plate, the Rover 2000 TC or the KTT Mk.8, I still like the photo.....
Ewald Kluge, Baron von Oetzen and Green the Melbourne DKW agent, Northcott Avenue, Canberra before their unsuccessful attempt on raising the australian 250cc land speed record, 1938.
Mk.8 KTT on the Velocette stand at the November 1948 Earles Court Motorcycle Show, London.
Jim Day holds DQ's 1967 VMT Velocette on the start line of the 1971 Castrol 6 hour production machine race, prior to the Le Mans start.
The title for this was....Santa and some lucky Velomans Mk.8 KTT for Christmas....but you don't fool me-sure looks like Gert Boll......
Possibly the South Australian TT races at Lobethal in 1939...L to R...
George Wade,J. Stewart, Frank Mussett and George Hannaford...
You can inspect the Velos and determine their models.....
This is a small book I've had on my bookshelf for over 30 years and I chanced on it, looking for other stuff....
Have a look at a bit of it with me.....
I see it for sale still in automotive bookshops, occasionally Ebay....
Cost....around 8 UK quid seems to buy it....
It was written around 1970, so the instruments and their technology fit our interests with the cartoons by the Canadian born motoring artist/cartoonist Russell Brockbank which raise a grin and to his estate/holders of any copyright and Smiths Industries I acknowledge their use here.......
Left click on the images to enlarge....
Glancing through the folders I keep for future Velobanjogent posts there are numerous photos that I've not catagorised for a specific blog....they interest me and hopefully you....
Left click on the images to enlarge.....
Don Chesson, left, with his brother and Don's ex Stanley Woods factory 350 Dog Kennel Velocette from 1936. Photo taken in Perth Western Australia during 1950.
The same bike with Stanley Woods aboard at the Phillip Island race meeting, Jan.1937.
Phillip Island again Jan.1937, Stanley Woods ( #18) with his works 500 Dog Kennel Velocette at his pit. Wife Mildred behind.
The bike in 1973, owned by the estate of the Late Ron McIntosh, Perth Western Australia , Ron having bought the bike around 1951 off Don Chesson who only owned it for a year....he sold it to buy a Mk.8 KTT...
Les Diener on his 1948 Mk.8 KTT Velocette with Lloyd Hirst, Nuriootpa, South Australia 1949.
IOM TT 1958, Eric Hinton with his ex works Velocette with the "lowboy" frame.
IOM TT in 1958, Harry Hinton jnr aboard their ex works DOHC Velocette with brother Eric behind.
Harry Hinton, jnr on the DOHC Velocette at Sachsenring for the 1958 German GP. Eric tells me when they arrived at the meeting with the machine, people were laughing behind their backs at such an outdated racer. The smile was wiped from their face when Harry finish 5th in the junior race....
I was machining a Mk.8 KTT cylinder heads combustion chamber after welding...1981.
Jack Hogan, overalls, prepares his 250 Velo for the Easter races at Bathurst ,NSW. If it was 1955 then the engine had a 1936 ex works DOHC setup. Jack won that years Lightweight 250 event. Friend and fellow Velo racer Gordon Harper assists. Jack also used the bike as a SOHC with ex works dog-kennel cambox setup.
Bathurst 1978...Tony Hatton on DQ's Velocette with Carey cylinder head and Smith frame. A nice light bike....I remember weighing it at the time...264lb.
During the event...
Pukekohe, NZ, Feb.1980...Ernie Williams on his 1948 Mk.8 KTT Velocette ( #47) with DQ's 1939 Mk.8 KTT ( #11A).
Sid Willis's 250 DOHC Velocette in a Smith frame...Australia, early 1950's
Oran Park, south of Sydney, possibly 1966....Keith Smith on his 1964 Velocette Venom Clubman ( bought new in 1963) , quickly altered to racing trim and the engine altered to a Manx Norton type squish cylinder head.
Bathurst races, Easter 1964...Keith Smith with his 500...diminutive Sid Willis behind. Now you can see why he was such a good 250 racer....the perfect stature.....
Sadly Keith was killed in a racing accident during a practice session at Oran Park in 1966...the incident was deemed "death by mis-adventure" by the coroners Court, but many believe it was totally avoidable by "others"....Vale Keith...
I've featured pen and ink drawings previously on my blog...see over on the RHS under "Motorcycle pen and ink images" and collect them in a folder, having scanned them from a variety of sources, many from "The MotorCycle" and "MotorCycling" the two major British motorcycle magazines, now defunct, but the copyright is owned by Morton's Motorcycle Media in the UK to whom I acknowledge their use.
This selection is in general of technical tips and many are useful today...plus the odd cartoon....
Note I've added some more within several hours of my first post......
Left click on the image to enlarge....
Woodhead Munroe rear suspension unit, fitted to Velocette....with parts listed below.
