Racing in Australia, with the emphasis on Velocette…photos from bygone times...

More pics from Australian racing…. Enjoy!

Australia was a big market for Veloce Ltd up perhaps until the late 1950s and so racing machines from the factory frequently were sent to Sydney and Melbourne for the use of ace locals to promote the image of Velocette….very successfully I might add.For those interested in the racing history of Velocette, a perhaps new source of material for your own use or for publication in the future… please acknowledge the source should you capture an image and feel free to do so.

The first photo is taken in 1948 outside the premises of Bain and Kessing, both prominant Velo racers of the day. The machine on the left is a 1936 DOHC engine used in IOM TT that year, the machine to the right is known in Australian racing circles as "The Monster" and was a 1934 ex works 500 SOHC dog kennel machine.

The second pic is Gordon Harper on his ex works 350 KTT, unsure if it was a SOHC dog kennel engine or another of the 350 DOHC 1936 engines. Early 1950s.

Gordon had both types at one time or another.

The third photo is Alan Burt in an observed trial, known here as "sporting trials" on a MAC.Again in early 1950s at Moorebank on southern outskirts of Sydney.

The final pic is Frank Mussett & NZer Len Perry collecting their new Mk.8 KTTs at Veloce Ltd., prior to the 1939 IOM TT. Perry fell off in practice and severed a finger on his clutch hand and retired. Mussett finished 10th. Both bikes went back to Australia and NZ.
Left click on images to enlarge....

More pen and ink from the Motorcycle Media...

Time for another ......
As I mentioned in an earlier foray into pen and ink drawings from the motorcycle media, graphic art has changed dramatically-- …. lets have another look into 1931 and 1933 when graphic artists, cartoonists and the like, armed with pen, ink and pencil recorded the images of the day in concert with the film camera.Acknowledgement is made to Mortons Motorcycle Media owners of the copyright for "The Motorcycle" and "MotorCycling" and to the families of the artists for use of the images.

Left click on images to enlarge....

The 700cc twin cylinder MAC Velocette that never was....

In the 1950s an innovative young engineer, Allan Russell of Sydney, a Velocette enthusiast and assistant to the late Sid Willis, champion Aussie 250 class road racer on Velocettes, started to build a twin cylinder MAC Velocette engine, SOHC valve operation and made many of the casting patterns needed, then cast the cylinder heads, cambox, bevel box, prepared drawings of two ways to drive the overhead cam gear from the MAC timing chest.

Then he fell in love, married Margaret ( they are still together...) ,all work on the MAC ceased and the MAC engine languished in a large drawer in his workshop for over 50 years.

I'd briefly seen the drawer pulled open in the 1960s to illustrate a point in a discussion, but it stayed there until 2005, when my best friend, Velo enthusiast Jim Day suggested we ask Allan to get it out and we would feature it on a display table during the final night meeting at the Australian Velocette Centenary Rally at Richmond, west of Sydney.

Prior to it's return to Allan, we assembled it and I photographed it...

Where is it now....?

Back in Allan's drawer....awaiting the time Allan can find to continue with it....

Interesting "bit of kit" as they say...

Left click on photographs to enlarge....

Racing in Australia. with the emphasis on Velocette…more photos from past times

I’m still “on a roll” as they say, so more pics from Australian racing…. Enjoy!
Australia was a big market for Veloce Ltd up perhaps until the late 1950s and so racing machines from the factory frequently were sent to Sydney and Melbourne for the use of ace locals to promote the image of Velocette….very successfully I might add.
For those interested in the racing history of Velocette, a perhaps new source of material for your own use or for publication in the future… please acknowledge the source should you capture an image and feel free to do so.

Left click on images to enlarge, where possible.

The first photo shows Bob Brown kneeling and Alan Burt- they were great mates- with a load of racing bikes transported from NSW to the road races at Victoria Park, Ballarat, Victoria over Christmas in the early 1950s.
The second is Sid Willis' oversquare ( 74 x 58mm) 250cc DOHC ( factory postwar cylinder head) in a Smith frame ( the first copy of the Beasley frame Sid brought back from Europe at the end of 1952).
The third is Don Bain on his Mk.5 KTT special following a successful record attempt at Maddens Plains, south of Sydney around 1936.
The final shot is Sid Willis on his Beasley framed 250cc DOHC ( ex works prewar 350cc Velocette cylinder head) in the pits at the 1952 IOM Lwt.TT. Sid came 5th. The best privateer. (S.R.Keig IOM, photograph)

The Keig Collection…..

When I was living in England in 1974 and 1975, I chased early motorcycling photographic history when I could.S.R.Keig Ltd in IOM, Keystone Press Agency and Fox Photos in London, the daily newspapers to name some...
Visiting the IOM TT in 1974 and again in 1975 and spending nearly two weeks there each time, meant I spent time in the photographic business of S.R.Keig Ltd., Circular Road, Douglas, IOM.
I still have an old catalogue of their negative collection….so digging deep into funds, I had all the Velocette photographs they had up to about 1951 printed for me, many in 6”x 8” format.
They are a boon to me today…. Good "financial" decision DQ! (My "long suffering" wife Judy likely thought otherwise...)
I also telephoned Bruce Main-Smith during 1974, at his newly started business in Leatherhead, Surrey and spoke to him about the photographs, actually lent him a collection that encompassed Fox and Keystone photos. He was eager to borrow them for an impending book to be written by “Titch” Allen based on the “Velocette Saga”, which had run for 16 issues in “Motorcycle Sport from the late 1960s.
BMS contacted Keig’s in Douglas and struck a deal with S.R.Keig Ltd
To produce selections of his negatives as prints in a series of books he would publish known as “The Keig Collection”. Initially three volumes were produced in 1975, then volume 4 in 1984 and finally volume 5 in 1996.
There were no more produced to my knowledge.
 I am unsure if the current owners of BMS Ltd., still hold any rights to produce reprints ( I've looked at their website and can't find any reference) and certainly Bill Snelling, a resident of the IOM, trading as Amulree Publishing and who now have now completed a comprehensive and searchable TT Database which can be found by clicking on This Link , I believe now owns the copyright to S.R.Keig Ltd., negatives and supplies photographs from them, published the 5th Keig Collection in 1996.
Amulree Publications, Amulree, Glen Road, Laxey, IOM IM4 7AJ, email; amulree@mcb.net
I hold no malice to BMS for his actions…I was a “dreamer” then and he had the knowledge and contacts to produce something that was long overdue…
‘On ya Bruce…..
Regrettably it took over ten years to get my photographs returned from BMS, but he eventually did so and returned all those I lent. However I spent a few sleepless nights worrying over it over the years….
What would you be likely to pay for original copies…I would hazard a guess US$25-50 each…Ebay would be a good starting point…
Left click on images to enlarge where applicable….

European Racing, featuring Velocette……some more pics

As mentioned in a previous blog, my archive includes racing Velocette photos from Europe...
When I lived in London in 1974 and 75, I scoured older photographic sources...S.R.Keig Ltd in IOM, Keystone Press Agency and Fox Photos in London, the daily newspapers...So following are some examples, probably not seen before, although all were in the business of selling their photos to the motorcycling press of the day.....
All photos in this blog are credited to Fox Photos, London.

The first photo shows Ted Mellors with his 1936 DOHC factory 348cc Velocette, engine number KTT482/5, frame 6TT2 at the start of the Junior TT.Despite Velocette having a new spring frame which Stanley Woods and Ernie Thomas used, Mellors rode with the previous years rigid frame and he also liked a block pattern front tyre.

The second photo shows Ted pushing off...

The third is a pensive Wal Handley aboard his factory SOHC "dog-Kennel" 348cc Velocette in the pit area for the first practice of the Ulster GP, 22nd August 1935.

The racing seats, visible and looking like the dual seat we know today, were known as the "Loch Ness Monster" seat by race chief Harold Willis and the patent for this dual seat, held by Veloce Ltd, was sold to Feridax Ltd, the motorcycle seat manufacturers...another Velocette innovation.

The final photo is of Australian Frank Mussett during the 1939 Junior IOM TT on his new Mk.8 KTT Velocette, probably engine number KTT830.He finished 10th.

Left click on the images to enlarge.

Prewar alloy front motorcycle wheel rims….

When did the first alloy front wheel rims appear on racing motorcycles in Europe?
Ivan Rhodes and I have discussed this on several occasions and looking at his stock of ex-works front wheels , and many of the photos I have…1936 then was the consensus, and likely for the IOM TT.
But my view has now changed.
I’ve been closely looking at photos in “The Keig Collection” and there are examples on Norton and Moto Guzzi in the 1935 IOM TT.
In the 1936 Junior IOM TT Veloce introduced their new DOHC 350 and I am assembling an interesting blog article for this now with many photographs….looking at the front wheels, a quick glance, they are black and steel rims you say…wrong, they are the “W” pattern alloy rim we know today.
Why black….the story goes it was an attempt to “fool” Norton, but seems Norton had got hold of some too, in fact they had black painted ones in the 1935 IOM TT….!!
Who else used alloy rims in 1935?
Seems Rudge, Moto Guzzi, Norton had all acquired them.
But Rudge-Whitworth made motorcycle and car wheel rims and supplied many manufacturers.
Historically….
On 22 April 1922, the Italian company "Rudge Whitworth Milano" was established in Milan, with a share capital of 1,200,000 lire. The owner was Carlo Borrani. The company was located at Via Ugo Bassi 9, and its activity was the production and commercialisation of "wheels for cars, motorcycles, cycles and "equivalent" as per notary act at the Chamber of Commerce.
This was the official beginning of the remarkable Borrani wire wheels story.
Production started with a licence of Rudge-Whitworth from Coventry, Great Britain, which had registered a patent for mounting a wheel on a hub
1935 Lwt IOM TT, Omobono Tenni (pictured above) on his factory Moto Guzzi with alloy front rim.
by an unique splined drum, fixed by one central lock nut. This enabled an easier and faster mounting and dismounting of the wheel.
This also aroused interest from the most important racing car constructors. Just 12 months after Rudge Whitworth Milano commenced business, Alfa Romeo, Auto Union, Bianchi and Lancia started to equip their racing and deluxe cars with Borrani wheels.
Later in the 1930s, the company changed its name to "Carlo Borrani SpA". During this same period, Borrani started to experiment with light, rigid aluminium rims to replace the usual steel wheels.
The 1936 photo of Freddie Frith's factory Norton wheel, (pictured below) has a black alloy front rim.

This is from "The Keig Collection" and again I’m assembling a lot of data and photos for a future blog on it’s introduction by BMS Ltd.. the then erstwhile ex Temple Press “MotorCycling” journalist Bruce Main-Smith. I was there at the time…..
Who was fooling who….
Those first rims were welded together in a butt joint and a side plate welded beside it for strength. Alloy welding was likely in it’s infancy and the thought of a rim collapsing because of the weld breaking and pitching the rider up the road was a nightmare.
The rim illustrated is owned by Ivan Rhodes from ex works stock and I’ve perused many photos, not with all that much success, for the black rims make it difficult to determine if they were fitted with a welded side plate or whether it came later, perhaps after some weld cracking…
Tyrell-Smith (pictured above)aboard his factory 1935 Lwt IOM TT Rudge, with alloy front rim.

The photo of Stanley Woods on his winning 350 SOHC Velocette after the 1937 IOM TT clearly shows the plate…interestingly the rim is unpainted and I’ve included a close-up of the plate.
Dunlop alloy rims came later.
Opens more questions than it answers I suggest…
Left click on images to enlarge.

Prewar works Velocette alloy front rim (pictured above) from Ivan Rhodes collection...note welded side plate at the butt joint.

Stanley Woods 1938 IOM Junior TT winning works Velocette front wheel (pictured above) with alloy rim and welded side plate at the butt joint.

The "ultimate road burner"..(pictured above) 1937 works 500 SOHC Velocette, with black alloy front rim and if you look closely on the LHS just before the middle of the rim, it looks like a welded side plate.

Interesting 1939 IOM TT shot...Jimmy Little (pictured above)on his new Mk.8 KTT Velocette production racer of which all those I've seen pictured had steel front and rear rims, has an alloy front rim...h'mmm ( likely some factory help, or JL got a rim from Rudge-Whitworth...)

C.H.Manders astride a factory 250cc Excelsior Manxman racer, 1937 IOM TT, alloy front rim.

George Rowley #49 (pictured below) ,aboard a 1938 factory AJS, IOM TT, alloy front rim.

#2, Stanley Woods (pictured above) works 495cc SOHC Velocette, 1936 IOM TT, black alloy front rim.

Ted Mellors (pictured above) with his 250cc Lwt IOM TT winning Benelli, 1939, alloy front rim.

Stanley Woods is congratulated by the Governor of the IOM following his win in the 1938 Junior TT, wife Mildred stands behind. The alloy rim is clearly visible, as is the welded side plate.

Acknowledgement is made to S.R.Keig Ltd, Morton's Motorcycle Media, Fox Photos and Borrani Wheels Australia and New Zealand for photographs and some written text.

"Deep Purple"...back to the Velocette race HQ, Nursery Hotel, Onchan,IOM 1939...

What an evocative photo….. pictured in the Velocette race camp, behind the Nursery Hotel, Onchan, IOM, 10th June 1937.
I'm putting in an additonal piece...there could be some confusion over the reference to 1939 and 1937.
The photo is taken in 1937, but it exactly depicts the scene written about below, in 1939, with the exception of Harold Willis....
Stanley Woods leans on his factory 348cc SOHC Velocette speaking to Harold Willis. Ted Mellors factory 495cc SOHC bike #10 is pictured inside…note the block tread front tyre, favoured by Mellors. Tommy Mutton, works racing mechanic is immediately behind SW’s arm and Charles Udall adjusts the radio …
Let me quote from Bob Burgess and Jeff Clew’s “Always in the Picture” (publ. Goose & Sons 1971), page 139…. Reference to the 1939 IOM TT races-
“At the Nursery Hotel we found the shed that was to be our workshop just as it had been left after the 1938 TT. Behind one of the work benches there was still a card on which Willis had written instructions for the use of some insulated cables near by indicating that they were aerial and earth leads respectively for the radio that was brought over. The message concluded, “Do not remove- it is well arranged.” When I read these it was just as though he had spoken to me as so very often I have heard him use the phrase “Well arranged” in referring to anything that had been done satisfactorily.
“The radio was soon working and we also fixed up the toy telephone set from the workshop to our gate. Although just a cheap toy this was most useful and worked well; making it possible to intercept those callers whom we wished to exclude from the workshop.
“In 1939 one of the popular tunes that we heard often from our radio was ‘Deep Purple’, and even now after the passing of so many years I have only to hear it again to be taken right back in spirit to that wooden shed in Onchan. I little realised that sad, and uneasy, June just before the TT was to be the last before the war stopped all pleasurable activities and an era that to me represented a Golden Age. We did not foresee that the wonderful new 500 racer would never be used for the purpose for which it had been produced.
“Charles Udall and Tommy Mutton arrived with it one afternoon and very soon afterwards Stanley Woods was able to take it out up the course for a run over ‘open’ roads- it is very handy to slip out of the Nursery up the road to Signpost without going through populous districts. Woods said of it after this ride that is was the best steering motorcycles that he had ever ridden; high praise for an entirely new design right off Udall’s drawing-board! It was almost impossible to get near the model when it was in the pit area during evening practice.”
The comments above came from Bob Burgess, Veloce Service manager at the time.
Sadly Harold Willis died of meningitis during race week, a complication that followed a relatively minor operation and never saw Stanley Woods 350cc Junior TT win.
I play “Deep Purple” in Dixieland jazz bands and when we do so, I’m also taken back in my mind,to the photo , illustrated…even though it was two years before Bob Burgess’s evocative story above…..
Are you a muso?
The music is included….

Acknowledgement is made to Morton's Motorcycle Media, owners of the photo copyright.
Left click on the images to enlarge.

European racing, featuring Velocette....

Yes my archive includes racing Velocette photos from Europe...

When I lived in London in 1974 and 75, I scoured older photographic sources...S.R.Keig Ltd in IOM, Keystone Press Agency and Fox Photos in London, the daily newspapers...So following are some examples, probably not seen before, although all were in the business of selling their photos to the motorcycling press of the day.....

First photo is Les Graham #91, at Sulby Bridge, IOM during Junior TT, June 5 1951, Fox Photo.

The second is Les Graham #20, during the 1951 Berne GP which he won, 28th May 1951. There was some problem at the time over no official Swiss GP, as racing was frowned on, hence the Berne GP....Keystone Press Agency Photo

The third is a Craig-ny-Baa, IOM, 1939 and shows Les Dear #14 and Guy Newman #18, both on new KTT Mk.8s during the Junior TT. June 12th 1939. Fox Photo.

The final shot is during the Swiss GP at Geneva, 19th May 1948 with Artie Bell #38, Norton ( the eventual winner) followed by David Whitworth #8 Velocette Mk.8 KTT. Keystone Press Agency Photo.

Acknowledgement is made to Keystone Press Agency and Fox Photos for the use of the photos illustrating this blog.

Left click on images to enlarge.

Racing in Australia. with the emphasis on Velocette…more photos

I'm still “on a roll” as they say, so more pics from Australian racing….
Left click on images to enlarge, where possible.

First photo is Alan Boyle on Les Slaughter's ex works KTT...either Ktt1029 or KTT1030, at Parramatta Park,Sydney September 1952. (Thanks to Jim Scaysbrook, editor and publisher of "Old Bike Australasia" for correctly identifying where this pic was taken).


Second photo is at The Poplars circuit on the outskirts of Sydney, Easter Saturday 1949, start of the second heat of the Minature TT championship event...#12 Les Slaughter, #3 Jack Forrest, #6 Sid Willis.

Third photo is of popular road racer the late Sid Lawrence on his MAC scrambler at Moorebank scambles circuit, south of Sydney.

Final photo is in the late 1970s at Amaroo Park road racing circuit on the Northern outskirts of Sydney. John Herrick makes "adjustments" to his "600cc squish head" Venom special, my KTT and Smith framed Carey headed MAC racer in the background.