Tuesday, June 16, 2009
When I come to do a new blog, usually I have a subject in mind...in fact I have a "Velobanjogent" folder in My Documents on my computer and within it are numerous other folders of varying titles containing photos for future use etc... well now I've whetted your appetite, like what?
"DOHC Velos", "TT and Manx GP", "Waycott 600cc SOHC Velo outfit","The 4 cylinder Velocette", more Keith Bryen and Allan Schafer photos to name some....
But this time I was taken by various pics, in no special order or detail as I assemble the next edition of the Australian Velocette OC magazine, "FishTailDownUnder" which you may recall I'm editor...so they form this blog....
Left click on images to enlarge.
This photo below is of a solid silver Velocette KTT Mk.8 engine. Made by a jeweller in New Zealand and presented yearly at the Classic motorcycle races at Pukekohe in February for the winner of the Velocette race. I remember winning it in I think 1981 on my Mk.8..foolishly I thought I got to take it home! But the best that occured was to look at it and eventually get my name engraved on a winners plaque...
Great "bit of kit" as they say.....
Pictured below is Barrie James with Geoff Dodkin, former London Velocette dealer and one of GD's Velo specials, now owned by Barrie.....
Barrie also sent this photo of the special 5" Velocette clock in a wooden plinth, given to him by Geoff Dodkin.
This brought back memories, for we built this clock in my shop in the 1980's and I presented it to Geoff in his motorcycle shop in East Sheene, London, UK. He's kept it all these years and it was nice to see it passed on to a Velocette enthusiast.
This next cartoon tickled my fancy as they say...
When Australia went to metric measure in the 1970's, a small booklet was published on "Understanding SI metrification" and this cartoon illustrated it....
In the late 1940s in Sydney a Velocette racer, Ted Carey, made his DOHC 250 Velocette engine on a 250 MOV pushrod engine, with a gear train a la MV.Benelli etc and of course Australian Les Diener and some others elsewhere in the world did likewise.
The engine has been owned by Sydney engine builder Malcolm Sullivan since the 1960s and with the recent interest in Classic racing fitted it into a variation of the UK Doug Beasley swinging arm frame...nice bit of kit...
And finally...published by good friend John Jennings on his blog..."Private Owner Downunder, the story of a vintage Velo racer" ......(http://ozvintageracer.blogspot.com/ ), is this super evocative photo of a man and his machine, and yes I admit I'm biased, it's my old Velocette Thruxton...
Tony Keene, its next owner, astride it at the National Velocette Owners Club of Australia National Rally at Bundenoon, south of Sydney, in October 1986....
For the third time...." a great bit of kit"........