Britbike forum Forums Thread Like Summary - Picked up a Velocette, need a little help

Hi all, bought a Velo and I'm trying to figure out the year , etc. Currently no spark with a Lucas Competition magneto



Anyone know of US suppliers?
Thanks, Pete

it needs a gladiator quarter fairing

Congratulations on the bike.

Since I've been going up and down the 15 steps to my library countless times each day this week, on one of those trips I checked my master book of numbers for Velocette records. The 1st MSS of 1963 had engine no. 12979 (yours came 94 later) and the first of 1965 was 13120 (yours came 97 earlier). Ivan Rhodes lists 13079S as having been invoiced on 20 Dec. 1963 and 13063S on 29 May 1964 (not a typo; earlier s/n, later invoice) so they weren't all to perfect sequence, but it seems pretty likely that yours was made in the middle of the 1964 model run..

Rod Burris says the last MSS was 13276 so there were only another ~250 MSS models made after yours.

Some books for your library that contain at least some MSS content:

General
Allen, C.E. 'Titch', Velocette Saga, The, Amulree,1994
Bacon, Roy, Velocette Viper, Venom and Thruxton, Niton Publishing, 1990
Burgess, R.W. and J.R. Clew, Always in the Picture: A History of the Velocette Motorcycle, Haynes Publishing, 1980
Burris, Rod, Velocette: A Development History of the MSS, Venom, Viper, Thruxton and Scrambler Models, Haynes Publishing, 1982
Henshaw, Peter, Essential Buyer's Guide, The: Velocette 350 & 500 Singles, Veloce Publishing 2016
Main-Smith, Bruce, First Velocette Scene, The, Bruce Main-Smith, 1977
Masters, Dave, Velocette: A List of Models, D.J. Masters, 1974
Masters, Dave Velocette 1905-1971: An Illustrated Reference, Transport Bookman, 1976
Moseley, Leonard J., My Velocette Days, Transport Bookman, 1974
Rhodes, Ivan, Velocette: Technical Excellence Exemplified, Osprey Publishing, 1990
Walker, Mick, Velocette Production Motorcycles, Crowood Press, 2006

Manuals
Clew, Jeff, Owner's Workshop Manual: Velocette Singles 349 and 499cc, 1953-71, Haynes, 1975
Leigh, Ferrers, Book of the Velocette, The, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1970
Lund, Gordon, Velocette KSS Mk 2: A Restoration Guide, Brooklands Books, 2018
Main-Smith, Bruce, Velocette Viper/Venom/Thruxton 350 and 500 Singles, All Years, Bruce Main-Smith, 1978

That Velocette did not leave the shed it was stored in for 25 years willingly. A locked front brake, Pete ,myself and a few other guys there to buy old BMW's dragged it 200 feet and into a trailer. It's an interesting lump and Pete will have it running shortly,well sort of shortly.....

Velocette, more even than other Brit manufacturers, tended to build bikes from what was on the shelf. Your's would appear to be a prime example of that. Left side oil tank and S suffix on engine # say scrambler (also the lack of headlight mounting sleeves) but the large fuel tank and exhaust are for a road bike. Looks like your rear wheel is also not scrambler. If it is a scrambler motor it will basically be a Venom. A road MSS would have a #14 gearbox, a scrambler or Venom will have a 12. Hardly matters, it is what it is and you can turn it into what ever you like. There is no really good supplier of Velo parts in the US. Grove Classic Motorcycles or Tank's Classics in the UK are good. Ed Gilkison has some mechanical stock but over the past few years he has directed a number of people to me. I have more than I should but not enough to be a comprehensive supplier.

Nice find !

• There was ONLY non-detergent oil back then, so there's going to be sediment settled in every corner. High detergent didn't come into general use until 1976-68, and then mostly in car grades.

• Ex-Velocette dealer Beno Rodi (770-867-1676 in Atlanta) is an expert at building multi-piece cranks for big singles. He's got all the tools, alignment jigs, gauges, etc... and used to stock a lot of Alpha big end kits too. He builds crank assemblies for Dick Man and others. Here he is truing one for Dave Aldana...




Also rebuilds K2FC's in his spare time. He also has the only Lucas armature tester I've ever seen...