The bigger a one cylinder engine gets the harder it is to start. That's why I prefer my BSA C-15 250 singles. Easier to live with and fast enough for me.
Velocette was a profitable company until they bet the farm and built a very heavy, slow, ugly, and expensive scooter that didn't sell. That sank the company. Velocette also made the frames for Royal Enfield one of the reasons they sank as well. You didn't see Velocette used much off road . Stupid management sank all the great British companies besides the motorcycle industry.😢 They used to make great motorcycles and cars too.
Hey Phil, my dad owns a 1937 MSS that I have had the pleasure of riding ( he still rides it) throughout my life. These motorcycles are absolutely fantastic but you have to have ridden them to truly understand. I was able to take the Velo to a local racetrack in South Africa for a couple of laps which il never forget. Velocettes have somewhat of a following where ever they ended up. I had the pleasure of seeing a MkVIII get rebuilt over a number of years that eventually went to race in England. Thanks for your channel.
An electric start conversion kit would make a lot of sense with these bikes that have a certain knack of starting them, like all bikes if you don't ride it every day starting can be alien at times,
I used to own VMT 267 I bought it from my friend George Hecht . I sold it back to him for the same price I paid for it 700dollars This was in Ithaca NY in 1969 . Hi George where ever you are, Pete Kordziel
Yeah the Thruxton race track is still there, just north of Andover in Hampshire, and the is fastest motor race track in the UK. Still used for car and bike racing.
I had a Venom Clubman from '65 to '67 and loved it. Would I be tempted to ride one now? No way, I'd probably break my ankle trying to start it. At 76, I'll settle for the convenience of my 1290SAS.
I remember the 'Scruffy Devil' article: 'The fibreglass seat looks like it had been laminated in the dark whilst wearing boxing gloves' is as close as I can recall, also a rumour about a few squish heads. Thanks for the vid.
I like the cammy Veloes. I rode a 67, if memory serves Thruxton and although it's I suppose impressive for it's day I can't believe they were still being sold in 1969! I won't deny they're pretty but the guy who owned the one I rode paid £26k for his which was in no way concourse. It's an experience but bang for your buck, no! Oh, and there is still a track at Thruxton.
Many motorcyclists have regrets of acquiring long term painful injuries and becoming a burden. Aside from their propensity to maim people, bikes also seem to appeal greatly to the worst members of society, lowlife gangsters
Nice "mud-flood" old world buildings in New Zealand. This prior civilization was there long before the maori set forth from Hawaiiki(Taiwan) to various South Pacific locations including NZ. The trams are another nice leftover artifact from this civilization. A rather intelligent video, cheers
10:03 Nick Tompson's racing Velo known as 'the Fisher and Paykel special'. F+P is a New Zealand brand of 'whiteware' ie washing machines, tumble driers etc. When built up as a racer, the bike got a liberal slosh of white paint (whatever fell to hand), contrary to the usual custom of black everything on Brit bikes. I note that it STILL has upturned clip-ons. It's been like that for about 40 years.
I got stuck at a petrol station for over an hour last year trying to start my MAC. I've found (for me!) it's best to have the throttle open a bit and then it bursts into life. Lovely bikes and thanks for the videos, I saw them mentioned in Fishtail
I find my Norton Commando 850 likes a crack of throttle to fire up the dual Amal Concentric carbs, despite what seasoned owners/builders have recommended to me...I have no chokes installed, but it likes throttle open a tad when warm or cold starting, plus tickle when cold.
App 14 minutes into this brilliant video also explain why the Velocette demised. It is very hard to start. Yes I have one - fitted with an electrical starter.
Flood the carby first . Couldn't see where the advance retard was set. Then after finding compression come up fully and a decent full kick not stabbing and they will go first or second kick
You people have no idea how to start an old British bike. Once you get them to the top of the compression stroke you need to jump up and get your full weight on the kickstarter pedal. Pushing the kickstart with your right leg in a standing position doesn't give enough momentum to start the bike. I started riding motorbikes in 1964 so , I think I have a fair bit of experience with old british motorbikes.
aCtually according to all I have read on the subject, the Velo takes a little different starting method....get it to top of compression, then pull in the Ex. valve lifter to get it just over TDC, kick it one full stroke of the lever to the bottom position, let it come come up fully, with Ex. lifter released, now give it a full hard kick. Important as the gearbox & kicker ratio is not like other bikes and it needs a lot of flywheel momentum to bring it over the top of compression to have a chance to fire up.
A Thruxton is a wee bit of a challenge to start. Especially if they still retain the GP carb. More than your average British single. 😂😂😂. These boys have been playing with them for a while. One at least since the 1960s. You can start a Matchless G80 in half a kick. But a Velo especially a Thruxton is way way way harder to start. Kicking British singles since 1968. 😁
Had a talk to the guys about the hard starting. They said they had just done a long run and the bikes were hot. They think the issue was petrol evaporating in the carbs. The bikes were fine to start when cold.
This is the exact technique I've used to start many different and high compression motorcycles. Also at the end of the kick-starter stroke immediately lift your leg in the event of a kick back. I've tried to show this to many riders under the age of 60 who have bought classic motorcycles. It's an art they just can't seem to get
Vellos are fantastic bikes. Back in 1959 I had a 1954 MSS that I took my test on. The factory was unbelievable overhead shafts with belts leading to the machines. Those people want to learn how to start them, they made a real hash of it!
I counted 21 attempts on bike #1, and another 12? on bike #2 right at the end of the video. These were presumably running the GP carbs and god knows what engine mods (racing bikes??), but the two riders are obviously seasoned Velo owners....what hope does that give me! I'm about to take ownership of a '54 Velo as my first velo...might even be your original bike ;-)
@TornadoCAN99 Wow! thats fantastic, I'm sure that you'll be delighted with it. Don't expect it to stop or the 6v electrics to be up to much!! If it's an MSS, does it have the excellent two level original dual seat and the adjustable rear suspension via the big hand wheels? Starting is an art, it's very well described in the original handbook. I'm afraid that despite what you said those lads knew nothing about how to start one, it isn't as difficult as they made out. Wishing you many happy Velo riding miles.
@tonycamplin8607 yes my MSS has the two level seat. Quite a few spendy bits bolted on: new stainless wheels; tires; rear hard pannier cases, stainless rear rack, electronic BTH mag, 12v electrics, belt drive primary kit, Amal concentric premier carb, TLS front brake off a BSA I believe. Also has turn signal lamps fitted, an absolute necessity in modern traffic. Expected to arrive here in Western Canada from Liverpool early March.
I lived near Thruxton in the 10’s. After the IOM TT, Thruxton was the most famous motorcycle race track in Britain. Before I left the area I heard a rumour that some toff had bought an estate nearby and was using all their influence to get racing banned there because they didn’t like the noise.
I like the style of your videos. Please keep them like that. The last "starting" scene was brilliant. So honest and beautiful:) For some reason it's very enjoyable to watch.
Beautiful! Especially pleased the sound quality so so good, I love hearing a big single run. I have a question, the arc at the top of the shock mount, is that so the angle of the shock can be changed, thus, changing the front end rake? Or, is it merely decorative?
The "arc" is to adjust the suspension softness, if you are using the bike with a full load, move the top of the suspension unit more vertical to give a harder suspension. Chris B.
@@453421abcdefg12345 thank you, that makes sense. In some cases, on other motorcycles, the length of the shock was changed to influence the rake of the steering head. If you used a longer shock it would decrease the rake, a shorter shock would increase it. I had a Yamaha DT 3 with a modified swing arm that lowered the rear slightly and increased the rake to improve the off-road handling. I thought this might be something similar to tune for different race courses. I have been wondering about those arcs for at least three decades, thanks for clearing it up for me.
@@terrycavender 3 decades! You are a patient man. The Vincent had an eccentric cam on the front fork to alter the amount of trail on the fork for solo/sidecar use, this was a very good idea but some people rode with the cam set on sidecar trail and got into difficulties. The Velocette suspension was designed at the very beginning of suspension /damper technology so it was thought a good idea to have an adjustable system to cater for varying rider/load situations, now of cause the units are adjustable, but then the units were of the oleomatic type with air pumped in for varying weight. Stay safe! Chris B.
Love it both are solid first kick deniers. Velos always remained free in spirit and character, regardless of the rider. ;-) I didn’t hear much about the Canadian GP entry in 1967 by Andreas Georgeades who became 5th after 2 matchless, a mv agusta and mike on honda. I own a 62 Venom Clubman II.
Sounds like my old bike. Used to jump out of 2nd and bend the valves......cause: sloppy rearset linkage, shimmed it out. Maybe not the best bike for a skint novice but the handling was amazing.
Very nice! There is absolutely nothing wrong with the tyre size on these, you will find, if you have a dice with a modern fat tyred bike, that with the huge fat tyres, which are a hang over from fat tyres on cars, the rider has to lean the bike over much further to get around a corner, on a Velo you can get around the same bend without touching the footrest, try it, you will be surprised. I like the end start up, surely that was a joke, any properly set up Velo will start second kick even with a GP carb. Chris B.
Got his technique all wrong, you're supposed to take it all the way down from compression, before bringing it up to kick I thought, not halfway. Just sayin'..
Cont,d All, and it was good my Velocette bikes were reliable and fast. After Charlie had worked on them. Clutch always needed to be set up very carefully. You could never hold the the clutch in while stationery, and in gear. Knock it into neutral before stopping, it would then last for thousands of miles.
As teenagers bought up in New Zealand on British cars and motorbike's we were always taught to NEVER hold the clutch in while stationery, and in gear. I think the clutch thrust bearings were made of cork! No, not really! But a material that rapidly wore out. A lot of work to repair. And of course, stationary, and in gear, it was impossible on a Brit bike to find neutral with the clutch pulled in.
Fantastic motorcycles, I had two 1938 kss and a mss. My friend Charlie Neal, converted the mss as much as possible to Venom specifications. Charlie was a perfectionist, and brilliant engineer.
