1927 Model U 250cc two-stroke (engine #26)

The Model U Velocette two-stroke came to me as a motor and gearbox in a frame that had been chopped about and had various lengths of angle iron and water pipe attached (see below), in a framework that was someone's attempt to construct a small garden plow!

There were no forks and no wheels, but the motor was in reasonable condition, but without a magneto or frame. These models had a bad frame fault immediately behind the clutch, not only was the basic design weak, but the fact that when the gearbox was adjusted to it's rearmost position, the primary chain which would certainly have been in a badly worn condition, would cut into the frame lug at it's most vulnerable spot, and every frame that I had, had been repaired at this spot.

The most interesting feature of the motor was that with a serial number of 26, it was obvious that it was of the very first batch of U models that records claimed to be from 1927. A letter to Ivan Rhodes in the UK confirmed that No. 26 left the factory premises on the 2nd January 1928, bound for an agent in Melbourne, Schofield & Goodman. The Goodman name would appear to indicate that at this period one of the Veloce Goodman brothers may have had a financial interest in this agency, although I know of no factual proof of this. The date 2nd January indicates the state of those times, the factory being fully operational the day after New Year's Day, with machines on the floor packed ready for export!

The first U models were equipped with reversed levers and one assumes throttle and air levers, but 'modern' levers and a throttle twist grip were an option. A photo of a batch of them being road tested at the works shows a mixture of controls fitted, however No. 26 is listed on a copy of the works consignment note as being fitted with a twist grip and ML magneto, this indicates that different magneto's were also an option.

The record shows the frame number as 24, but as the original frame had had the head stock removed (amongst other things!) I chose to make up a frame from the remains of two other wrecked frames and as a matter of course I stamped the result No. 24! I had a correct rear wheel hub, but the front wheel was another matter. These hubs were the same as those fitted to the MOV and MAC at a later date, but the brake shoes and drums were increased in width at some point, probably with the advent of the MOV, so it is that the front hub happens to be of the greater width. The front brake plate on the U models had a distinctive depression in the water deflector to allow clearance for the brake rod and lever, luckily I had one of these!

Strangely the lightweight Webb forks of this era seem to have survived, not so the slightly heavier ones fitted to the MOVs! So I had the choice of three sets, although one set from a complete bike that had lain in a dam in Western Australia was not the best, this particular bike having very few recoverable parts apart from the cast rear hub.

The mudguards of the U were of the same pattern as that of the previous two-stroke models, but the width of the rear guard was increased, but the front forks only allowed the narrower guards of the previous models, in any case, not many of these guards have survived and I chose to use brand new CZ guards, from Frank Mussett's old stock. These guards had a central ridge which I flattened and smoothed, the result being pretty close to the originals, but of the same width front and back. For clutch and front brake levers I used the same trick as I have used before, later 'pressed' levers are filled in with weld and finished off in the linisher to the point that they appear to be solid as the earlier levers were. I have the rusted remains of the original tubular rear carrier, and this was reproduced exactly.

Rear stands are another item that had a low survival rate and when I had rebuilt the 1929 U model 32 (it's selling price in Pounds Sterling) I had fabricated two rear stands at the same time, but in fact they differ! The later models being fitted with dual tubular silencers which due to a design quirk made it necessary to run the stand outside of the exhaust silencer on the right hand side, but inside on the left! Int he case of the very first models a silencer was fitted across the front of the frame the same as the earlier two-strokes and the twin exhaust pipes run into this, a tail pipe going back under the engine to below the gearbox. This resulted in a quite normal rear stand fitment.

Another feature of the first batches of machines was the petrol tank. This was the first machine that Veloce had fitted with a saddle tank, in fact they were one of the first makes to use this new idea. But it became necessary to fabricate the early tanks from formed tin plate sections which were soldered together. I have only seen two of these early tanks and the records make no mention of how many were thus equipped, but it wasn't long before steel pressings had been made and a more conventional saddle tank was produced. The shape was more rounded and very similar to the first of the GTPs and the KSS's of the period which had also progressed from the early flat tank models.
Electric lighting was an option on these machines, but it was apparently a dubious choice as the Maglita magneto/generator combination proved to be rather unreliable! In any case this machine left the factory without lighting, which was probably true of most machines, the owners probably opting for a set of gas lights, although many motorcycles of this period had owners who never ventured out after dark, the first Velocette KSS that I rode was fitted with a push bike generator set running on the rear tire!

The original gearbox was in very bad condition with the case beyond repair. These boxes were rather fragile and you would be very fortunate to find one of these models with workable gearbox, however I was extremely lucky a few years ago when a fellow club member phoned me and said he had discovered a strange looking 'box' which appeared to be Velocette. It had been dropped and the outer cast iron clutch plate broken. I bought it for a very reasonable sum and was delighted to pull it apart and find that for some reason this gearbox was in unworn, unmarked condition, so this machine can claim to have an as new gearbox if nothing else!

Parts made for this machine were – rear carrier, mudguards, front and rear stands, foot brake pedal, brake rods and fittings, chain guards, foot rest assembly, engine plates, exhaust stub nuts, exhaust pipes and muffler box. The tool box while of the correct shape is of steel sheet construction, the original tool boxes were a leather box with an outer tin plate cover.

The engine has been resleeved back to just below standard to fit an original hardly worn cast iron piston, the roller big end was just assembled from odd bits in the spare parts box, the only other moving part, the main shaft and bushing was in good condition. The only time consuming assembly job was the checking and fitting up of the lubrication adjustable metering system, these have all been butchered over the years and are very difficult to return to correct working condition. One is almost tempted to convert to Petroil! However the finished engine runs like a Swiss watch and I may be tempted to put the bike on the road under club permit in the future.