Monday, February 25, 2013

171.600MPH from a single cylinder Velocette at Lake Gairdner, South Australia..!!!

Wow....an email from Australian Velo Clubmember Stuart Hooper with the news that at the speed week trials on the salt lakes at Lake Gairdner in South Australia his supercharged single cylinder Velocette did 171.600mph.....
Stuart has set previous records at Lake Gairdner and also at Bonneville Salt Flats....

His email follows....


Hi to all,
For the first time in many years Lake Gairdner Speed Trials were unaffected by wet weather.  The surface was initially a little rough and the weather very hot requiring a careful eye on engine temperatures and excessively rich mixtures to ensure the engine survived the meeting. After a steady sighting run to check out the new body and steering geometry the Big Velo ran 166 mph on its second outing !!!!  This was good cause for celebration as the Velo was now the Worlds fastest British single surpassing the fantastic Vincent Might Mouse of Bryan Chapman.
 After a photo session day I decided a higher speed was possible and lined up again with a bit higher gearing and a higher ratio supercharger drive. The third run was only 152mph but this was against a 15 to 20 mph headwind so it was back in line for another 8 hrs for one final run. Friday morning was calm and cool, ideal conditions.......... but the morning ticked inexorably by with one delay after another and a headwind starting to flutter the flags and things looking like the meeting could be cancelled without another run. Finally the track was clear and the Big Velo boomed away from the line with its nearly 100mph first gear into a 7 to 10 mph gusting head and slight crosswind. By the time I changed up from third into top at 156mph the bike was weaving and darting about somewhat in the ruts on the track and the odd gusts of wind, but with the throttle hard against the stop one hand hovering over the clutch lever and the revs climbing towards the 6500 mark the track markers started to slip by faster and faster  until the final timing light flashed past and it was time to slow down with the old Venom single leading shoe brake smelling as only red hot 50 year old asbestos can. Back to the pits to see the crew flashing lights, cheering and jumping around !!!!......... 171.600 mph !!     .....  A fantastic end to a great week....... The Velocette name is again in the record books where it belongs !
Worlds Fastest Velocette.
Worlds Fastest British Single
Worlds Fastest Single Cylinder Sit On Motorcycle.
A sincere thanks for the support to my crew and all of you over the years,
Stuart Hooper
ps..... Just how fast can a Velo go ?
In the preparation for this attempt, Stuart supercharged the single cylinder engine and sent these photographs... 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Pen and Ink illustrations, cartoons from my usual sources....been a couple of years since I run any....as mentioned back then, I'm a great fan of them.....

As I'm currently running a section in the Australian Velocette Owners Club magazine which I edit...FTDU or FishTailDownUnder...on technical pen and ink drawings this is as good a time as any to review some more in my blog.
The two major English motorcycle magazines from the early 1900's up into the 1970's, "The MotorCycle" and "MotorCycling", ran many as did the French magazine"MotoRevue"...
All great resources....
Relax with me as we wander back in time.....But before we launch into the drawings, a photo I like a lot...
The original was in poor condition as you'll see by the bottom LH corner...
Two Aussies hard at it on home built 250 DOHC Velocettes...#31 is Les Diener on his newly built 250 DOHC based on a pushrod MOV and still in a rigid frame...hard on him is #15 Alan Burt riding the Waggott 250 DOHC Velocette based on a KTT engine and again in a rigid frame..taken at the races in Mildura, Victoria on the NSW/Victoria border, but unsure when...DQ will have to do some research and correct this post....