The Swallows
Ken Swallow of Golcar near Huddersfield had been a keen
racer during the 1940-s and 1950’s on an array of machines including a Scott,
Nortons, an AJS 7R and a Matchless G45. He was also a motorcycle dealer for DOT
and Velocette. Ken had 5 sons and it was no surprise that most took up racing.
This article will focus on Bill and Alec (twin brothers), but Richard had much success at the Manx GP on Aermacchi machines amongst others.
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| Richard, Ken, Bill, Steve, Alec & Jim |
This article will focus on Bill and Alec (twin brothers), but Richard had much success at the Manx GP on Aermacchi machines amongst others.
Given the Velocette dealership owned by their father, it was
perhaps natural that Bill and Alec went on to race Velos.
Bill
Bill started racing in 1968 whilst still at school. Bill was very fortunate to have the opportunity to use an engine that was the envy of the rest of the Yorkshire Velocette Mafia. Ken Swallow had obtained one of the special ‘squish’ engines that the Velocette factory built for use in the 1967 Production TT. The ‘squish’ Velo engine produced a true 45 BHP, so as supplied was some 12% more powerful than what could be extracted from most 2 valve Venom based racing engines used by others in the group. The engine Bill used had the number VMT803R. Apart from the squish head, piston and shorter barrel, the engine was pretty much standard Thruxton and ran on taper-roller main bearings. The barrel had one less fin to suit the squish piston, which was machined from a Manx Norton forging. Nimonic valves were used in both the inlet and exhaust.
Bill started racing in 1968 whilst still at school. Bill was very fortunate to have the opportunity to use an engine that was the envy of the rest of the Yorkshire Velocette Mafia. Ken Swallow had obtained one of the special ‘squish’ engines that the Velocette factory built for use in the 1967 Production TT. The ‘squish’ Velo engine produced a true 45 BHP, so as supplied was some 12% more powerful than what could be extracted from most 2 valve Venom based racing engines used by others in the group. The engine Bill used had the number VMT803R. Apart from the squish head, piston and shorter barrel, the engine was pretty much standard Thruxton and ran on taper-roller main bearings. The barrel had one less fin to suit the squish piston, which was machined from a Manx Norton forging. Nimonic valves were used in both the inlet and exhaust.
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| Bill Swallow's home-made duplex framed Velocette |
By 1971 Bill’s machine had a home built frame and Metal
Profile forks, however handling limitations resulted in it being replaced by a
Norton Featherbed item in 1975. At the same time a Quaife 5 speed gearbox and
Oldani drum brake were fitted to his bike. Further development of the machine
led to modifying the Featherbed frame by utilising a straight tube from the
swinging-arm to the steering head. Later a single disc front brake was added
which was originally made by Shaun Waters before being used by Alan Coultas
(both of them having now opted for twin disc brakes).
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| 'Scruffy Devil' |
Bill had much success with his Velocette and raced it
continuously until the late 1980’s. A highlight was probably Bill’s victory in
the 1986 500cc Kennings Classic Bike Championship. Continuous development had
continued during this period which included modifications such as mounting the
oil tank under the engine and fitting a full fairing. In a Classic Racer test
by Mac MacDiarmond in 1987, Bill’s Velo was christened the ‘Scruffy Devil’.
With Bill racing Seeleys, Aermacchis and Nortons from the
late 80s, his Velo was mothballed for a good few years. In more recent times it
has raced by his son Chris when starting his riding career and also latterly by
Bill in classic racing events.
Alec
At the other side of the Swallow camp, in fact in his shed at the other end of his father's garden, Alec without the Works squish engine had to be a little more creative in his efforts to extract more speed from his racing Velos.
At the other side of the Swallow camp, in fact in his shed at the other end of his father's garden, Alec without the Works squish engine had to be a little more creative in his efforts to extract more speed from his racing Velos.
Alec started racing at the same time as his twin brother and
served an apprenticeship at David Brown of Huddersfield after leaving school at
sixteen. This broad engineering background put him in great stead when it came to
putting his ideas into practice and allowed him manufacture all manner of
components found on a racing motorcycle. From chain-driven OHC and DOHC Venom
cylinder heads, to spine-frames, brakes and fairings; over the years he made
them all.
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| Alec and his spine-framed machine - 1975 Southern 100 |
At first Alec raced a standard framed Velocette, but soon realised
that losing weight was the way to go. His ‘Loch Ness’ spine-framed machine
carried both petrol and oil within the main frame tube and had neither tank nor
front downtube. The pair of AMC Teledraulic forks fitted to this machine had
been taken from his father’s Matchless G45 when it was fitted with Earles forks
in the late 1950s and were subsequently fitted with a Tickle front brake.
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| Alec on the spine-framed Velocette at Croft chicane. |
Alec fabricated the
distinctive fairing from a single sheet of alloy, before making a mould and
laying-up his own ‘reduced height’ Mountain Mile type fibreglass fairing that
he used latterly. He would regularly swap between pushrod/OHC/DOHC engines as
trouble occurred in his never-ending quest for power. He competed on his
Velocette Special in the Senior Manx Grand Prix every year from 1976 until 1980,
using the spine frame in 1976, the DOHC in 1977 and the OHC fitted to a Seeley MK4 frame in 1980.
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| Seeley framed OHC Velocette - MGP 1980 |
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