OHC Velocette – it could only be in a shed in Yorkshire

I was ferreting around West Yorkshire, when I ended up next to the Emley Moor radio mast. When I see that mast it means only one thing, I must go and call on an old friend who is in the vicinity.

When I think of Velocette ‘Specials’, bikes made in Yorkshire spring to mind. When you think of Yorkshire Velocettes, the name Swallow also springs to mind. If you combine Yorkshire, Velocettes and Swallows you end up with some interesting machines indeed.

Alec's badge of honour

The Swallow name is synonymous with Velocette, due to Ken Swallow being a Velocette dealer for many years in Station Road, Golcar. It was one of Ken’s son’s Alec that I went to visit.

As the van was parked on the main Kirkburton road, I immediately heard a single cylinder fire into life. Knowing this could only be Alec, I had to run to his house before he disappeared off on something tasty.

It was indeed Alec who had just finished sorting a Velo for a customer of his and was about to ride off to Leeds to deliver it. Seeing as we had called, Alec was quite happy to delay the trip so we could spend half an hour or so in the shed.

The Velo Alec had just finished rebuilding for a customer

If you asked Alec how he spends his time, he would probably say “pottering”. Now if Alec’s time is spent pottering, it is the sort of pottering I approve of!

Every time I visit Alec he seems to have been up to something new. Alec ‘s engineering work is not in the style of many – i.e. open up the cheque book and pay for a collection of parts. Alec is a man after my own heart – he enjoys building specials, and he does it himself. After all this is Yorkshire.

It was only a quick trip to see Alec, so I only got chance for a brief natter and to take a few photos of what he’s been up to. To quote Alec, “it’s not one for the purists” – and that is what makes it far more interesting!

Always something exciting to see - Alec's new SOHC Velo

The basis for the engine is a trusty Venom, but it is fair to say it looks a little different. When you consider that Alec has re-vamped the valve train and converted the engine to a SOHC setup, it is quite remarkable that the engine still looks so similar to a standard Venom. It is a neat setup that Alec has come up with and is pleasing on the eye. The camshaft is driven by a chain running from the original cam gear in the timing case, which still provides the required 2:1 reduction. This means that an equal number of teeth can be used on the drive sprockets, which in turn allows the chain-wheel in the head to be of a small diameter. This makes for a light and attractive looking top-end.  You might notice that ‘mk3’ is stamped on the cam chain cover – and for good reason. Alec has built two over-head-cam Venoms before – one a DOHC and one a SOHC.

 You see what I mean about Alec liking to do things himself?

 These earlier machines were built during Alec’s racing days in the 1960/70’s. It was not just special engines that were made during this period, as he also built his own frames (including a spine frame for a Velo based upon the Loch Ness monster) and built his own fibreglass fairings, tanks etc.

It is not just this new mk3 SOHC Venom engine that Alec has been working on. He has fitted the engine in a standard Velocette frame, which he has had to modify to accommodate. I was really impressed to see that Alec had made all the moulds and then done the fibreglass work for the tank, seat and oil tank on this bike. You will also see the interesting brake on the front of the machine. This is another leftover from Alec’s racing days, which uses a hydraulic conversion brake plate in a Norton hub.

A very neat looking machine

Alec's very nice hydraulic brake conversion

So that was my short trip to see one of the characters of the Yorkshire Velocette Mafia. It was only a fleeting visit to Alec’s so I have only kept this post short. But next time I am up I will go into a few other Velo specials that Alec has made over the years.

Alec even made the tanks, seat and mudguard for his new special

Barton Motors - the Sparton, the Phoenix and more

In the late 1970’s some of the most powerful racing motorcycles were built in an isolated chapel in Caernarvonshire. From the Nazareth chapel in Pontrug , Barton Motors produced some very interesting large capacity two-stroke racing motorcycles.

Nazareth Chapel Pontrug

Barton Motors was started by Barry Hart and Tony Ryan. The Barton name is derived from the first name of the two company founders. Barry and Tony started the company by investing £15 each, in order to set up a barn with two lathes. Early business concentrated on producing racing gearboxes for Japanese bikes, then went on to clutches, cylinder barrels and heads.

Graham Dyson, Marilyn and Barry Hart and the Phoenix

One of Barton’s first breaks was when they were approached by Rex White of Suzuki GB. Rex wanted a 350cc Suzuki for Barry Sheene to race, and enquired with Barton whether they could do something with the Suzuki GT380. What Barton came up with was a water-cooled engine which still utilised the GT380 crankcases and crank. At a practice session at Brands Hatch, Barry Sheene was able to lap inside the existing lap record. However, the Barton 350cc was never raced. The official line was that Suzuki Japan heard of the 350cc, and put a stop to it as Sheene was contracted to race in the 500 and 750cc classes only.  In reality the Barton 350cc although promising, needed further development.

Sparton 500cc engine

The 350cc three cylinder became the ancestor of the 500cc Sparton motorcycle. The Sparton name comes from Barton engine coupled to a Spondon rolling chassis. During the development of the Sparton, Tony Ryan left the business as he was less interested in motorcycles. Barry Hart and his wife Marilyn moved from Surrey to Caernarvon with the business. Graham Dyson (now of Nova transmissions) joined Barton Motors soon after they moved to the chapel at Pontrug.

Sparton cylinder heads

It was 1974 when the 350cc three cylinder Sparton was starting to get off the ground. The engine had a 52 x 54mm bore and stroke, and utilised a Suzuki bottom end with special gear ratios. The initial 350cc Sparton was a little heavy compared to a Yamaha twin, so for 1975 a special lightweight unit with magnesium cylinder block and chromed aluminium liners was produced. Due to the chromed bore, Barton Motors spent much of 1975 waiting for the special piston rings which were necessary. Barry Hart therefore decided to concentrate on the 500cc class. The 350cc Sparton was sold to Monster Car Hire at Thames Ditton for Peter Dalby to ride.

Sparton 500

The initial Sparton 500s were actually 458cc engines using Omega pistons with a bore and stroke of 60 x 54mm. The Suzuki GT380 crankcases still formed the basis of the engine. The standard Suzuki is a 120 degree triple with six main bearings, geared primary drive and a six speed gearbox. The cylinders on the standard Suzuki are quite widely spaced apart to allow good airflow around the barrels. This made it easy to make space for water jackets for the water-cooled Sparton. One of the most obvious differences between the Sparton and standard Suzuki, is the use of a gear driven water pump on the drive side of the Barton and the Krober electronic ignition which is driven directly from the other side of the crankshaft. Inside the crankcases there were further differences, for example an extra bearing was added on the Sparton due to the   small supporting area on the timing side of the crankshaft.

The 460cc Sparton produced 95bhp compared to the standard Suzuki GT380’s 37bhp. A special 525cc Sparton which used Yamaha pistons produced 100bhp. The 500 Sparton shot to prominence at the 1975 TT when Martin Sharpe reached 146mph at the speed trap – fastest in its class jointly with the Works Kawasakis. In 1976 things got better for the Sparton with a 1-2 victory For Martin Sharpe followed by Big Frank Kennedy at the North West 200.

Graham Wood raced the latest version of the Sparton, which utilised a short-stroke 497cc engine to produce an estimated 105-110bhp. This Sparton was capable if over 160mph. In 1977 Graham Wood scored 12 firsts as a privateer on the Sparton 500. The Sparton engine cost £1300 on exchange (£1450 complete) whereas a Suzuki RG500 would cost more than double. Reliability of the engine was always an issue due to the use of Suzuki 380cc crankcases. A Sparton 500 engine weighed 92lb complete, which was 30lb lighter than an RG500 unit. However, due to the cycle parts utilised the Sparton actually weighed more as a complete machine than the Suzuki.

Barton Motors didn’t just make their own engines. They also modified many types of racing engines. Barton Motors offered mods to private owners for the Suzuki GT 750 which had established itself in F750 racing. Barton Motors offered four different stages of tune which resulted in the engine producing up to 115bhp. The conversion was extensive and included, keying the crankshaft tp prevent twisting, the insertion of spacers on the crank in place of oil thrower plates so that petroil could reach the main bearings, while big-end bearings were made fully floating to prevent seizure. A dry clutch mates the engine to a six speed gearbox and ignition is by Krober or the cheaper Femsa alternative. Barrels were re-worked and could be sleeved for ease of repair, heads were modified, and a floating exhaust system with expansion boxes was allowed to resonate on flexible stubs. The 750 development brought Barton Motors closer to Suzuki and they re-sleeved barrels for the Works racers and also manufactured replacement parts.

The Barton aim was not merely to cater for clubmen racers, so they went head-to-head with the Japenese. The Barton Phoenix was their attempt to make a machine to rival the Japanese is the large capacity classes. The Phoenix was to be produced in 500cc and 750cc sizes.

Phoenix 750cc square four

The Phoenix project started in 1976. The Phoenix was a square four two-stroke which followed the Suzuki RG500 concept. Barry Hart choose not to use reed valves (like the Yamaha 750 utilised) as they restrict performance at the top end. The Phoenix used disc valves like the RG500, as they permit the use of asymmetrical inlet timing.

Although the Phoenix followed RG500 principles, there were some improvements to increase the internal strength of the engine. The Phoenix crankcases have more reinforcement and water passages do not cross joint faces as in the Suzuki. The internal crankshaft coupling was improved (an area of weakness on early RG500s), the gearbox is stronger and the clutch is lighter by using Yamaha 750 clutch plates with improved pressure plate bearings and a less complicated release mechanism. In several places the bearing support and lubrication was also improved over the RG500.

The Phoenix engine was entirely of Barton manufacture apart from RG500 bearings and Yamaha pistons – OW31 for the 750cc and Yamaha 250 pistons for the 500cc. For cylinder liners, the Phoenix engines used aluminium sleeves with chrome bores which drop into the pot from the top where they are located in the block and held by the head. The porting of the Phoenix 500cc was like a 250 Yamaha, whilst the 750cc used OW31 porting but with disc valve induction.

By 1979 approximately ten Phoenix engines had been manufactured (two of which were 500cc). The Barton team were honest by suggesting they “wish to sell these engines to people who are prepared to work with us to solve any problems that may occur”. In 1978 Graham Wood aboard a Phoenix beat Ron Haslam on an OW31 at Donington in a heat. He nearly did the same in the final, until a plug oiled due to an overly rich mixture. By 1979 Barry Hart still regarded the Sparton 500 as a more suitable engine for 500cc GP racing due to its reduced weight than the Phoenix unit.

From the archive of Ernie Pico

I am indebted to the family of Ernie and Wanda Pico for the following wonderful set of photos. For some information regarding Ernie Pico who is most famous for making rapid Velocettes which were capable of beating the Works Harley Davidsons in Flattrack events, please see my first post:

Ernie Pico Velocette

Ernie’s wife, Wanda was also a significant character in the American racing scene, as she had a highly successful business making motorcycle leathers for all the top riders and teams.

I will let the wonderful photos do the talking:

Wanda and Ernie Pico

Ernie's first buisness post WW2 - Magnera Motorcycles

Ernie Pico at his most famous motorcycle shop - Big City Sales

Another shot from Big City Sales. Ernie will forever be primarily associated with Velocettes

Ernie pico with Richard Casseta

Lynn Halloway at Ascott Park against the works teams on Ernie's Velo

Ernie with another Velocette

The Works Harley Davidson team with Leathers by Wanda Pico

Wanda also made the leathers for the Triumph team

Alan Coultas Velocette in winning action

I was very pleased to find this cutting which shows Tony Myers winning on Big Alan Coultas’ Velocette at Cadwell Park. In the race Tony lapped nearly the entire field!

See the link below for details of the four valve Velocettes built by Alan:

Alan Coultas 4 Valve Velocettes

A trip to see Joe Potts at Bellshill during the mid 1960’s

The following is Dave Law’s recollections of his trip to visit Joe Potts in the 1960’s:

Bob McIntyre was my hero. I can remember exactly where I was then my mother told me he had died. It hit me hard – the ace of aces was gone! I was 16 years old when this happened.

A few years later, Colin East asked me if I was willing to take him all over Scotland for a week or so as he did not have a car licence. As I had never been to Scotland it interested me. My transport was an old Morris Minor van. I had welded two 12” wide steel panels at the rear of each front wing. As they were unpainted they had gone rusty. One of the rear lights used to drop out and swing on its wire – the body was rusty where it should have been. The van cost me £10, but it never let me down. This was our transport and sleeping accommodation. It certainly gave no impression of wealth.

So off we went, Scotland or bust. Colin had contacted no end of people and we collected motorcycle parts from all over Scotland. Everywhere we went the friendliness and hospitality of the people was superb. We sometimes had so many people feeding us we were absolutely stuffed – we did not like to offend them by not eating!

For my part I enjoyed the company of the Scottish people and wonderful scenery. The sight of an eagle soaring, not very high above the ground, flying nearly parallel to us, at our speed and not far away will stay with me always. That experience was near the Castle of Mey at the very top of Scotland.

Apart from seeing Scotland, my only real interest was to visit Joe Potts at Bellshill – Bob McIntyre’s friend and sponsor. We arranged our course to visit Bellshill on our way back down heading home.

We found Potts’ garage which was much larger than I had anticipated. I parked my rough looking Morris Minor van and stood on the pavement wondering whether or not to go in. I’d been sleeping in the van for a few days and I felt very scruffy and not at all confident. This place had been the base of the road racer that I most admired. Being quiet and shy by nature, I wondered if we would be welcome.

I decided that I would soon be sent away if I was not welcome. I managed to muster up my courage and walked to the open garage door with Colin with me. Once inside there were, I think, three mechanics working under cars on three ramps to the right. I believe it was the foreman, in a white smock, who came over to enquire what I enquired.

I asked if it was possible to speak to Mr Potts. He asked “Which Mr Potts?” I replied, “Mr Joe Potts.”

“Follow me,” he said, and we walked out of the garage door and turned to the right, through a double door and into an oak panelled corridor. The foreman asked us to wait. He knocked on a door and entered. We were invited into an oak panelled office with Mr Potts sat at the desk behind the door. He asked what we wanted. I guess that I must have looked a little nervous and I said I was interested in motorcycles. He replied that he had all the time in the world for motorcycles, with a very friendly manner, which put me at ease. Mr Potts quickly rose from his chair, opened a door in the panelling and put on a smock. He led us to the back wall of the garage and unlocked a door. In we went.

The various motorcycle press articles I had read about Bob McIntyre sometimes had photographs of Bob McIntyre in the workshop, preparing engines and bikes including a shot of him putting a Manx engine on the dyno’. This was the place where it had all happened and the photos had been taken.

I felt I was on hallowed ground, It was all here!

Bob McIntyre with Joe Potts and Joe Woollams at Bellshill in 1958

Mr Potts enquired of my intentions and ideas. He started bringing various items from the store ‘cage’ that he felt may be of use to me with the benefit of valuable advice based on their experience. He gave me several tips, often explaining how they found them out by chance. If it gave more power, they incorporated it in future engines. At one stage Mr Potts said with obvious affection, respect and admiration in the tone and manner of his voice “When you are dealing with a rider like Bob McIntyre....” A feeling of sadness came over me for Mr Potts’ obvious loss of a good friend, companion and a very great part of his life over many years.

Amongst the components Mr Potts brought out for me was an E95 Porcupine connecting rod, in case I wished to make a 250cc engine. He explained that they had engine parts and castings in case they wanted to make a 350cc Porcupine. AJS had supplied with these parts to them. I was told that AJS had let them have the parts to build a 350cc engine if they wished, but not a 500cc machine.

By now I was concerned that I may not be able to afford all the parts and told Mr Potts so. He very generously replied that they would cost me nothing.

Colin expressed an interest in the Porcupine cylinder head castings and some other items and was also given them.

Eventually we left. I felt I had an audience with a very good, warm natured and generous man – a great engineer. When the Bellshill team was in full swing it must have felt so very complete and happy to be part of it, I could very much understand why various people willingly gave their time to help out with Bob McIntyre’s racing programme.

It was such an amazing experience for me and I will never forget it.

Another Yorkshire Special – The Myers

Coming from Hull, the Myers family were responsible for the making of a number of ‘special’ frames which were used by some of the top riders in the area.

Bert Myers was a driver for L.V. Brooksbank at Hedon and was a self-taught engineer. Around the racing paddocks Bert was known as “Dad Myers”, and was a popular figure due to his willingness to help any rider out with his welding skills.

Bert had two sons, Roger and Tony. Tony Myers went on to become one of the top runners in racing in the late 60’s and 1970’s. In July 1966 Tony purchased a 1959 AJS 7R for £250 off Bob Peck of Batley. With the progress made by Aermacchis in the 350cc racing class, by the summer of 1968 Tony realised that they would have to improve their old AJS. They realised that a lighter and stiffer chassis was needed for the 7R.

Tony’s brother, Roger worked in the drawing offices at Blackburn General Aircraft of Brough. He started drawing out some possible frame designs for the machine. The chief designer at Blackburn caught Roger sketching the frame and enquired what he was doing. Roger went on to explain that he was trying to come up with an improved design for a racing motorcycle frame. The chief engineer’s response was that “it is bloody obvious lad”. He then proceeded to point two lines across the drawing with the end of his pipe, which a brownish stain from the steering head to the swinging arm. The design of the Myers frame was thus conceived!

The mk1 Myers with 7R engine under construction

 Norton steering head geometry was utilised on the machine. Bert made a very heavy jig consisting of two massive sections of channel welded to a base in order to construct the frame. During fabrication, the jig held the frame in an upside down position. T45 tubing was used in the construction of the frame, the tubes being packed with sand and heated during the bending process, before they were bronze welded.

The Myers 7R sat on 18” rims front and rear and was about 1” lower than a standard chassis. A 210mm Fontana front brake was used and a drilled and lightened 7R hub retained at the rear. A purpose made fibreglass petrol tank was made around a wooden former.

The Myers 7R

The first test of the Myers 7R was in April 1969 at a Cadwell Park Thursday test day. At the Cadwell National in April the top of the carburettor unscrewed, however, by the end of April the Myers 7R took its first victory at a racing 50 club event at Cadwell. It was apparent that from these first few rides that Bert and Roger had got the balance and centre of gravity of the machine just right. Tony found the Myers 7R a confidence inspiring motorcycle which was a joy to ride. More club wins were to come and also some top 6 finishes at National events. Roger also raced the machine at Croft on a couple of occasions when Tony was injured.

 

Tony continued to race the Myers 7R throughout 1970 and into early 1971. In late 1970 Bert Myers started work on a second frame for Wally Dawson, this time to house a 500cc Manx engine. Measurements for this were taken from Wally’s 350cc Manx Norton and caused some head-scratching when the taller 500cc engine was offered up for the first time. Flats had to be cut on the inside of the main diagonal tubes to clear the cylinder head. The fork yokes were also fabricated using steel sheet, ala Ray Petty. A Campagnolo double disc and hub was fitted at the front end and a single Campagnolo disc at the rear, both these being mechanically operated. At Silloth in April 1971 Tony raced the Myers Manx to 6^th place in the final.  Later that year Wally raced it at Castle Combe and practiced with it at the TT, but found it unsuitable for the race.

The Manx Norton engined mk2 Myers with Wally Dawson 

 As Tony had injured his hand racing the Myers 7R, this was sold to Dick Cassidy who is now a TT marshal, and the Myers Manx project abandoned and parts sold. Alan Coultas bought the mk2 Myers Manx frame in 1972 and set about converting it to use with his racing Velocette Venom engine.

During the winter of 1973 Bert started work on his third and last frame, this time to house a Yamaha TZ350 engine. Tony had raced an ex-Mick Grant TR3 that season, but sold the rolling chassis to pay for the parts to convert the engine to water cooling. This was fitted to Bert’s frame after two additional front tubes were added to support the engine. The fork yokes on the mk3 frame were machined from solid aluminium. Tony went back to club racing in 1974. The bike was not a complete success however, as it had the tendency to “fall over” in bends, making it hard to control and resulting in a loss of rider confidence.

The mk2 (then with Velocette engine) and mk3 (Yamaha) Myers machines together

Alan Coultas ran his Velocette using the mk2 Myers Manx frame for 4 seasons. Alan also converted the Campagnolo disc brakes to hydraulic operation after altering the rim off-set and spoke angle to suit. Due to to cracks developing from the flats on the main tubes of the mk2 frame, Alan then bought the third Myers Yamaha frame. Once again he modified this to fit his 500cc Velocette, adding two short cross-tubes to the rear of the engine. A five speed Quaife gearbox and Norton clutch were also fitted, the engine having to be off-set in the frame to ensure the correct primary chain line.  This bike was raced and developed for many years and achieved considerable success at national level. Riders included: John Beney, Wally Dawson, Alec Swallow and of course Tony Myers who almost lapped the entire field at Cadwell Park to win the E.A. Lavington Trophy in May 1983.

During 1988/89 Tony started collecting all the components he would need to build the Myers 7R for a second time and commissioned Roger Titchmarsh to make the frame. This was to the original drawings done by Roger Myers all those years ago, complete with tobacco stained line!  The bike ran for the first time in 1990 and Tony raced it later that year at the MGP. He also had wins at Mallory and Brands Hatch and finished 2^nd in the 1991 350cc Kennings Championship.

From the office of Joe Potts - Joe's most important pictures

After approximately thirty years three important pictures are reunited together. These three pictures were the photos that Joe Potts had in his office at Bellshill. The photos are of the racers who meant more to Joe than anyone else – Bob McIntyre, Alastair King and Charlie Bruce.

The first photo shows Bob McIntyre winning the 1959 Senior F1 TT on one of Joe’s Manxes.

The second shot is taken after the “Formula double Scotch” (or the 1959 F1 TT) and shows Alastair King with Bob Mac. Alastair also won the Junior F1 TT on Joe’s AJS 7R. The two photos from the Formula 1 TT were supplied to Joe by the Motor Cycling Magazine.

The final photo shows Joe’s old friend Charlie Bruce on his DOHC Velocette. It can be seen that Charlie has remounted after a crash (rips on the back of his leathers).

The photos had been kept in a garage but have now been mounted in new frames which are the same as Joe himself specified (he had written light oak on the back of each picture).