Velocette LE "The Everymans Bike"

The Velocette LE was made from 1948 through 1970 in Great Britain.The LE emblem stood for "little engine" of initially 150cc.One of the largest customers was the British Police force,which at one point accounted for half of the production for over 50 forces across the country,the last force to use them was the Kent Constabulary which purchased the remaining spare parts and were able to keep LE's running until 1974.
The police also gave rise to the name "Noddy" bike which came from riders acknoledging their superiors by nodding to them rather than taking their hand of the handle bars to salute.
The Velocette LE was a 150cc four-stroke, water cooled, horizontally-opposed twin cylinder engine, the LE also had a radiator and was fitted with coil ignition to help starting.The final drive was by a shaft mounted in a swing frame with adjustable suspension. Aluminium leg shields were designed to keep the rain off and footboards gave it a scooter feel.
Instruments included a speedometer and trip recorder. To reduce noise and vibration the engine was rubber mounted and the pressed steel frame was lined with soundproofing felt.Carrying capacity was boosted by quickly detachable panniers and a "glove compartment" in front of the petrol tank. All this made the MkI LE expensive, however, at £126 compared with the BSA Bantam at £76.
In 1970 the company went into voluntary liquidation.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

Rudge-Whitworth History

From its foundation in 1894 the Rudge Whitworth company built a reputation for quality, reliability, sporting prowess and innovation with many patented ideas reaching the production machines.
The famous 'Multi' introduced in 1912 with its variable gear ratios quickly became a sought after machine breaking many records and providing the company with their first TT win in 1914.It also saw the introduction of an in-house manufactured 4 speed gear box and the first four valve cylinder head on a 350cc which produced more power than the 500cc it replaced!
Coupled brakes using a linking cable appeared in 1925 and remained a feature until production ceased. They were also noted for their massive 8" diameter brakes which appeared for the first time in 1928.
The famous 'Ulster', which quickly became synonmous with the Rudge name, was introduced in 1929 following the Ulster Grand Prix win by Graham Walker at over 80 mph.
The Golden year of 1930 saw the junior TT 1, 2, 3 win using the newly untried fully radial 350cc 4 valve engines and the following year saw the first road machine with the fully radial valve layout.
The 'semi-radial' aluminium bronze cylinder head appeared on a road machine in 1934 and development in this engine area continued resulting in full enclosure of the valve gear from 1937 onwards.
In the final year of manufacture in 1939, the cylinder head was cast from RR50 light alloy with iron valve seat inserts. Although production ceased in December 1939.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

The Sunbeam S7

The Sunbeam S7 was a British motorcycle designed by Erling Poppe.Built in Redditch, the engine layout was an unusual in-line 500 cc twin which drove a shaft drive to the rear wheel. The inline engine made this technologically feasible - horizontally-opposed ("flat") twin engine. The early S7 was expensive and over engineered, which is why it is now the most sought after and commands a premium over the S7 Deluxe and the S8, which were produced with less features to reduce costs while retaining many of the innovative parts of the early Sunbeam and updating some ideas.
Three models were produced, the S7, S7 'Deluxe' and the S8. The original S7 (the 'Tourer') (2,104 produced from 1946 to 1948) was expensive and did not sell well. In 1949 the S7 was updated to become the S7 deluxe (5,554 produced) and the S8 (8,530 produced). Both had new cylinder linings, redesigned frames and increased oil capacity.S9 and S10 models were planned but never made as BSA decided to concentrate on the more traditional twins.
Some early models of the original S7 were produced in black but most in the now familiar 'Mist Green'. The S7 Deluxe came in either 'Mist Green' or black and for export abroad BSA supplied Sunbeams in any colour.
Erling Poppe’s design was originally based on a captured BMW R75 but Sunbeam didn’t want the S series to look too ‘German’ so an in-line OHC, parallel twin was designed instead of a flat twin ‘across the frame’. Serious problems with vibration made the new Sunbeams bikes uncomfortable to ride and all production originally sent to South Africa was recalled. The excessive vibration was cured by mounting the engine on two bonded rubber engine mounts.Another problem area was the shaft drive, which had a 'worm drive' in place of the BMW bevels and tended to strip under power. Sunbeam's solution to this was to reduce the power to 24 bhp which did nothing to help post war sales.
The Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club is one of the longest established in the UK and was founded in July 1924 at the London showrooms of John Marston Ltd in Holborn Viaduct who made the Sunbeam motorcycles in their factory at Wolverhampton.The Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club is, however, a sporting motorcycle club that organises trials and vintage bike rallies and runs and the 'owners section' was just a small part of it. When Sunbeam production ended BSA sold the remaining stock of parts to Stewart Engineering. Bob and Chines Stewart were long time fans of the Sunbeam and for a time members of the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club. In 1963 they, along with other enthusiasts, broke away from the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club and formed the Sunbeam Owners Fellowship (SOF) to support owners of an S7 or S8 with any problems. A good number of Sunbeams motorcycles survive in perfect working order and many owners have been fellows of the SOF since its inception, having owned their Sunbeam since bought new or second hand in the 1960’s.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com