L.E. VELOCETTE PROTOTYPE

Looking Back is an occasional series, written for the club magazine by club historian Dennis Frost. It allows members to see some of the fascinating historical material from the Club’s extensive archive. This article covers the design and assembly of the prototype L.E., which took place between 1942 and 1944.

During WWII, Veloce were contracted to produce aircraft components. As a top class engineering firm they turned out a host of precision parts, often for the massive aircraft assembly plant at nearby Castle Bromwich. Some motorcycles were produced — in particular a militarised version of the 350cc MAC model — but output was miniscule compared with rival Birmingham firms such as BSA and Norton.

The creation of a new motorcycle with mass-market appeal was director Eugene Goodman’s dream. Despite the demands of wartime, opportunities were found to make his great idea a reality.

After Charles Udall was struck down with appendicitis in 1942, his recuperation at home in Solihull became a period of opportunity for Veloce Limited. Eugene Goodman visited his chief designer, suggesting he take a look at fellow designer Phil Irving’s original sketches of what was to become the company’s motorcycle for everyman. Charles’ drawing board quickly followed — Eugene had it sent round from the factory.

In his turn Irving had been injured by an incendiary bomb, which fell on the Velocette factory two years earlier in November 1940. During his convalescence at home in Claverton, Worcestershire, Eugene asked Irving to make a start on a new mass production motorcycle. It had to be quiet, free from vibration, easy to start — the list of criteria is well known. Once he had returned to work, Irving’s ideas got no further than a series of sketches. Veloce’s wartime commitments made sure that no new motorcycle design work could be undertaken during what were the darkest days of WWII. One of Irving’s sketches survives in the Club archive. It shows an opposed water-cooled twin with the cylinders arranged at 150 degrees. Irving thought that canting the cylinders slightly upwards from the horizontal would give the new motorcycle more ground clearance.

When Charles Udall examined Irving’s sketches, he disagreed with the layout. The 150-degree twin would have given uneven firing intervals and created problems with the design of a suitable ignition system — as well as having imperfect balance. Eugene had asked for a silent and smooth machine, which was why Charles went for a horizontally opposed twin. Within a month he had created a detailed drawing. Eugene approved of the design and told Charles that, once the war ended, he would set up the Hall Green factory to make the new machine. Charles then set to work on detailed drawings, which took a further two months.

In slack times between war production, Charles supervised the assembly of a hand built prototype. Gearbox assembly foreman Sis Low did much of the work, and the new machine looked very much like Udall’s original design. By 1943 the engine was nearly complete, as the photographs below show.

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A side view  with the oil sump and starter lever yet to be fitted. Eugene has drawn in the line of the frame, including the aperture through which the hand-controlled gear lever emerges. The rough sand cast cylinder heads bear their part number — LE14, while the frame cross member is exactly as the production component.

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This view  of the engine from above shows that the prototype differed in only minor details from production power units. Eugene’s hand written comments, which point out the ‘dry’ section of the gearbox casting read, “this is only space, nothing goes in, it is made like this to get a clean outline.” The boss on top of the crankcase is for the engine breather — latterly moved to the right hand side.

Eugene sent copies to his son Peter, who was serving with the RAF in North Africa. To help Peter understand how the finished motorcycle was going to look, Eugene has drawn on the frame outline. He also added important information, such that the engine measured only 9 1/8in across the cylinders.

By early 1944 the prototype L.E. was complete. The photograph below, taken from Velocette Works Director Peter Goodman’s photograph album, shows the almost finished machine inside the Hall Green factory.

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The main frame is yet to be painted, although the front mudguard has already received a coat of black enamel. The frame was largely hand beaten, with the rear mudguard and front section being produced as separate assemblies. Charles Udall recalls that the two parts were held together with six 2BA bolts! Production frames were placed in a jig and welded. A row of spot weld marks shows how the lower frame strengtheners are secured. The patented design of adjustable rear springing can be seen. But this section of the rear mudguard around the adjusting slots bulges outwards. The layout is similar to the Model 0, where Veloce first tried out this type of stressed sheet steel frame. The design of pivoted rear fork is exactly as the production component and is similar to the one Charles Udall laid out for the pre-WWII supercharged twin, the Roarer.

Twin headlamps are fitted, and the right hand component can be seen fixed to the front of the legshield. Charles Udall chose this layout to give a good spread of light ahead of the machine. He also knew the disadvantages of wiring running to a headlamp mounted on brackets ahead of the front fork — its movement with each turn of the handlebar can cause wires to chafe and fret. The ’static’ wiring on the prototype L.E. — achieved because the headlamps were rigidly mounted — was infinitely preferable. But the two low slung headlamps — car components were used and were difficult to source in wartime Britain — failed to give enough illumination when the machine negotiated a bend. The beams tended to light up the roadside rather than the carriageway.

A tiny cover where the gear lever passes through the frame was later enlarged, and the lever’s spherical operating knob is replicated on the hand start lever. The more manageable long indented rubber grip came later. Single level footboards and the link between starting lever and stand can also be seen. Both upper and lower water pipes are steel tubes, with short sections of rubber hose at each end. A rear number plate and lamp have yet to be fitted, although the front plate, with its distinctive integral licence disc holder, is already in place.

It wasn’t long before the prototype L.E. — complete and fully painted — was ready to start its road trials. The photograph below is from Charles Udall’s collection and was taken in early 1944. Just a couple of weeks after the earlier photograph.

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The earlier view showed the freshly assembled machine inside the Factory with its frame still in bare metal. This time, the black enamelled motorcycle with its designer aboard is parked on the path alongside the Hall Green factory’s engine test house. This was a self-contained brick building at the back of the site adjacent to the Birmingham – Stratford-upon-Avon railway line.

Dressed in his familiar full-length leather coat, in which he was often seen at race meetings pre-war, Udall looks impassive about his latest creation. Was this just another project from Velocette’s chief designer, or something extremely special? Undoubtedly it was the latter. In 1944, and with an end to the European conflict now in sight, few other UK motorcycle factories had created anything as remotely innovative to impress their post-WWII customers.

The L.E.s largely hand beaten frame has now received a coat of gloss black enamel. Also a rear number plate bracket and light have been added since the last picture. The unpainted front fork sliders add a touch of sparkle. Of course they were plated, not enamelled, for a reason. The sliders were soft soldered assemblies — a baked on paint finish would risk melting the solder. This practice of dull chrome plating continued on production machines. But by then, the familiar polychromatic silver-grey colour scheme meant that the finish of a part plated front fork did not stand out so prominently.

Long bladed control levers are clamped to the handlebar along with a conventional twist grip. These were probably Amal components — easily sourced from Veloce’s preferred carburettor and control cable supplier. Production machines used the familiar Hall Green produced 10 SWG folded aluminium levers with brazed on pivots.

The adjustable rear springing is on its softest setting. The long eyebolt nuts are as far forward as possible, adjacent to the base of the saddle springs — which are barrel shaped and with their lower ends bolted to the side of the frame. The saddle appears to be much wider than the version used in production and was probably from a single cylinder Velocette. Udall’s foot is resting on a single level footboard — soon to be altered in the light of experience from carrying a pillion passenger.

All that remained was to register the new machine for the road. 

L.E. VELOCETTE PROTOTYPE (on test)

After its official photograph, (see below), the completed L.E. prototype was ready to begin its road trails. The first job

was to register the machine for the road at Birmingham’s vehicle licensing office. Registration FON 898 was allocated

— from a sequence that began in August 1941. No record survives of the date this registration was issued, but we know

it must have been in the spring of 1944. For marks in this sequence to have remained unallocated after nearly three

years, appears surprising. In the late Forties, a batch of registrations like this would have been exhausted in less than

a year. But this was wartime, when precious few new civilian vehicles were available to be road registered.

With petrol strictly rationed, Veloce had to apply for a special fuel allowance, available for road testing prototype and

development vehicles. The L.E.’s designer Charles Udall undertook the first ride — a rain soaked outing to Derby,

visiting members of his family. The journey was trouble free.

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This view, from Peter Goodman’s photograph album, shows his father Eugene — then works director — with

FON 898 in the summer of 1944. Peter believes the location is Shrewsbury, with Eugene most likely en route to

visit his sister in Dolgellau. As the driving force behind Veloce’s, ‘motorcycle for everyman,’ makes notes — an

essential part of any test program — a young garage attendant recharges the L.E.’s fuel tank. The hand operated

petrol pump and the steel cupboards, containing cans of motor oil, are typical attributes of a wayside petrol station of

the period.

As well as its new registration number, the prototype has gained another component — essential before its release on

to the road — a horn. Fixed inside the right-hand legshield, the electrically operated horn looks to be of car origin.

Wartime austerity meant that few other alternatives were available.

This photograph also shows that the test programme had already isolated one problem — the inadequacy of single

level footboards. Charles Udall told me this had become obvious as soon as the machine was ridden. It wasn’t simply

that a pillion passenger couldn’t reach the boards, the rider’s position was uncomfortable too. A welded on higher

rear section transformed the footboards to their familiar, two level layout — the design used in production. We all

know that the most comfortable way to ride an L.E. is with one’s feet straddling the sloping section between the

footboards’ upper and lower levels.

The abbreviated pillion seat bracket has yet to be fitted with a cushioning pad, suggesting that the machine was

tested largely as a solo. When a pillion was carried, the flared out arcuate rear suspension mountings rubbed

uncomfortably against the passenger’s thighs. Removing these — and incorporating the adjusting slots within the

mudguard pressings — solved the problem and made for a much tidier rear mudguard.

1944 PROTOTYPE L.E. OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH

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 Every new motorcycle design must have its official photograph taken. This is Veloce's view of the new L.E., dating from early 1944 when the prototype was finished and ready for the road. Today we would call this a studio shot - a side view against a plain, white background. Like most motorcycles firms, Veloce created their own impromptu in-house studio, using a couple of white sheets. The first sheet was laid on the ground and the machine wheeled onto it. Then , while the photographer focussed his lens, two helpers would hold another sheet behind the subject - blocking out a typically cluttered factory background. As the camera shutter clicked, the helpers would gently shake the vertical sheet to give an even, blurred backdrop. Back at the photographer's studio, the developed print would be touched up with water-based paint called process white. This was often necessary, covering embarrassing imperfections including tyre tracks on the bottom sheet as the machine was being positioned. The finished photograph would then be ready for use - perhaps in Factory publicity, or for sending to the weekly magazines in London.

This nicely clear view - unusually of the L.E.'s left hand side - comes from the Club's photograph album. Longtime member Frank Quinn, custodian of our photograph collection, confirms that the print has been in the Club's ownership for many years. It was probably donated to us by Factory service manager Bob Burgess, who was also a Club member. The picture reveals some interesting details not previously seen in other prototye views. First is the circular bevel drive cover, bolted to its casing by six nuts. The design cues for this circular shape were the Factory's pre-WW11 parallel twins, the racing Roarer and the road going Model O. Production L.E.'s - of course - have the lower section of the bevel drive casing (and cover) squared off, to avoid the cover being replaced wrongly - misaligning the filler and level plugs.

A perfect surface finish to the frame's front section - formed from a single folded steel sheet - contrasts with the panel beating marks on the rear mudguard, a far more complex shape in comparison. I showed this photograph to Charles Udall recently and he pointed out the array of 2BA pins that held the two sections of the handmade frame together A stubby rear brake pedal, about half the length of the production version, has its foot plate in line with the crankcase/clutch housing joint. The black painted silencer's tail pipe appears to exit horizontally to the right, rather than curving downwards. The BTH generator's two high tension leads exit from the unit's front cover, curling back over the crankcase. Production generators re-sited the ht pickups to the casing top. Wartime austerity dictated the fitting of canvas, rather than rubber handlebar grips.

It appears that the double sided stand has no feet. However Charles Udall confirms that the prototype did indeed have the familiar welded feet. Perhaps an over-enthusiastic photographer's assistant inadvertently painted them out.

PROTOTYPE L.E. — WHAT HAPPENED TO FON 898?

Once registered for the road, Veloce’s test programme for their prototype L.E. model began in earnest. All the firm’s directors took their turn in the saddle, offering feedback to the ‘motorcycle for everyman’ project’s masterminds, works director Eugene Goodman and designer Charles Udall. A photograph exists of Maureen Goodman — Bertie’s wife — at the controls of FON 898 and I feel sure that the firm’s redoubtable chief buyer Ethel Denley must have also taken the new model for a spin.

Service manager Bob Burgess once recalled how pleased he was to be asked for his comments. He rode the machine home, returning it to Hall Green the following day and was impressed with its silence and smoothness. Writing in OTL in the mid-Sixties — Bob was also latterly a Club member — he recalled the experience was in sharp contrast to his regular wartime mount, a 350 MAF — the militarised version of Veloce’s popular 350cc ohv MAC model.

It was Bob, who suggested the new machine’s final drive cover should be altered, so it could not be refitted incorrectly. I described in Looking Back No 15 that the prototype’s circular casing was modelled on the pre-WWII racing Roarer’s bevel drive layout. This sophisticated 500cc supercharged twin was a machine that race chief Harold Willis had initiated, but for which Udall had done almost all the detail design work. While a race mechanic would almost instinctively know how a unique competition machine went together, a novice rider could be excused for misunderstanding how one critical component of an ‘everyman’ motorcycle was fitted if its correct orientation was not wholly clear. Of course, we know that the later squared off lower bevel drive cover and casing showed that Bob’s advice was acted upon. 

Having spent years listening to customers’ experiences, their service manager’s feedback was just what Veloce needed. Ethel Denley put forward her comments too. It is well known that she recommended the polychromatic — metallic — silver grey colour scheme for production models. This was a bold suggestion, particularly for a firm which had produced nothing but black finished motorcycles for years. She argued that female riders would be put off by such an intimidating expanse of dark bodywork. Charles Udall once confirmed to me that the colour change was indeed Ethel’s suggestion — and he approved.

A myth has grown up over the years — for which, unfortunately, I am partly responsible — that FON 898 was soon discarded in largely ‘as built’ condition once its initial period of testing was complete. I now realise that the prototype was progressively modified as production parts became available — such that by the autumn of 1948 it appeared substantially similar to the five pre-production machines assembled at that stage. The first picture in this Looking Back is from Peter Goodman’s photograph album. Although far from clear, the machine his father Eugene is riding is without doubt finished in silver grey. The location is the Goodman’s family home in Solihull and the machine is, of course, FON 898.

The second picture is from Veloce’s first L.E. sales brochure. This fold-out publication will be familiar to many members and shows one of the pre-production models — road registered HON 898 — on its front cover. Inside are a number of views, depicting how Veloce anticipated their new motorcycle would be used — by the schoolteacher, the district nurse, the shopper etc. Prominent among these is a picture of FON 898 — in outline almost indistinguishable from the other machines shown.

So what happened to FON 898? The Factory sales records note that it was sold to journalist Bernal Osborne. Motor Cycling magazine’s Midlands editor was a good friend of Veloce — he tested many of their post-WWII models. No date is recorded when the deal was struck, but my hunch is it was a long time after FON 898 appeared in that early sales brochure. Bernal died some years ago, but his colleague Cyril Quantrill recalls that Bernal bought the machine for his wife to use. Cyril also remembered that sometime in 1947, another Motor Cycling journalist, Charles Markham had the prototype on test. He was sworn to secrecy, of course. In a more genteel age than our own, journalist Markham agreed not to write about Veloce’s new machine until the L.E was launched to the Press in late 1948.

A long time later — in June 1973 — FON 898 reappeared. Its then owner, a Mr Prentice of Solihull, offered it for sale through an advertisement in Motor Cycle News. Bristol Club member Paul Martyn tried to buy it. He wrote to the seller and was told that the engine had just been started, “after nearly two years standing outside.” Paul was keen to do a deal and, believing FON 898 to be in its original condition, asked Prentice if twin headlamps were still fitted.  Of course, the written reply came that there was no sign of them. This is confirmed by the photograph Prentice provided, and which is reproduced here.

Despite his enthusiasm, Paul was beaten to the deal by — of all people — George and Ethel Denley. Veloce’s long retired directors — who at the time still lived in Hall Green, just streets away from the factory site — were looking for an L.E. they could present to Birmingham’s Museum of Science and Industry. They had previously passed the company’s surviving 1913 two-stroke Velocette to the Museum, at the time located at Newhall Street in the city centre. The little two- stroke was the motorcycle which had set Veloce Limited on the road to sales success. It was the company’s third motorcycle design and the first — because of its diminutive proportions — to be marketed as a Velocette.

The Denleys told various friends and contacts of their plans, and asked them to look out for suitable machines. Motorcycle author Jeff Clew was one, and he also spotted the Motor Cycle News advert. Jeff alerted George and Ethel and they in turn sent their friend Dennis Webb, also a onetime Veloce employee, to buy FON 898. Dennis restored the machine for the Denleys and it was presented to the Museum in 1975. The final photograph, taken by the Birmingham Post a couple of years later, shows George and Ethel at the museum — having been invited to see their donations on display. FON 898 takes centre stage while the 1913 two-stroke Velocette — a two speed version — is in the foreground.

Some years ago I took a close look at FON 898 and concluded that it had been further developed by the Factory well beyond its late 1948 149cc pre-production specification. Its power unit is now a 192cc all pain bearing affair, generally to early 1955 season specification. The engine number is, intriguingly 200/1001, although all the main castings look like production, not prototype components. My view is that FON 898 probably remained a Factory development machine, at least until the last of the really significant engine modifications — the change from ball and roller to plain bearings — was incorporated into production models during the latter part of 1953.

The Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry has now closed — replaced by the impressive Millennium funded and thoroughly modern Discovery Centre at nearby Chamberlain Square. Most of the motorcycles once displayed at Newhall Street, including FON 898 are now in store, with little early prospect they will again be put on show.  That’s a pity, because few visitors to the old museum — and incidentally also the staff — realised that FON 898 is a very special L.E. indeed.

It is remarkable that Veloce’s prototype L.E has survived. We must see what can be done about getting it back on display.

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Sad and neglected FON898 resurfaced in 1973. After two years out of use, owner Prentice put it up for sale. It was bought for restoration by George and Ethel Denley.

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FON898 on publicity duty. Along with the five pre-production models, it featured in early sales publicity for Veloce's new 'everyman' model.

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Proof that FON 898 was progressively altered from its 'as built', black finished, twin headlamp form. Eugene Goodman rides the prototye L.E. at his Solihull family home. By now the prototype is looking much more like a production model.

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This photograph taken by the 'Birmingham Post' shows George and Ethel at the museum - having been invited to see their donations on display.

As soon as WWII was over, Veloce wasted no time in getting ready to put their new ‘motorcycle for everyman’ into production. A file in the Club’s archive records that the first jigs and tooling for the new L.E. model were produced in October 1945. But it was another three years before the Hall Green, Birmingham, factory was ready to assemble complete machines. The long delay was due to number of factors, including post-war materials shortages and the need to completely reorganise the factory to produce what was Veloce’s first really mass production motorcycle.

To test an entirely new production line assembly process – Veloce had previously built motorcycles on single benches – in autumn 1948, five pre-production L.E.s were produced. These were allocated engine numbers 1001-1005. Only engine numbers are recorded in the Factory records – Veloce’s practice was to identify their machines by the number of the power unit, not the frame, as follows:

eng. no.             registration             allocated to

1001                   HON 598                 (Press) George Denley

1002                   HON 599                 Eugene Goodman

1003                   HON 611                 Charles Udall

1004                   HON 612                 Percy Goodman

1005                   HON 613

Machine number five HON613 seems not to have been allocated to a particular individual, although it did appear in early publicity. The records indicate that this machine was finally sold via Veloce’s main agents in Birmingham, the Premier Motor Co., in November 1950.

This photograph shows Charles Udall’s machine – number three – road registered HON611. The picture was probably taken at the Factory for The Motor Cycle’s road test, which appeared in the magazine’s 4 November 1948 issue. With a current tax disc on display, this machine has obviously covered some test miles – note the dent in the lower legshield!

This machine has two interesting features. First, the bevel drive unit features a circular end cover, as did the prototype. Second, the front fork is fitted with a damping system – held in place by a bolt, its hexagon head centrally disposed at the bottom of the fork slider. Charles Udall once told me that he experimented with front fork damping – using a rod and restrictor valve, later developed for the telescopic fork used on the single cylinder models – but decided it didn’t improve the L.E.’s fork action significantly.

However the unwitting suggestion that the L.E. had a damped front fork did survive in print. A factory service manual sketch of the lower right hand slider and brake plate – to illustrate the method of cable adjustment – shows that same hexagon bolt head protruding from the slider’s end cap. We must assume that the illustrator – most likely Motor Cycling’s George Beresford, who often freelanced for Veloce on drawing projects – worked from this machine. The drawing survived unaltered, right up to the last edition of the Mk.III L.E. service manual produced in 1968. Many members have pointed this detail out to me over the years.

ADVANCED INFORMATION BULLETIN No.1. AUGUST 1948 - (LOOKING BACK No.21)

By the Summer of 1948, Veloce's Motorcycle for Everyman was almost ready for production. A single prototye had been under test since early 1944 and the Hall Green, Birmingham, factory had been radically rearranged and re-equipped to produced what Veloce hoped would be their first truly mass production motorcycle.

The sales department under George Denley was keen to stoke up demand for the new lightweight twin and they did this by producing a series of Advance Information leaflets - the first of which is reproduced here. Bulletin No.1. deals with the L E's engine - its 'conceived as a whole' design and its notable features, bearings, oiling system, electrics and the usual hand start mechanism.

Denley wanted to make it clear that the L E wasn't just another Velocette - a well made, quality motorcycle which would appeal to the enthusiast. Thus the first section of the leaflet sets out the factory's intention, to market a motorcycle to the non-motorcyclist market: "to place the motorcycle beyond the sphere of mere pastime or sport." This was a bold decision which prompted some scepticism from other parts of the motorcycle industry, also from some Hall Green insiders.

The leaflet sums up Veloce's mass market aspirations with the pithy statement that the L E was a machine, "which may be treated like a bicycle and used like a car". Potential buyers were being encouraged to see the factory's soon to be produced lightweight twin as embodying the advantages of both these types of transport. A bicycle was utilitarian - to be ridden to work and requiring the minimum of maintenance - it was the only mass personal transport option to the cash strapped post -WW11 public. In 1948 a car was still beyond the means of most people, giving it a sense of status and sophistication with the potential to cover mileage way beyond the ability of an average cyclist.

Many early L E owners were indeed cyclists, who had shunned motorcycles as being noisy and dirty, but saw the water cooled twin as something rather different. It was the acceptable face of motorised transport; that would get them to work, but also allow them to take long trips at the weekend and even summer holidays.

Of course the L E's relatively high price meant that it had no chance of being the truly mass market machine that Veloce had hoped. It is now also well known that the Hall Green factory could not have coped with real mass demand, let alone the 300 a week output that Veloce proclaimed was their early L E production target.

The L E engine shown in the leaflet is based on the works prototype in its mid 1948 form. Some minor differences from production engines are apparent, such as the design of carburettor fuel union and the location of the holes for the HT leads - in the generator's cover.