A Scooter at the Museum

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Velocette Viceroy

Just something I forgot to pass from a few weeks ago was and article in the London Evening Standard from Wednesday March 12^th and in their regular feature on Homes and property they talked about the amenities near Northolt. They mentioned Greenford park where there are three mounds next to the A40 and the London Motorcycle Museum in Greenford. The photo they used was an old one from 2011 and the display has changed considerably since then!

Now another Monday at the Museum this week as we had around 15 visitors that kept us busy all day with visitors from as far afield as Cornwall and Telford. It seems today there was much interest in the Velocette Viceroy scooter and as you may gather there is another article to quote from in the December 1998 Classic Motorcycle magazine. The article was written by Dennis Frost who is also the LE Velo Club Historian. I have often thought that Velocette had all the ingredients to make some very interesting lightweights but never got around to mixing them together to make more marketable products.

The Viceroy engine was very unusual having a 250 cc flat twin two stroke motor. It had reed valve induction because having a common crankcase piston controlled porting would require twin carburettors or an exceptionally long and cumbersome manifold. Many of the parts were common to the LE and Valiant but was streets ahead in that it had a starter motor run on a gear wheel like a car. Scooters at the time that used Villiers engines had a dynastart fitted that doubled as the generator as well as the starter motor. The Viceroy engine was also used as a commercial engine and many found their way on to lightweight hovercrafts that were the fad at the time. It was a very powerful motor for the day and would pull the scooter along at speeds in excess of 65mph which was quite quick in its day considering that many 350 cc bikes around at the time did not go any faster.

In the range of lightweight models at the time were the LE, Vogue, Valiant and Viceroy all encompassed by the LE Velo Club. The LE and Vogue shared the same running gear. 192 cc side valve water cooled engine. The Valiant was a modified LE engine, air cooled with overhead valves and was also 192 cc. The Viceroy was quite different in having the 250 cc two stroke engine. For the lightweight range you have the LE pressed steel body, the Vogue with the glass fibre body on a tubular frame, the Valiant with the duplex cradle frame and the Viceroy with a pressed steel body around a tubular frame. I wonder what it would have been like to have a Viceroy engine in a Valiant frame. A full 250 cc howling two stroke pushing you along. I reckon it would have given an Ariel Arrow a run for its money!

I have a much modified LE and a black Valiant that has had a few awards at concours over the last few years and if I'm at the Museum you may see one or the other parked up outside.

BSA M20

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BSA M20

In the time there are no visitors I sift through the magazines to see if there is something interesting to read or there is an article on one of the machines we do have in the Museum. In the Classic Motorcycle of February 1993 I find, amongst other things one such article on the BSA M20. The 500cc side-valve single that was a strong plodder and used by many for sidecar work.

According to the report the Ministry of Defence people had set specifications that turned the very comfortable civilian M20 into a decidedly uncomfortable forward lean version with too much weight on the arms and knees pressing into the tank. It did about 60 mpg and about 60 mph! Used for dispatch riding. After the gripes there was much praise for the robustness of the machine that it could carry an extra 400lbs of armour plating along with a machine gun. BSA had provided them with a bullet proof machine and some say one has been purported to have survived a nuclear attack! It was not necessarily the best machine for the job and as you may remember the bit about Douglas DW60, and the TRW and there was a BSA twin that was never to get into action. It did not have the ground clearance or the lightness to be what the military needed and as army surplus you could buy one from Pride and Clarke for as little as £20 in the sixties. It was an endearing machine with good reliability and easy maintenance as most people at the time could not afford someone to do the work for them.

The one in the Museum is of a similar spec but without the monumentally long side stand that you could park it up quickly on any terrain, good old canvas bags and in our case a manikin that has got a bit tired and dropped off holding his tray of medals. 

In the background is the little 122cc James, the “Clockwork Mouse” and next to it a Vickers machine gun (sometimes used to wake him up). In the other photo is the “Flying Flee” a 125cc Royal Enfield that was so named because it was used by the parachute regiment and dropped in a steel cage where it could be rescued from the cage and set free to bite the enemy as required. A complete one in its' cage, can be seen at Duxford at the Imperial War Museum.

There is an M20 at Duxford parked up by a communications van. In spite of the extensive use of motorcycles used by the military from the First World War onwards there were only a few examples to be seen there.

The Ormonde

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The Ormonde on an outing

I just happened to drop into the Museum on the Sunday to have an update from Bill about what has been going on in my absence and while I was there the owner of the 1902 Ormonde was in to take it out of display in preparation for exhibiting it at the Stafford Classic bike show at the end of April. It was an opportunity not to be missed to take some more pictures of the other side of the bike. It is relatively light and was removed from display with a bit of muscle. It is still at the Museum but now located in the barn waiting for some TLC in readiness for the show. It is surprising what happens when an old bike is just standing there and reveals some of its history.

Out in the sunshine

On the side you are not able to see some of the original paintwork reveals itself.

Mysteriously broken pipework.

The engine number is finally found.

On my travels, later in the day I see something that is a rare sight on our roads today it was bright yellow and turned out to be a modern Triumph outfit heading around the north circular.

During last week I was out and about around Uxbridge and ran into another biker who has lots of biking friends and I passed on a number of Monday discount fliers for him and his mates. I do hope they come and make use of the offer. Also during last week I have set the ball rolling for getting a stand, again this year, at the Southern Classic Bike show at the end of May for the LE Velocette Owners Club. If you look up the EGP Enterprises web site you will be able to see last years winners. Among them were the Tiger cub from the Museum and my Velocette Valiant. I have found another Classic Motorcycle magazine from February 1993 about a BSA M20 and I will be following that up some time soon.