RichardW's Velocette rebuild
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
Sent off the forks and mag yesterday. Forks have gone to a guy in St Leonards on sea, which is apt, given those that remember the much missed citronut!
Richard W
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
RichardW wrote: 09 Feb 2019, 07:59Forks have gone to a guy in St Leonards on sea, which is apt, given those that remember the much missed citronut!
I think of him almost every day


Jim
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
Him, his Percywotsists, and his Dyslexia!
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
Looks a lovely job Richard. I wasn't really into bikes, especially since I came off my Vespa a few times but I remember well the water cooled Velocette's that the police used in my youth, I liked the idea of the radiator in front of your legs which I assume must have kept them a bit warm in the winter. Not as old as yours though!
Peter
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
After rebuilding the back brake on my push bike (which is a trial as it has cantilever brakes, and there are about 27 degrees of freedom when fitting the new blocks!!) I had another go at getting the front tyre off the Velo. Had failed before, but found a better tyre lever (quite possibly the one used to put it on nearly 70 years ago!), and managed to persuade it off. So now I can get on with getting the rust off and painting them. Here's the tyres.... back one looks nearly new...given that they're at least 66 years old, I think I'll get new ones

Richard W
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
RichardW wrote: 09 Feb 2019, 07:59 Sent off the forks and mag yesterday. Forks have gone to a guy in St Leonards on sea, which is apt, given those that remember the much missed citronut!
I do hope the business yo sent them to in St Leonard's wasn't located in Drury Lane

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-47189485
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild

Next job is to find someone to re-line the brakes. I wonder if they might refuse to do the one that has been repaired.
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
What material is the broken shoe?
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
It's aluminium (or an alloy thereof) - it should be possible to get a new one cast if needs be - I'm sure I had a link to somewhere that said they would do it when I took it apart 15 years ago, but I haven't yet been able to find them again. I'm trying to retain as much of the original as possible - bodges included - if I can though!
Richard W
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
If it is only broken, not badly corroded, you should also have the option of having it welded. I think that the current repair may compromise performance by being too flexible.
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
If you get stuck for a solution, a mate of mine will probably be able to come up with an answer. He owns 30-something classic, vintage and veteran bikes so will probably know 'a man who can' 

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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
There's a foundry down the road that does aluminium casting, have dropped them a note to see if they can cast a new one. I'll get the rivets drilled / ground out, and see what it looks like underneath - presumably it's got some holes in it that weren't there originally!!
Richard W
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
I just popped 'Vintage Velocette brake shoes' into the Ebay search box, lots came up, mostly for LE model but maybe worth a look. Lots from worldwide sellers.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. (Albert Einstein)
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Re: RichardW's Velocette rebuild
I definitely wouldn't expect this to be too difficult to get welded up or recast. I don't imagine it's a part that will be subject to particularly huge forces in the grand scheme of things... it's not a 1300cc 250mph modern superbike after all.
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