Old Bike Australasia – July 21, 2019

after a run it wouldn’t start until it had cooled down.

After ditching it for a 500 Ariel I found that as a

result of the accident the BTH dynomag on the front

the Bakelite housing had cracked where the plug

leads came out. This was detected when it was

running in the dark and you could see the spark

tracking to the crankcase. It was sold shortly

afterwards. I had no trouble with the hand change.

It wasn’t fast but it handled wonderfully. One day in

snow with wife on the back I lost it on ice so let go

of the bars to abandon ship and it righted itself and

I carried on with my wife saying, “What was

that?”. Thanks for the best mag out there.

David Kidd

Woodbury, Devon UK

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The original LE

Regardingyour story on the Velocette LE (OBA
79); in 1942 Phil Irving was in hospital when he
conceived the idea of quiet, clean, reliable transport
for people who would have, before the war, had a
car. With petrol rationed it had to be economical; the
prototype built during the war did this at 130 miles
to the gallon. At the same time in Italy, the Piaggio
aircraft factory was being bombed. At the end of the
war Enrico Piaggio, no longer allowed to build
aircraft, gave his aircraft designer the job of
designing a vehicle with the same aims (as the LE);
personal transport. D’Ascanio was not a motorcyclist,
but a top aircraft man who in 1946 came up with
the Vespa. Not clean, not economical, but cheap and
fun. The Piaggio factory built them by the millions.
Phil Irving was not happy when the design of the
LE was taken out of his hands and, as he said,
complicated, as it seems it was. I believe his original
was to be a very wide-angle v-twin – not quite a
180-degree boxer. This might have been because

Granville Bradshaw said that no two pistons should

change direction at the same time. Both Irving and

Edward Turner in 1945 wrote papers in favour of the

1920 ABC, built by Sopwith and designed by

Granville Bradshaw. This, I believe, is where the

concept of the LE came from. If he had been given

a free hand the clutch might have been driven from

the end of the camshaft with lots of benefits. The

engine might have been split vertically front to

back. The crankshaft complete with bearings and

seals could have been laid into one half and the

same with the camshaft and clutch, then closed by

fitting the other crankcase half. It could have been

simpler, smaller and cheaper to build. If the police

hadn’t bought LEs, Velocette would have been

finished in the ‘fifties. In reality, the Vespa and the

LE were at opposite ends of the market. Irving

envisaged the LE as transport for people like

professionals, bank managers etc., because with

petrol rationing, the 150 mpg offered by the 150cc

engine would have been ideal, whereas the Vespa

was just an oily little fun machine.

Andrew Duncan

Wilton, NSW

There are many who sing the praises of the

esteemed Mr Granville Bradshaw – the ‘B’ in the

ABC motorcycle – he of the restless mind of the

inventor. Among his non-motorcycling achievements

were a portable wardrobe, vandal-proof screws and

bolts, ash-devouring ashtrays, and golf balls coated

with radio-active luminous paint so they could be

located by Geiger counter. –Ed

More LE tales

Great articleon the LE (OBA 79) – brought back

fond and not so fond memories. My brother bought

a 1949 LE second hand, but it was a 200cc. Whether

the barrels had been replaced we don’t know but it

had the ball and roller internals. The main problem

with these early models was icing up of the carb

and inlet tract. As said in the article the carb was

fed by an air chamber in the radiator but this never

worked so a cover was fitted over the bellmouth

which had the inlet just above the crankcase, but

this never worked either. So in the end an outlet on

the radiator hose just above the cylinder was taken

across the inlet manifold and back into the system,

which worked in the UK chilly mornings. My brother

commuted and took me on holidays covering many

miles with no problems until while on holiday with

his new wife some idiot pulled out in front – brother

was OK but wife had a broken arm.

The bike was repaired with new bodywork and

front end and handed to me as I needed cheap

transport into London. The LE was painted bright red

as the thing was so quiet. I ran this bike for a couple

of years but it had an annoying habit if you stopped

Each issue, we’re giving

away a pair of tough,

stylish Draggin’ Jeans,

valued at $249, for the

Best Letter contribution.

Don’t forget to include your name

and address in case you’re selected.

And why not have a look at the

latest fashion range from the

Draggin’ Jeans website at

http://www.dragginjeans.net

Write a winner!

Granville Bradshaw.

A Kettenkrad in

the Tank Museum,

Cairns, Qld.

A Kettenkrad in Oz

I love your magazine.Issue 80 had an article

on the German WW2 Kettenkrad. There is one at the

Tank Museum in Cairns next to the SkyRail cable car.

Incredible stuff in there. I saw you race with Mike

Hailwood at Amaroo in 1978 on the Ducati. Hailwood

was the attraction I must admit but I had a similar

bike myself. Only 250 750 SS were made I believe

after the “Green Frame”. Should have kept it.

Maurie Copsey

Jindabyne, NSW

Skid kids

I enjoyed reading the Jim Airey story(OBA 80)

by Peter Whitaker, love these history lessons. I did

the same as him on a Saturday evening, travelling

from Sans Souci to watch Jim and the others at the

Showground. You’re the first person to mention

“Cut Downs” since those wonderful years. My dad

was a plumber, so I could bronze weld at age 12.

Dad and I got an old bike and he showed me how

to sand bend the top tube to meet the sawn off

pillar after 7” was removed. The rear sub frame was

then either bent down, or, if you could find a bike

with a bolt on frame, just dropped and tightened.

Then, with the oxy, he bronze welded the joints to