Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Velocene= The 350 ORC Single the AMA banned from racing .... -- --::t" tO'> ...... t.O - ' i: Once upon a time, about one long decade ago, England ruled the roost with her superb single and twin-cylinder motorcycles. Some On e of th ese classic names IS Velocette - a marque th at acquired grea t importance due to nine Ise of Man wins and s e ve ra l World TT Ch ampion sh ips with their su p erb overhead camshaft singles. Veloce, Ltd. also produced some fine OHV thumpers in 250, 350, and 500cc siz es, all of wh ich are now highly esteemed by collectors all over the world as they were by racers in their prime. The company closed its doors in Febru ar y of 1971, and with this act, the last of the quality British sing les disappeared. I recently had the opportunity to ride and test one of these proud o ld thumpers, which provided a .memorable experience, to say the least. The day began with a ph on e call from Dick Renstrom at Classics Unlimited in Caldwell, Idaho, and it ended with an afternoon on a well-maintained Velocette 350 "Viper." The old single was sitting in the showroom ready to be ridden. The Velo was a superbly restored 1961 m odel , which is quite rare in America since the 350cc Vi per was not imported in any q u an i t i t y . . . the American distributors preferred to deal only in the larger 500cc models. The bore an d stroke on this beau t iful thumper is 72 X 86mm. With a sports cam and a 1-1/1 6" carb it pump. out 27 HP at 70 0 0 RPM - a m odest figure by today'. standards. A separate four-speed . box with ratios of 5 .5, 6.64, 8.73 , and 12 .62 to 1 nestles ne atly b u t vin tage -like be hind t he narr ow crankcases in the rugged-looking single-loo p cradle fra me. A large single lead ing shoe brake of 7~" X 1~ " is used up front, and a pair of 19" wheels were shod with Du nlop K-7 0s. Since the Viper is real ly a "de-b ored " 500, it is naturally qu ite heavy for a 35 0 at around 370 pounds. It is also a b ig • bike for a 350, but it looks as if it would run forever. The wheelbase, at 54", was typical for a roadster of that era. Starting the Vi pe r proved to be a lot less work than a bigger 500 single. Ease it just past co mpression and then kick with just a whiff of throttle. With one goo d kick the mill would spring to life , whi ch w as followed by the m ost deli ghtful whuff'-whuff-whu ff fro m that vintage fish tail muffler. T he vib ration level was m uch ' lo wer than a 5 0 0 thumper, wh ich was one of th e ch arms of the old British 35 0s. The clutch pressure was so light th at tw o fingers would pull it in, and a slight tug up o n th at long shift lever pulled it into gear wi th nar y a twi t ch on the rear cha in or th e slightest sou nd from th e gearbox. Cog swapp ing proved to b e a revelation . T he Vel o shifted effor tlessly. Absolutely no mech anical crunch , just short sweet dabs on the 'pe dals. To ta l me chanical perfection in th e ge ar box . The performance was brisk but not shattering. With such a tall first cog and • .... ...... By Geoffrey Wood of these grea t bikes have be come classics with the rapid passin g 0 f tim e, still kn own for th eir unique quality, perform ance, and han dling. • ..• 0.

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