history
Velocette is a company founded by John Taylor and William Gue in 1905 when they also came with their first bike, dubbed Veloce.
Eight years later, in 1913, the company released the first two stroke motorcycle, nicknamed Velocette, a name which was kept and used for the next series of bikes, including the K series, officially introduced in 1925. These K bikes have been used as platforms for the KSS, KTS, KTP and KNN roadsters, motorcycles which were in production till 1948.
Because the K bikes were pretty expensive to produce, the company decided to bring out a new line of overhead valve motorcycles, MOV being the first bike included in this new series. The motorcycles, included in the M bike series, had an engine with a displacement of 250cc which helped the company design, in 1934 and 1935, two new bikes, the MAC 350cc and the MSS 500cc, which recorded an impressive success on the market.
The company grew up a lot after World War II, when Velocette designed a 192cc water cooled, flat twin engine with side valves. Thanks to its advanced features, this bike has been used by the British police forces.
What's interesting is that the motorcycle was nicknamed the “Noddy bike” because policemen who rode the bike had to take the hands off the handle bars and bow the head in order to keep the control of the bike.
During the next few years, the company launched multiple new models or redesigned the old ones in order to become more advanced and to be equipped with new technologies.
However, in the late 60s, the company experienced lots of problems so the company was forced to close the factories in February 1971.
expand
