The Knowledge - Velocette Owners Club

Rebound damping also feels insufficient. Has anybody experience of tuning the velocette double
dampers (compression/rebound damping? What are the spring rate rates in front?
#4139 I had a Velo fork tube in one hand the other day and a damper out of a '70's Moto Guzzi in the
other. With a bit of trimming the Guzzi damper looked like it might fit, though Guzzi dampers are not
known for being all that good. They do make after-market dampers for the Guzzis, so with a bit of
research and effort one could have gas charged, adjustable, modern dampers in a Velo fork. That said,
the stock dd forks with 10w oil work fine for me. I will take note of Ingebrigt's observations next time I
have some apart.
L #4136 Greetings all, I need to replace a worn out set of gaiters on my '66 VMT. Knowing the
upper spring seat must be "twisted" on the stanchion to ensure the spring is clamped in the spring seat,
is there a way to install new gaiters without completely stripping the mudguard, stays etc. from the
bike?
#4138 The easiest way to fit gaiters is to remove wheel & guard, drop off the sliders and providing you
have short tubular shrouds fit the gaiters & all the rest. Without short tubes to hold the gaiters you will
have to strip the stanchions off too. Have fun - its really not that bad!
#4141 Surely he must have short tubes if he is replacing the gaiters. If it had the long shroud tubes he
wouldn't be able to fit the gaiters in the first place. Totally agree with you regarding the replacement
method. When refitting the top bush, I found it useful to use the old two piece split clamp headlamp
bracket(beloved of all old café racers) as a slide hammer to knock in the bush. Don' forget the oil seal
before fitting the bush.
L #4145 While we are on the subject of front forks I will ask a question again just in case
someone out there has the answer and missed my question last time around. What is the centre to
centre distance between the front fork tubes? I have measured various top and bottom yokes and they
are all different centres so I am looking to find a set which will make the fork tubes parallel. Hope to get
a distance this time
#4148 You could undo the top stanchion nuts, undo the damper rods ( retain with string for reassembly)
slacken off the bottom fork yoke bolts and draw the stanchions right out downwards... probably have to
undo the brake cable.
#4150 I'm not sure how I'd be able to reassemble and rotate the upper spring holders 15 to 20 degrees
to lock the springs tightly in place. Am I missing something in the reassembly phase? I can not think of
any way to do this task except remove the mud guard and stays, orient the sliders to the side and
reassemble. I'd hoped to save a few steps and avoid the potential damage to the paint work.
#4151 Exactly; you cannot locate the spring carriers with the fork legs complete below!
#4170 Sorry to disappoint you but the distance that you are looking for is a variable; it's one of the
reasons for the front wheel spindle having that shifty little bush which is clamped in the L/H fork slider.
No doubt there is a Charles Udall drawing that shows this dimension but I would be interested to know
what the +/- tolerance is. I have fork yokes that have been bored so far off centre that the forging has
been built up with braze in order to keep the appearance of concentricity - by the original manufacturer!
The yokes were bored as a pair and must be kept as such. If your yokes are out of parallel and there is
no evidence of impact damage then it is possible that they are not an original "matched pair". The
forgings are soft as butter and it doesn't take much to knock them out of alignment. By the same token,
they can be easily re-aligned but you need to find the right bloke to do it.
L #4406 So after spending a year or so rebuilding the venom and riding it around for 700 miles or
so I managed to fall off it a couple of weeks ago. Looking at the bike the damage seems pretty
cosmetic although there are a couple of points I need a little advise on. 1. The gear change level got
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