The Knowledge - Velocette Owners Club

usually had this combination so your wheel builder sounds OK to me.
# 4823 I believe the difference between the mkII KSS and KTS was the difference in wheel sizes, the
KSS was 21"/20" versus the 19" on the KTS. This is not news I'm sure. I did want to point out that over
the years your machine may have had modifications. My point is that the correct wheel/tyre
combination should fit nicely with the mudgaurds. Machines that have had the wheels converted to
smaller sizes generally don't look right visually with too much of a gap between the tyre and mudgaurd.
# 4824 Some memory in the back of my head of something that I read long ago tells me that the KTS
came supplied with the unlikely WM 3 X 19" rims both ends. I can't quote the citation, but I remember it
as being authoritative.
# 4825 Regards the KTS tire/rim query; I would stick with WM2 front and rear, as a WM3 rim is really
for 4" plus tire sizes, and isn't standard on a prewar bike anyway unless it was a real hauler, like an
Enfield KX or something American (which used small truck tires prewar, it would seem; there must have
been no corners here at the time). I've owned a few Broughs, and they all had WM2/19". Plus, in terms
of handling, you'll probably find the bike is more responsive the narrower the tires you put on, but more
comfortable the wider the tires, which is my general rule for early machines. So, as an example, my '28
Sunbeam has 21"/2.75" front and 20"/3.00" rear wheels, and my mk1 KTT has 21/3.00" on both wheels,
and each handles like a surgeon's knife. They will even go between the Bott's dots on a road warning
grid without a bump (do you have them in England?). These bikes are used for high performance bend
swinging. As a contrast, I use 19"/3.25 and /4" on my Venom, as it's used for more long rallies. I have
used 3.50" on the rear, which really made it corner more quickly, but was generally more nervous
feeling. I would recommend 3.25-50" for the front, and 3.50/4.00" for the rear of your KTS.
L # 5123 I've not had any luck in finding Akront rims suitable for the Velo although one does
routinely find them for other bikes. The most readily available rims seem to be the EXCEL valenced
alloy as handled by SRM in the UK and I'm sure these are superior to any other similar rims and will
probably go this way if I can't locate any Dunlops. My Venom presently has original Dunlop steel rims
fitted but I've always loved the valenced alloys.
# 5124 George, Try www.akront.com/ or www.buchananspokes.com/Akront_shld.htm Their S or MS
series (depending on whose web site you look at) valanced alloy rim is the one I used and is a very
good substitute for the period Dunlop or Borrani valanced rims. In the UK they are available from the
Central Wheel Company www.central-wheel.co.uk I gather from their site that the tooling has been
taken over by a company called Morad who, like Akront themselves, are based in Spain. I've not been
able to find a good reference to Excel rims or SRM, but gather that Excels are quite a bit more
expensive than Akronts. Personally I consider that the Akronts are well up to the job, look right, and
there is no reason to go shelling out the extra for the Excel alternative.
L # 6147 I bought a 1938 KSS today and have spent the last couple of hours making lists of
what to do (I'm sure you all understand the feeling). The bike itself was restored about 10 years ago,
doesn't seem to have done many miles since then but has been stored in not very good conditions for
the last 7 or so years. Some good pointers - the petrol tank had been filled with oil to stop rust, the oil
tank is full to the brim with clean oil. I've resisted the temptation to turn the engine over and will do the
sensible things about oil circulation etc before trying to start it. I'll let you know how it goes. The main
point of this post is about tyres. The ones on it look OK but I'm a bit nervous of trusting them on the
basis of their age. I would probably replace the tubes anyway but what about the tyres? There have
been a few posts about the lack of availability of 3.00x21 front and 3.25x20 rear tyres. Anybody got up
to date information about a UK supplier?
# 6148 Tires are now available at Lambrook's in the UK. I got a pair about 6 weeks ago.
L # 6177 I'm restoring my Viper '67, and trying to remove the right hand bearing of the rear
wheel. The owners handbook of Haynes, page 114 mentions that the bearing retaining ring has a right
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