The Velocette Valiant was a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

produced by

Velocette Velocette is a line of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during i ...

from 1957 to 1963. Launched at the 1956

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

Motorcycle Show, the Valiant had a 192 cc (11.7cu in) flat-twin engine but was expensive and criticized for its underpowered engine.

Development

In the mid-1950s Velocette had two very different lines of motorcycles. Alongside the larger and more conventional M series, they produced a series of enclosed small capacity four-stroke flat twins for the commuter market, when most of their competitors were producing two-stroke singles. Launched at the

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

Show in November 1956 the ''Velocette Valiant'' was a development of the

Velocette LE The Velocette LE is a motorcycle made by Veloce Ltd from 1948 to 1971. The designation LE stood for "little engine". Used by over fifty British Police forces, the police riders became known as "Noddies" because they were required to nod to s ...

. It had a two piece cover that enclosed most of the crankcase and gearbox. The engine was based on the LE engine but differed from it considerably, with the engine converted to air cooling for simplicity and lightness. Revised cylinder heads with

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

s were used, with the compression ratio increased to 8.5:1 from the LE's 7.0:1. A stronger crankshaft with larger bearings was used to handle the increased power, to the LE's . The engine also had a bigger crankcase and cast iron cylinders with steel pushrod tubes and alloy heads. It was mounted in a duplex frame with a single top tube. The clutch and four-speed gearbox were the same as those fitted to the MK3 LE as was the final drive which was through a cast aluminium pivoted fork, with a universal joint to the drive shaft. Front suspension was the same as the LE but rear suspension used Woodhead-Monroe springs with hydraulic damping. Two Amal 363 monobloc carburettors fitted to stub inlet manifolds were linked by a balancing tube. The recommended top speed was .

Reception

With the 250 cc class being popular in the UK, few enthusiasts were interested in an expensive 200 cc motorcycle, especially one with a four-stroke flat-twin instead of the more familiar four-stroke single or two-stroke twin. 1,600 Valiants were made between 1957 and 1963.

Valiant Veeline

The 1959 ''Valiant Veeline'' (also known as the ''Vee Line'') was the same as a standard Valiant with a 'dolphin' full fairing made of

fibre glass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

that had big windscreen, a fascia panel housing the speedometer and ammeter, as well as a small glove box. The headlamp was mounted on brackets fixed into the fairing allowing adjustment but it did not turn with the forks. Developed as competition for the emerging scooter market, the Veeline still had the underpowered engine of the Valiant and did not sell in sufficient numbers. The big fairing also added to the weight and £21 to the cost and after poor sales Velocette decided to stop production of the version in 1961.

References

{{reflist Motorcycles powered by flat engines Velocette motorcycles Shaft drive motorcycles

Development

Reception

Valiant Veeline

See also

References