LIKE ALL GOOD STORIES, THIS ONE BEGINS WHEN A man walks into a pub. Aged about 40, he had black-framed glasses and a big beard and was wearing a mustard yellow cardigan over a white T-shirt – the hipster look long before hipsters were invented. He walked over to our table and asked where the guy who liked old motorcycles was. My mate volunteered me with a sideways nod of his head.
“I’ve got a Velocette I want to sell in the back of my pick-up. Are you interested?” asked the pre-hipster. Of course I was. As we walked out into the night air, my mind started flitting from Venom to MAC to KSS to KTT. Please god, let it be a KTT.
And there in the back was an LE, broken down into two big lumps. He must have seen the disappointment on my face because he apologised and said: “I only want £50 for it.” No thanks, I replied. “How about £30? Or £20?” He was almost giving it away.
I told him I’d give £20 if he delivered it to my house three miles up the road, so I finished my pint and threw my pushbike in the pick-up.
Velocette made its mark with four-stroke singles: the sporty 350cc overhead-camshaft KTT racers and KSS
