With the laudable aim of obviating the ‘English restoration syndrome’ of shiny bikes hiding a multitude of sins, Jan Hoogesteger of Croscombe, Wells, Somerset, has set up Velocette Toolroom Services to ensure that those single-cylinder Hall Green classics continue running smoothly and reliably for as long as possible.
Jan’s first rebuild, with the sage advice of Velocette-owning friends, was that of a 1949 rigid MAC with Dowty Air forks in 1968, and the machine showed amazing reliability despite hauling a box sidecar on
200-mile trips.
This enthused Jan for Velos, and in due course he obtained more modern types – a Venom, MSS, Viper and, in 1974, a Thruxton. As is sadly so often the case, however, many of the components were heavily worn, or more probably had suffered at the hands of ‘Bodger Bill’.
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After going through the dark days of no factory and limited Velocette Owners’ Club spares, he determined to make those parts he couldn’t buy or repair those that were salvageable.
Read more in the May 2018 issue of OBM – on sale now!
