The Velocette Owners Club has over 3,300 members worldwide who share an enthusiasm for this classic British motorcycle. Of all the Birmingham manufacturers, Velocette was outsold only by BSA (of Small Heath) and Norton (of Bracebridge Street). The firm started in 1905, with a factory in Gisholt Passage, Spring Hill, Birmingham. John Taylor (who was born Johannes Gütgemann and later formally change
d his name to John Goodman), and his partner William Gue, use VELOCE as the name of Taylor, Gue Ltd's first motorcycle. Later the same year, John set up his own firm of VELOCE LIMITED to produce cycles and related products and services. Following the company producing a successful little machine called "the Velocette" , due to the public opinion the name stuck for all the motorbikes produced from then on. After a period in Six Ways, Aston, the factory moved to York Road, Hall Green, Birmingham before the War and stayed there until its demise in 1971. Although often recognised by the UK man-in-the-street for the LE Velocette which was familiar to him as the Police "Noddy" bike, the world knew Velocettes for their classic traditional single-cylinder roadsters and racers. The Velocette Owners Club was set up in 1957 by a small group of Velocette enthusiasts and the club has grown and grown over the last several decades and has 27 Centres spread throughout the UK, along with one in South California. There is also a strong following in Australia, France, Netherlands and Germany. Pick an area from Cornwall to the Orkneys and there is bound to be a few members in it. Each Centre has it's own committee and organises event throughout the year. The club diary has over 300 events listed, ranging from evening meetings, runs or displays such as the Stafford, Bristol, or Manchester Shows, or various racing circuits around the country. We normally have our National rally on the first weekend of July which is organised by the West Midlands Centre, and currently held at Burntwood Rugby Club. This strength in membership has enabled the club to buy it's own headquarters, The Old Chapel in Huncote. To help members keep their machines on the road club also has it's own spares company, run fully by volunteers who work very hard to ensure that Velocette owners have as many parts as possible to keep their bikes on the road and running as they were meant to be. They deal with mail and email orders on a weekly basis and hold monthly open days. Healthy stock levels are maintained for the more popular items and small batches commissioned of the hard-to-find parts that are required to keep the pre-war bikes running. It is this combined back-up that has helped to give the Velocette bikes the popularity that they now have. Access to the spares scheme is only available to club members, so this alone is well worth becoming a club member! Being a club member also gains you access to technical advice, machine history, club regalia and assistance with registration matters. The club magazine "Fishtail" (surprise, surprise) is issued eight times a year and is of a high standard containing news, technical articles, developments, events and adverts. Members of the club are justifiably proud of Velocette's competition history and the Club continues to support racing. Pre-War they were up amongst the best with the 350cc KTT and 500cc models scoring many TT and MGP victories with riders such as Stanley Woods, Freddy Frith and Alec Bennett. In 1967 a Velocette won the 500cc class in the production TT. In 1961 a basically standard Velocette Venom roadster became the first and only 500cc motorcycle to average 100.05 mph for 24 hours. The team of riders included the Veloce Sales Director and founding family member Bertie Goodman and journalist Bruce Main-Smith along with a team of French riders. This feat has never been equalled. The unique machine which set this record is on display in the British National Motorcycle Museum. Throughout their history Velocette motorcycles had great racing success as well as setting many records and the production models benefited accordingly. Velocette were at the forefront of engineering development designing the first positive-stop foot gear change in 1928 and producing supercharged racing models. Many of these unique and historic machines have been re-built by the Club President Ivan Rhodes with the help and support of his son Graham and a small group of skilled enthusiasts. Contrary to suggestion by the name "Velocette", there is no "French connection", other than an extremely enthusiastic section of the club in France.
