Velocettes Live Again
Velocettes live again
ROUNDUP
LETTER FROM Europe
More than a decade and a half after the last pushrod Single rolled from the Velocette factory in Hall Green, Birmingham, Ralph Seymour remains one of two British dealers who continue to build new Velos on limited, special order. Seymour, whose machines flew the Hall Green flag high in the Isle of Man TT races for years after the factory stopped racing, builds a Velo-based model in his Buckinghamshire workshops: the Seymour Velocette Metisse.
Available in either 350cc or 500cc versions to order, the Velocette Metisse is a continuation of the line of handcrafted specials built with Rickman frames by Seymour since the mid-Sixties. Hence, the bikes are lean, lissome sporting machines which are the epitome of the Clubman’s style of British bikes that eventually gave rise to the café racer era.
Each of the 30 or so Velo Métissés built so far have been hand-assembled by Ralph Seymour himself, working in the well-equipped shop located above the showroom of his Honda dealership. Like so many bespoke motorcycles, the Velo’s specifications vary greatly according to the whim of the buyer, yet each is complete with a high proportion of reconditioned Velocette parts, including the drum brakes and pushrod engine.
But don’t expect to be able to order the bike today and have it next week; average delivery time is one year, and there is one customer in San Francisco who’s been waiting almost five years for delivery of his Seymour Metisse, thanks to the non-availability of certain parts. Having to make his customers wait doesn’t bother Ralph Seymour, for he is one of the old school of British craftsmen who won’t be hurried, whether they’re making shoes or clothes or cricket bats or motorcycles. “There’s only one way to do a job as far as I'm concerned, and that’s the right way,” says Seymour. “Fortunately, most of my customers recognize this, and if someone gets a bit impatient, I always tell him I’ll be happy to give him his deposit back. And besides, if someone’s hard-up for a bike to ride in the meantime, I’ll always sell him a Honda.”
