An Oily, Fractured Journey

AN OILY, FRACTURED JOURNEY

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EDITOR'S LETTER

A NEW CHAPTER IN THE SAGA OF A BRITISH SINGLE?

How many pistons per service interval should a motorcycle require? Does anybody but me and a Facebook friend poking fun at me for having the head of my 1954 Velocette MSS off again even know what a “de-coke” service is?

These are rhetorical questions. British bikes challenge our perseverance and skills on the road and in the shop. Fd be lying if I said I didn’t like it.

As I have chronicled in these pages before, the 50 years my MSS was on the road before I got it in 2004 appears to have been hard on the old thing. When I bought it while visiting friends near Christchurch, New Zealand, circa 2004, it clearly had a hell of a rod knock but was irresistibly shiny and had beautiful lines. Plus, it had a rare Alfin aluminum cylinder and a Venom head (higher performance than the stock MSS). I commissioned an engine rebuild down there with the plan to return when it was complete to make a weeklong tour of the South Island, one of the greatest places to ride a motorbike in the world.

I did that ride, and the bike seized late one pleasant sunny afternoon. Not a thrilling outcome on our first big trip, but the engine was freshly redone and perhaps not fully broken in. It hadn’t stuck badly, and I limped it into the next town where we retimed the spark (just to be sure) and carried on.

Back home, I was graced with a noisy piston, so I resolved to educate myself in the ways of Velo. Wheel So it began.

There is too much go over in all of my engine trials through the years, but as of right now, every major part and many minor parts on the engine have been replaced. The last and most profound was the cracked MSS cases, which had led to about two years of dormancy under a dark sheet in a dark corner of the garage. For the bike, I mean.

It terrifies me to even think this, much less utter it aloud or, ye gods, type it here, but I have not had one whit of trouble with the gearbox. Not a drip of oil, never a missed shift. I shall now forever hear noises from the gearbox and have nightmares for the curse I have just unleashed... But, seriously, the gearbox is magic on this bike.

Through it all, I have never been towed to my destination. Sure, I’ve had a few unplanned “rest periods,” but we always got going again. Over the years, the MSS has ably carried me up the California coast from LA to Monterey on Highway 1 a few times, and I rode it home from Sonoma following a press event where I left behind a brand-new luxury touring bike to use the MSS. It has lapped Laguna Seca and served as daily transportation during “The Month of Velo” where I rode it and only it everywhere I needed to go. I couldn’t ride with the club at the Velo rally this year, so I did a Week of Velo to ride along in spirit as I went about my daily life.

The past few weeks, I’ve had the engine apart after a year of good behavior to work on reducing some oil leaks. The insides were pristine. The bore was perfect and the valve guides showed zero wear. Honestly, it was weird... Hoping for success in slowing the egress of oil (we must try), and I’ve also dialed back my quest for ultimate velocity.

Besides, how fast can you go with a 1950s Swallow Jet 80 sidecar attached to one of these things? I’m not sure yet, but I’ll save the outcome of story for the next round.

MARK HOYER

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

THIS MONTH'S STATS

zero NUMBER OF PISTONS CONSUMED IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS

115° HOTTEST RIDING DAY IN FAHRENHEIT ENCOUNTERED IN TESTING

10.2 SECONDS THE BMW S1000XR TOOK IN THE QUARTER MILE