1947 VELOCETTE 350 KSS

Coming up for auction on Sunday the 22nd of November in QLD, Australia. Head to the Donington Auctions website for more details.


One of the final production single overhead camshaft Velocettes



Engine Number: 10917

Frame Number: KDI 8548



Velocette represented much that was endearing about British motorcycles. Produced by a diminutive family factory firm that never employed more than 400, their record of TT victories up to 1950 was second only to Norton. Velocette’s fast and strong singles were derived from their very successful single overhead camshaft racing designs. But while the sporting overhead camshaft KSS enjoyed a cult following, it lasted around twenty years; from 1926 until 1947.



Alec Bennett’s 1926 Junior TT victory at the Isle of Man on the new overhead camshaft KTT was a turning point for Velocette. Orders rolled in and in 1927 the racing-derived sporting KSS (Kamshaft Super Sport) went into limited production. As the German Johannes Gütgemann (later John Goodman) established Velocette, K represented Kamshaft (camshaft in German). The ohc engine and cycle parts were continually developed, incorporating lessons learnt from the TT racing machines and culminating in the 1936 KSS Mark II. The KSS would then essentially remain unchanged until the end of production in 1947. The KSS engine was based on the racing KTT, with a bore and stroke of 74x81 mm and displacing 348 cc. The compression ratio was 7.6:1 with plates under the cylinder, or 8.4:1 with the plates removed. An alloy cylinder head with full-enclosed valve gear was introduced with the Mark II and valve lash adjustment was by eccentrically mounted rocker spindles. The dry sump lubrication, magneto ignition, four-speed gearbox and distinctive Velocette fishtail silencer were unchanged from the earlier version. This engine was dropped into a much heftier Mark V KTT frame, now with a stout vertical saddle tube, single front downtube and full cradle. The 1936 KSS included the Mark V KTT single damped girder fork but towards the end of 1947 a Dowty oil-damped “Oleomatric “telescopic fork was fitted. The wheels were 21-inch front and 20-inch rear, with very modest 7-inch single sided brakes. Fortunately the KSS weighed only 163 kg. It also came with street equipment, including a large 210 mm headlamp, taillight and illuminated Smiths speedometer with rear wheel drive. Unfortunately, as they required skilled fitters and selective assembly of the bevel gears, the K-series singles were very expensive to manufacture and ultimately unprofitable. Eventually Velocette replaced the KSS with the overhead valve M-series, this design seeing them through until the company’s ultimate demise in 1970.



An older restoration, this Velocette KSS 350 is one of the final 1,250 produced in 1947 and as it has a Dowty fork was built after August 1947. These were also sold into 1948.A new Lucas rubber battery box has been fitted after photos were taken, and a new battery will be supplied. Some chrome on the handlebar and headlight rim requires replating, but otherwise bike is very original and in good condition. Unregistered, it starts and runs well and the Smiths odometer reads only 283 miles. A rare original sales brochure is included