Velocette. Service Manual for L.E. Model

This is a POOR original copy (Complete but substantially cover soiled.) #0921
Velocette LE 1949-71, 149cc-192cc, WC SV flat twin, 250lb, 100mpg, 55mph. Pleasant little bike & the ‘LE’ meant ‘Little Engine’. It was manufactured to get away from the idea of the oily engined bikes with chain drive of the period. Excellent ride, no noise or vibrations, this was a major hit with the police forces of the country & led to the demise of the ‘Bobby on a Push Bike’. Designed around a pressed steel chassis it had leg shields, glove box & panniers to accommodate commuters, & was propelled by a shaft drive from a twin water cooled engine which was rubber mounted. The 149cc Mk1 model gave way to the 192cc Mk2 in 1952 & in 1958 the Mk3 came along with kick-start & 4 speed foot gear-change.
Metropolitan Police Officers of the time were trained to salute an Inspector or above, but when riding the Velocette LE this meant taking one hand from the handle bars, so it was agreed that instead they could nod to show respect. The police riders therefore became known as “Noddies”, and the LE was nicknamed “the Noddy Bike”; this nickname does not appear to have had anything to do with Enid Blyton’s eponymous character.