Various Seeley Frames (Mks)

acotrel said:

My Mk3 Seeley has 1966 stamped on the steering head. The position of the motor is important. I do not know how far forward the motor can be in a Mk2 frame - also with the frame tubes in front of the motor, there is the same problem as with a featherbed frame, of the exhaust pipes missing the down tubes, when using a 2 into 1 exhaust. I am fairly certain Gus Kuhn used the Mk3 frame - my bike has the 850 motor , not a 750 - it is not strictly eligible for the pre 1973 race class. But in historic races nobody is ever silly enough to protest about somebody else winning a race.

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This is the only photo I have of the Gus Kuhn Seeley 750.

For a few years, I raced my 500cc short stroke Triton in races where my mate rode his 650cc Triton. My bike had a close box and a very peaky motor. I never used to lower the overall gearing, so my bike was slower than is coming out of corners, but I could always out ride him. My Seeley originally built with a Laverda 750 motor which had an SFC cam. I rode my Triton in a race where my mate was on the Seeley Laverda 750. I blew him of down the straight, but when I got, the bike over-braked because of the dram brake. He rode around the outside of me and caused me to crash. There is no way he could ever have done that with his 650cc Triton. I followed the bike for two years before I was able to buy it - but I could not get the Laverda 750 motor, even though I had paid for it. If I tell you what my Seeley Commando 850 cost me - you might all cry. All up in the 1970s, it would be less than $2000. The Norton gearbox cost $300, the 850 motor was $1300.

When I build a race bike, I always plan ahead. In the 1960s, the best ever British 350 was the Mk3 Seeley 7R AJS. A Mk3 Seeley with a 500cc Jawa speedway motor and a 6 speed TTI gearbox would be an easy build.