Who were the makers of the finest 350cc motorcycles? Two names spring immediately to (my) mind as being synonymous with that capacity – Velocette and AJS, with an honourable mention to Douglas, with efforts ranging from the First World War fore-and-aft dispatch riders’ twins to the post Second World War 90 Plus, Dragonfly, Mark series and others.
Velocette, meanwhile, made the 350cc class its business, from the mid-to-late 1920s onwards, really, with the era extending right through the 1930s and encompassing the immediate post Second World War years as well, the pinnacle being Freddie Frith becoming the 1949 inaugural world champion for that capacity, the Lincolnshire stonemason and later motorcycle shop proprietor’s efforts equalled in 1950 by Bob Foster.
Through the 1920s and during the first half of the 1930s, Veloce, the makers of Velocette, didn’t list a 500cc model – but its 350s, headed by the immortal racing KTT, ably supported by the KSS, KTS, earlier model K and then later the humbler (but still superb) MAC, showed Velocette did 350s better than anyone else.
Even when the 500cc
