Velocette 500 Venom

brake034 · May 30, 2015

I owned this bike 33 years ago, it was a great machine and very fast.
In fact the only faster 500cc single I ever rode was a Norton Manx.

The picture is not good, taken from an old damaged print, but you get the idea.
I believe I still have the 6x6 negative somewhere.

Just Bob · May 31, 2015

What an incredibly fine piece of machinery!

brake034 · May 31, 2015

Mine had a BTH magneto, a close ratio box and a 9.3:1 compression (Clubman specs).
This one did about 160 km/h, the Thruxton was faster.
They could be hard to start for people who never handled one, I never had an issue with it.

The weak point in those days was the BTH magneto, no spares and no one to restore them.
Anyway a great investment and great fun to drive, it would be perfect in North Thailand.

Here is a nice video and that sound......... Jay Lenno's Thruxton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT0TXrUKNIY