VELOCETTE VENOM 1960

Velocette venom
Vera, our 1960 Velocette Venom

 

This Venom started life as a 350cc Viper. A no-expense-spared professional restoration has made this machine a great example of Hall Green’s finest hour – the 1960 Velocette Venom. This particular machine has been converted to 12v coil ignition for easier starting and the addition of a 150w alternator that looks just like the original dynamo. This excellent example of classic British history is great to look at and a joy to ride. One of the finest examples of British motorcyle engineering of its time.

The Venom was the first 500cc motorcycle anywhere in the world to complete 24hrs of continuous riding averaging a speed of more than 100mph! The record was set at Montlehery in France in 1961 with British rider Bruce Main-Smith crossing the line at 108mph to set a new world record for the Velocette factory. No Japanese bike has ever repeated the feat.

Of all the Birmingham manufacturers, Velocette was outsold only by BSA (of Small Heath) and Norton (of Bracebridge Street). Although often recognised by the UK man-in-the-street for the LE Velocette which was familiar to him as the Police “Noddy” bike, the world knew Velocettes for their classic traditional single-cylinder roadsters and racers. The firm started as “Veloce” in 1905, with a factory in Gisholt Passage, Spring Hill, Birmingham and after producing a successful little machine called “the Velocette” the name stuck for the whole firm.

A classic British two-wheeled icon available to customers of Classic Bike Esprit. 

Motorcycles & Sidecars in Sunny Provence