VELOCETTE VENOM
Although motorcycles are meant to be ridden, this Velocette has definitely done more than its fair share of hard mileage. Henry Gregson wonders if it deserves a less stressful semi-retirement?
Although motorcycles are meant to be ridden, this Velocette has definitely done more than its fair share of hard mileage. Henry Gregson wonders if it deserves a less stressful semi-retirement?
This Velocette Venom, which still has its original buff logbook, started its life in 1957 in the Lancashire fishing port of Fleetwood, owned by local motorcycle dealer and grasstrack racer, Nick Lancaster. It subsequently settled into long-term ownership within a ‘Velocette owning family’. Its owner started out motorcycling on a Valiant – which he reckoned was a good little bike, a ‘proper Velocette’ despite what some people say – and moved up to the Venom in 1972 after passing his test.
Over the following years the Venom was downgraded from the prime position as P&J and into a winter hack. The owner commuted by bike all year round. His summer ride was another Velo (of course), an immaculate Thruxtonised Venom, but that meant the ‘winter Venom’ had an extremely hard life. It was ridden daily through the worst the northern weather could throw at it, along with the accompanying road salt and grit. It was shoved in the shed throughout the summer months, only to be dragged out again when the next winter arrived. The minimum of maintenance was applied to get the bike running again and then the cycle repeated, year in, year out.
Eventually, that owner stopped commuting and my friend Geoff, whose first-ever bike restoration appeared in RC173, approached him with a view to purchasing one of the Venoms. It’s probably no surprise that he was offered the winter one! Geoff knows that I’m an admirer of Velocettes so as soon as the deal was done he asked if I’d like to see his new bike. What I saw came as a BIG shock. I have never seen a Velocette so neglected and forlorn. It was obvious that Geoff had a big task on his hands, and nothing other than a complete strip and a total nut-andbolt restoration would be the solution. Geoff remained undaunted…
‘I’d known of the two Velos for a number of years. The owner lived local to me and I had said that if he ever wanted to sell one he should give me a call. After he retired he
called me to say the Winter Velo was available if I wanted it. If I wanted it? I was round there like a shot. Winter bike or not, I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity!
‘When I got there, the Velo was a lot rougher than I imagined. Still, as I said, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity, so a price was negotiated and the bike was loaded into the van. To give you some idea of what I was facing, it took me half a day just to remove the congealed oil, even before I could attack it with the power washer.
‘ The inspection of what I had bought then began. Only the remnants of a wiring loom remained. Nothing electrical worked at all, no lights, no horn, no battery, not even an alternator – there were remains in a box but these were totally worn out. The chrome on the tank was badly pitted and there were a couple of dents in it as well. The alloy mudguards required replacing and the seat base had a multitude of fractures and needed a new cover too. Not an encouraging start!’
Amazingly, Geoff succeeded in starting the engine, so was inspired to carry on with the Venom’s refurbishment.
‘I proceeded to strip the bike. I checked the frame for straightness and noticed that the rear left side was bent. Fortunately I managed to repair this by heating the tubing and jacking it out again. The headstock bearings needed to be heated before they could be removed and the sidestand pivot was badly worn, needing to be re-bushed. Once that work had been completed, the frame was sent for powder-coating and my efforts moved on to the engine.
‘Upon totally stripping the engine, I found a badly worn exhaust valve, so new valves and guides were ordered, as were new main bearings. Surprisingly, the piston and cylinder bore looked good and were within tolerance. Just the piston rings were replaced, as the big end also appeared to be just fine. The magneto was sent for overhaul.
‘While waiting for the new parts to arrive, I sand-blasted all the mounting brackets, repaired anything that needed it and then etch primed and painted them. A member of the Velocette Owners’ Club was able to supply me with a 12V alternator conversion based on a unit sourced from a Kubota digger. This was expensive but cheaper than an Alton.
‘With all the castings tidied up, I was ready to move onto the gearbox. Investigation showed heavy wear on the mainshaft slider gear and also the layshaft third gear was badly marked too. The slider gear was replaced with a new one, but I had to make do with a used, good condition third gear. I also took the opportunity to fit new bearings. Incidentally, the bearing at the clutch end of the mainshaft had a ball missing. There was no sign of it in the gearbox, so what happened to it is a complete mystery!
‘Clutch plates were then replaced by modern bonded ones plus a new primary gear. I also repaired the secondary sprocket which was in a really poor condition: a trip to a sprocket dentist was arranged so it could be given a set of new teeth. With the engine and gearbox sorted, it was time to look at other issues. A journey to the Stafford Show meant I could buy some new fork stanchions, bushes and seals. I made some replacement fork spring dust covers from an exhaust pipe, as the originals were no longer usable.
‘ The chrome on the petrol tank was badly pitted and of course the tank was dented. A total restoration of the tank would have proved extremely expensive, so I knocked out the dents and sealed the inside. I submerged it in a bath of warm water, after making sure all apertures were made air-tight, to check for leaks. On establishing that the tank didn’t leak, I then painted it in two-pack black. The
VOC magazine ‘Fishtail’ recommended adding an extra supporting bracket to the oil tank to help prevent vibration fractures, so I did this little modification prior to painting it.
‘Attention now moved on to the wheels, and oh how they had suffered from the years of neglect. The rims were so bad I just scrapped them; they were replaced with stainless steel items as were the spokes. I sandblasted the hubs, painted them with Hycote engine enamel and then stoveenamelled them in a small oven for 90 minutes at 220°C. Please don’t mention this to my wife who is still struggling to understand why her homemade cakes taste rather strange! I decided to do this because the hubs are a mix of aluminium and cast steel, both badly pitted, so polishing wouldn’t have been viable.
‘On completion the wheels were treated to new rim tapes, inner tubes and Avon Road Runner Tyres. Replica Woodhead shocks were supplied by Nick Payton (who proved to be very helpful), and the seat was re-covered by RK Leighton.
‘Mudguards proved to be a real problem. I really struggled to find some until I was lucky enough to discover that Grove Classics had a pair that had been returned by a customer who had been unhappy with their fit. These I got at a reduced price and, with a little work, achieved a fit that I was happy with. Like the petrol tank, they were finished in two-pack black paint. All the other black parts – oil tank, tool box, primary chain cases, engine plates and all brackets – were finished in Simoniz Tough Black aerosol paint, a product that I really rate. Leave it for a week or so to harden up and it will polish to a really good shine.
‘Stainless nuts and bolts were used where possible and I made new head studs, front brake anchor stud and gearbox adjuster from the same material. Things were coming along very nicely and it was time to move on to the electrics. The old wiring loom was replaced by a new one, along with new front and rear lights, brake light switch, horn button and ammeter. The original Miller light switch was re-used and LED bulbs fitted all round. Lastly, a VMCC clubmate supplied a replacement chronometric speedo.
‘Legend has it that Velo clutches are notoriously difficult to set up. Guess what?
I found the legend to be true! After a few attempts and accepting the age-old advice of “If all else fails, follow the instructions”, it worked. I did however drill and bush the (new) clutch lever as I felt it had too much play in it, and everything has to be just right on a Velo clutch. The result is a really sweet clutch and gearbox. First gear is rather tall, but I like it like that and the other gears are, in my opinion, well-spaced.
‘Now comes the part when normally the rebuilt engine bursts into life after a couple of kicks. Well, mine didn’t. If you don’t know the technique, Velos can be a pig to start. I didn’t know it then – but I do now and… starting is remarkably easy. Cue smug smile!
‘The first ride was an absolute joy. The Winter Venom turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be – until it started jumping out of second gear. Disappointingly, further work was required. I discovered that I had failed to tighten the clutch sleeve gear nut properly. Not only that, but I’d fitted the sleeve gear oil thrower washer the wrong way around, which had then worn. The correct adjustment and a new washer sorted everything out and, apart from a couple of minor oil leaks, all is now well.
‘My two other bikes are somewhat older than the Winter Venom, both with rigid rear ends and girder forks, so riding the Venom is just pure comfort. Despite the rather archaic-looking frame, the Velo handles superbly. The rebuilt forks and new rear shocks ensure that there are no roadholding concerns at all.
‘Slightly higher than standard handlebars have also been fitted, in deference to my aging back. The rear brake is excellent, but I have to admit that the front is an SAR unit (Some Anticipation Required) and a little disappointing.
‘Road tests back in the day suggested that a good Venom was capable of the magic ton. In deference to both the bike’s and my age I have restricted my speed and find that the Velo
cruises happily at 50mph. Perhaps as confidence in the build increases I will push it a little more – having escaped the need for a rebore, the engine isn’t tight at all.
‘I have slowly increased my distances with each ride and have now completed in excess of 300 miles. One little mod I have done is to change the crankcase breather pipe from an open one to a closed circuit, by brazing a small pipe onto the oil tank froth tower and connecting the breather pipe to that. Any oil coming down the breather now returns to the tank. This was done in an attempt to reduce oil consumption which I have found to be rather high.
‘That iconic fishtail silencer gives a Velocette a truly unique sound. I haven’t been able to experience the true sound of the Winter Venom from a spectator’s perspective, but I am told that it sounds wonderful. That’s good enough for me!
‘So is the Winter Venom now experiencing a life of semi-retirement and sunny days? Not a bit of it! All the bare metal parts have been coated with MPEX100c rust protection spray and, for this bike, life carries on as normal: rain, salt, snow and everything else winter can throw at it.
‘Tough as old boots, these Velocettes. After all, bikes are for riding, aren’t they?’