I’ve never owned a Velocette but had one in my possession for a number of years. It was a ‘68 Venom and belonged to a friend who was a guitar maker in Austin TX. I did some work on it and since he was too busy to ride the thing, it lived at my shop (lucky me!). I always bump-started it since my right foot has had a couple of surgeries and I didn’t want to risk it. I lived at the top of a hill and the old Velo always started quite easily. It was very enjoyable to ride, long-legged and handled quite well.

My father bought a Velocette Thruxton in 1970. I inherited it in 1995. I'm just getting used to starting it now!😁

@hugostiglitz6914

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikeb1039 No idea, I inherited several bikes. I already had several classics bikes myself. It's in the Genes!😁

@philipbooth7779

2 жыл бұрын

Excuse me sir I would love a ride, lucky you ride safe and be happy.

I can still remember going pillion to my dads mate Jim Merriman. Velocette Thruxton. the quality of the ride and the sound has never left me. this has just brought it all back. i'd be about 13yrs old back on the old Velo with Jim. i'm 58yrs old now. both Jim and the old Velocette are long gone. happy days.

According to my dad, this was the best English bike of all times, he had three at different times, and he was a Velocette lover, best handling, very light, very fast, no vibration at any rpm, these were some of my dad compliments to Velocette.

@threepot5874

3 жыл бұрын

My dad also has fond memories of his Venom Clubman that he bought new in 59.

@Indobiker61

2 жыл бұрын

To bad its a bitch to start...

@frankmarkovcijr5459

2 жыл бұрын

Feliz Shack went broke because they borrowed a lot of money to make it very expensive heavy flow scooter when the bank called in the note 2 company went out of business if they stayed with your original singles they probably still be in business because they were shell every bite they made is so sorry. You're British manufacturers were so inept and incompetent

@chrisstewart8259

2 жыл бұрын

Light?? I wouldn't go that far. Great handling n brakes but "light" never.

@nickhorten97

2 жыл бұрын

@@frankmarkovcijr5459 no uk government bail outs in those days. Unlike Harley Davidson.

I bought a new special order Thruxton from the L.A. importer in 1969 [VMT621]. One of the last mag models [Lucas Racing Mag], small pipe, Lucas v-belt generator. I took off the stock seat and installed a stock AJS-7R seat. My Velo was a real good looker. It always drew a crowd when I parked it. I dropped an inlet valve in my first AFM 500cc production race at Vacaville. I recrowned the combustion chamber, fitted a new MC piston and installed a Chrysler 2-1/8'' inlet valve, converted the valve springs to coils, so the valves wouldn't float until 7800 rpm. I still have the original piston with the head of the stock inlet valve jammed into the piston crown. I fitted racing tires and rode it as my daily ride for over 20k, and racing it in AFM, ACA and AMA 500cc production class races for several seasons...with the usual Velo trials and tribulations. Cold, it was a 2 kick start, hot just 1 kick. AFM had a ''run across the track and kick start your bike, race start''. I got a 10' handicap because I had a bad foot/ankle and a bad limp. It usually started with 1 kick and was in the first 5 off the start line. I got tired of working on my Velo, when it racked up the miles, I sold it for $850. New I paid $1250. It was all worn out, but started well and sounded fantastic. A local S.F. Bay Area Hippie that bought it, was absolutely ecstatic. I never saw it again. I still carry the clutch adjusting tool on my keychain for luck. At 76 I really need good luck

@lifuranph.d.9440

2 жыл бұрын

No, this is not my real name. I'm a ''retired'' Spook...in hiding. HaHa!

A good mate had a 66 Thruxton, and man he could lay it over so well. I had a 67 Bonneville that could beat it in a straight line, but when it came to bends he'd leave me for dead.

Beautiful bike. A real classic, and now worth a fortune.

Looks very authentic unlike almost all first starts on KZread that are not really first starts. Congratulations.

Ah the joys of velo starting.You either made it or you didnt! I used to love taking mine apart as they were so easy to work on. My clubman and other velos never smoked like yours is/was doing. It was a sad the day i got rid of mine but its life.I stil love to see them on the road occasionally.

When I was on my way to college in 1967, I used to see a guy every morning using a Velo Thruxton as his ride to work transport - I always wondered if he raced it at the weekends? - lovely bike.

Oil might have been sitting in the crank case for ages, even thought he may have changed it, it takes some running to get back to normal .. that's usual in british motorcycles !👍 Good job buddy !!👍

first start in 40 years ! a real thrill ! thanks for the showing of it .

Lovely bike. Interesting those adjustable angle rear shocks.

I saw the title and I figured they were going to start it.Little did I know the were going to use race rollers. I had a buddy with a Vellocette and he lived on a hill. If he hadn't he would never have gotten that thing started. It has the shortest kick start lever known to man!

you lucky man ,, how I have wanted one of these for over 50 years

As Erik says, 'smoke due to new piston rings'. If new rings are fitted to an engine with some wear on the cylinder, they do not conform to the shape and allow oil to reach the upper cylinder. This oil burns, producing the blue smoke that is seen. The same can happen if you retain the old piston rings but turn them to a different position. Both compression and oil control is compromised in this situation.

@andrewslagle1974

2 жыл бұрын

or you broke a ring on assembly!

It's a work of art! Hello from anglesey north wales

What a lovely motorcycle.

Hi Eric von Wachenfeldt, as soon as I saw this I had to watch it!, the Venom and the Thruxton were the most desirable motorcycles of their time, I was able to purchase a special Geoff Dodkin sports Venom around 1969, it had been rebuilt from spares about 1966 and came with a full history. I rode it almost to death in about eighteen months in pat because I could not afford to look after it properly. The one I had was decked out with all sorts of goodies, the lovely brass Ten TT carburettor and BTH magneto set it between the normal venom and the Thruxton but it still managed the full 100 mph at six thousand two hundred rpm. In the end it was a bit dodgy and I sold it to one of my mates for forty pounds, sometimes I wish I still had it now!. Cheers Richard.

congratulation f... nice retauration,great and so sweet motor bike

Oh this is fantastic. Well done the Velofellow. 2" GP carb, .002 preload on the mains, I remember it all. I was going to buy one from Geoff Dodkin in E. Sheen, but passed as they were so difficult to start and I need a bike for work, so I got a CB750. THE best gearbox ever made. An ugly duckling, but oh, so smooth and accurate.

A very nice bike, and good to see you still have the correct carb on it !

@Wombat1916

5 жыл бұрын

When I bought my 2nd Velocette in 1972 (the first one was a "Noddy Bike) it was described as a Venom Clubman. It had a concentric carburettor(!) several compression plates under the barrel (I later discovered) and a square section tyre on the rear. It also was a converted Viper! I managed to get all but one of the oi leaks stopped - Brit. bikes in the 1970s used to spew oil! One guy at uni carried a can of oil around with him to top up the oil tank now and then! I later returned it to a standard Venom configuration and finally sold it in 1982. 104 TAL, where are you!

Thanks for posting old time fan but that was fantastic

Nice, deep throaty exhaust note! ❤👍

Stating it was an art form. We would come out the pepper pot cafe and my mates would be a mile down the road before I got it started. It always seemed like 40 years to start it. Once it was going it was brilliant, wish I still had it.

@chrisstewart8259

2 жыл бұрын

ooohhh! And that nasty ,nasty, painful face gear starter pinion. When under the pressure of the kick when on the compression stroke, it rarely mated with the matching face gear in the gearbox and when it slipped the inside of one's knee used to hit the oil tank filler cap. After three of those and a bruise the size of a Granny Smith, I used to bump start mine - as long as that nasty, nasty Velocette clutcd didnt drag to much!! Nice to ride but a biatch to start.

@geoffboxell9301

2 жыл бұрын

@@chrisstewart8259 Sounds like me in '65 with my Velo KTS. My right knee has been dodgy ever since.

To me there has always been something so simplistic about English single cylinder motorcycles ..Whether the bikes were Norton, BSA, Matchless, AJS, or Velocette. So simple. Single cylinder, carby, one inlet one exhaust valve, just not a lot to go wrong, and if they did bteak not a lot to replace or repair.

@pabloricardodetarragon2649

3 жыл бұрын

Not a lot to replace. But very often that makes a lot. These bikes were highly unreliable. Very nice as collectible for 1000 km a year in nice weather, an engineering nightmare for an everyday user. That explains why the Japanese bikes swept all these antiquities. I speak from first hand experience: I had a Thruxton in 1970 and a Bonneville in 1971.

@savage22bolt32

2 жыл бұрын

@@pabloricardodetarragon2649 Not true, I rode my 71 Bonnie on a week long camping trip & only broke down twice!

@pabloricardodetarragon2649

2 жыл бұрын

@@savage22bolt32 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I thought I could smell the exhaust when that thing fired up! Turned out my neighbor was mowing his lawn.

Beautiful bike! All best!

Fantastic, a true jewel. I have to make a comment though; everyone is mentioning the Velocette Thruxton which is not technically correct, it is a Venom Thruxton, the race tuned version of the Venom, named after Thruxton racecourse.

love the sound bro

Very nice. Sounds great.

I can remember seeing one new ,with a purple petrol tank back in the day ....dream bike .

@fredtracy3931

2 жыл бұрын

I would like to see a purple Thruxton!

The thruxton the 63 dbd34 and the 63 rgs the are the ones 2 have ! had some fun on the BSA,s

I have a 77 triumph silver jubilee 750 in boxes.. It's getting there, a rolling starter will be a must when the day comes

@441rider

2 жыл бұрын

If you need rollers the bike is not ready, fresh rebuild should be a first kick affair or you will be chasing stuff while breaking it in. The T140 channel to check is Lunmad RIP he was a great hands on builder gas your model service vids.

One of my hero machines !

Gorgeous bike. I ride a modern BMW, but I do have a taste for these bikes, when bikes were bikes. The main reason why bikes of old had a centre stand was that one could give the kick-start a good 'kicking' with the bike on the stand (I had a Triumph Bonnie, the old oil-leaker 750) Once the engine was going one pushed the bike forward of the stand and away one went. The side stand was for casual parking.

Very nice bike....superb

Excellent job, well done. Frankly, I'd be worried if a newly rebuilt bike DIDN'T smoke a little! I'd think it had been put together dry?

Thanks for taking the time to share those special moments. Frankly, I'd have likely been too preoccupied to bother.

Lovely sound..

I like bikes that work properly

It's beautiful! Lucky bastard 😒

Very brave, well done. It tried to kick you back, but you persevered. And keep your Levis away from that exhaust. Very enjoyable.

So cool no amount of money is enough .

Don't know if its burning off old oil or somethings wrong with the seal or gaskets etc but its giving off more smoke than it should. Beautiful bike though which i'm sure after a little tinkering this will be resolved.

@whiteonggoy7009

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe extra oil during rebuild needs a good run too burn off

@frankmarkovcijr5459

2 жыл бұрын

Fila set one broke when they mortgage the farm to produce a great big heavy slow expensive scooter that nobody bought I went to valpey javel page gave them the little engine with side valve and a hand change from the company that invented the foot changed rotten bike nobody bought it except for the police and the Army because the government force them to if they add stay to their Core Business of just building 500 CC Sport Bikes they would not have gone out of business they would have supplied a niche market that would have sold it up bikes to keep them in business real estate is still technically in business at the Triumph number to works when they put out maybe half a dozen a year not quite dead and gone but better than all the fake British bike/ Indian / Chinese bikes that pretend to be something they're not the real thing is always the best

@grahamtricker4103

2 жыл бұрын

@@whiteonggoy7009 No, there is too much smoke for that...

What a beast

The Vellocette would run any other bike into the ground in an endurance race, still hold a 500cc record

Ah, memories.

See and hear a Velo Thruxton on the move in That Special Spirit - British Motorcycle Specials

Velo's always seem to say "Let's Go"

A sad buisines decision cost the company. Velocette Vogue, an updated LE with a full fibreglass touring body. Sales were quoted as "a few hundred over five years", and development costs were never recovered either by Veloce or Avon.. Starting big singles of this era, is an art form..

@fredtracy3931

2 жыл бұрын

I truly admire anyone who kick starts their motorcycle!! Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦

Wow!...She's a beauty!! - I remember when I was a young lad back in Bridgnorth Shropshire watching a bloke nearly bust his ankle kicking one of these over! - I take it the smoke is a bit of upper cylinder lube (Redex perhaps) burning off to stop her seizing whilst in storage?

A lot of smoke. No rattling or nasty noises. Interested to see what she is like after a few hundred miles?

I had a '69 with Seymour engine. ROR 42G and engine Number VMT 469...still trying to track it down...

Gotta love that

nice nice and very nice

I have one ...beautiful Bike...

Beautiful bike but it’s certainly burning something it shouldn’t !

Great! Is it true there are no baffles in the exhaust system, the fishtail perforations do all the work?

@erikvonwachenfeldt

4 жыл бұрын

There is both a fixed and a removable baffletube with louvers as per original. The perforations dont impact the dampening, they are merely there to allow enough flow through the fishtail.

Wait until it is clutch time! Great race bike in the day still a 100mph machine.

@jeremystanford1

Жыл бұрын

clutch is simple as long as you don't think of it as a BSA, Triumph clutch. Different yet understandable.

Noobs please note: see the aluminum arc where the shocks mount? You could move the shock forward (softer, different damping pattern) or rearward (for when you convinced that girl to ride two-up).

Have always liked the looks of the Velocette and how industrial they looked. Enjoyed seeing you kick start this the way it was meant to be kicked. That is standing over the seat, not standing on the side of the bike like you see people do now. For some reason that really annoys me. Also I have to wonder what Velocette was seeking to achieve with the adjustments to the angle on the rear shocks. Any idea?

@erikvonwachenfeldt

2 жыл бұрын

You can achieve different suspension curves depending on how you adjust it.

@savage22bolt32

2 жыл бұрын

I started all of my bikes standing over the seat, except the Spanish dirt bikes, OSSAs & Bultacos, because the kickstart lever was on the left side, and my right leg was stronger.

@donparker1823

2 жыл бұрын

@@savage22bolt32 yep I remember those. I think my old Ducati 160 Monza also had a left side kick start.

We called them "race bikes for the street". This was an Isle-Of-Man competitive motorcycle, stock. For every day use, you were probably better off with a Venom. But the Thruxton was and is, in my own opinion, the finest-looking cafe race bike of its era. It took until the Ducati 750/900 and the Guzzi LeMans to get back to a bike you could literally buy, race it the same week, and win. But these days you can have your Thruxton with 12 volt lights, electronic ignition with built-in starting retard, an oil filter and a carburetor that has an idle circuit!

@lovemetu

2 жыл бұрын

The wonderful BSA Gold Star 500cc single cylinder was very fast and beautiful to look at well. There was a 6 month waiting list to get hold of a new Goldie and the Americans loved them, yet BSA stopped making them and concentrated on their easier to make models like the unit construction twins, British motorbike and car management at that time was so foolish in some of the decisions they made. You could never mistake the lovely sound of the Gold star and the ''whistle'' as the engine was throttled down ! An Owner's Honest Review Of The 1956 BSA Gold Star DBD34 kzread.info/dash/bejne/haWI066Cp6XKd6Q.html

Needs a rebore, piston and rings then fit correctly !!. Nice bike tho.

What made HONDA great.

Beutifull bike

I love these bikes. Way more aesthetically pleasing than BSA Goldstar or Vincent Black Shadow. And that sound.....

Well I have to say I bought a 1967 bonnie at auction that had been in a barn since 1977. The carbs were seized. It really was a wreck. Unseized the carbs, new plugs, leads, down pipes and fresh petrol and it started with a kick. Not impressed. Wish I could upload the video.

Marshalling manly to flap quilts don't necessarily triple and going for juice bags up is necessary, nibble corporate blessings, obviously.

Smoky Joe.

It looks like it would pass a smog test it's making lots of smog.

Who said that they never had an electric start?

Still blowing a lot of smoke mate. Oil pressure ? Rings ? Seals. Gaskets ? Good to see it going

@whiteonggoy7009

3 жыл бұрын

Extra oil on parts during rebuild soon clear after a run

@441rider

Жыл бұрын

@@whiteonggoy7009 I just started my441 modified bike after 7 years new ring light hone and had smoke. I also put a oz of oil in the plug hole 1 week earlier before having a psi of 158 at rebuild light oil. Piston to bore gap 3-4thou and ring gaps of 9. Still smoke on blips of throttle no highway run yet.

@whiteonggoy7009

Жыл бұрын

@@441rider let us know if it clears after a run

Preciosa moto aunque parece que la bicha no es fácil de arrancar, será por los años que lleva parada. Menos mal que contaba con un magnífico ayudante.

smoky bomber is it.? sir thanks,

Surely that's the first start in 50 years?

Oil tank heat shield and paint job plus seat are non standard...rear licence plate would be black too...

@terranceprice7006

4 жыл бұрын

Also thruxton had a gear linkage and not a cranked reverse lever like that, my mates early clubman had a cranked lever as standard. Dont think its a gen thruxton

@erikvonwachenfeldt

3 жыл бұрын

It's a genuine thruxton, but it's been modified after preference and for track use only.

What a beauty! Is she having starting issues or that's a part of the Velocette starting ritual 😄? I have no exp with these thus asking... also, is that smoke or is it just a cold day?

@erikvonwachenfeldt

2 жыл бұрын

A newly built bike takes some fiddling to get it to run and start well, smoke is probably oil from the build process.

used to race these round country roads and fields in the early 70s, blow them up and scrap them. worthless then.

Looks like a broken scraper ring. Nice job though

Shouldn't smoke like that, I agree with motard811 - lovey bike though!

That's better ...

Bit Smokey

Hello hes lucky he has the electric rollers my Viper 350 same family murder to start these bikes had very low ratio kick start mechism mates would be gone before got it going!

RUN AND BUMP?? Like with our Ducati Diana NSU 500... HA! WerDanken! J.C.

Seems to be having trouble finding neutral.

I HAVE BUILT MANY MOTORCYCLE ENGINES AND THEY NEVER SMOKED LIKE THAT MUST BE SLOPPY TOLERANCE On The PISTON RINGS Or OIL IN THE GAS

I'm sure they're not supposed to smoke like that, I'd find out why. It should idle reliably too. Nice bike though.

@erikvonwachenfeldt

2 жыл бұрын

It's the new pistonsrings, also you dont need idle on a track bike.

@chrispop99

2 жыл бұрын

You've not ridden many classic British sporting singles, I'm willing to bet. Many of them used the Amal GP carb that doesn't have a pilot circuit, so there is no way it could ever idle. They need to run rich and oily to survive, so needed blipping to stop plug fouling. Manx/7R/G50 owners often needed to start on a soft plug, then fit a racing plug before going out on track. Long-stroke Manx engines actually need to be kept revving from cold, otherwise the valve gets starved of oil and will either seize, or wear excessively.

Even with new rings the Velo should not smoke that much. Something's wrong

@ianhuckin7334

6 жыл бұрын

Rings have to bed in, plus there would be assembly oil throughout the combustion and exhaust spaces...

@philrusling4442

6 жыл бұрын

It still seems to smoke a lot after the run, when the assembly oil should have been cleared.

An utter pig to start. a mobile oil bath. When it went well, it was joy to ride., hopeless electrics and lighting. Mine was vmt 102.

@Wombat1916

5 жыл бұрын

rob roberts I had a Venom in the early 1970s. It could be a pig to start. When it was totally rebuilt it was so tight we towed it behind a Panther 650 with sidecar to get it going! It used to spew a lot of oil originally so I worked on getting it oil tight until only the chaincase leaked. I sold it after getting married in 1982. 104 TAL, where are you? I now ride around on either a moto Guzzi Florida or an ETZ300 MZ. How are the mighty fallen!

Not a bike to make a quick get away on.

Too much blue smoke.

@erikvonwachenfeldt

3 жыл бұрын

It burns alot of oil until the new piston rings bed in.

@441rider

Жыл бұрын

@@erikvonwachenfeldt I agree it should reshape the bore and seal.

Electric "Leg" .....

kurwa? xD Poland?

That's bloody cheating. Would've been a half hour vid without it

Hjälmen!

Ma che accelera? E' una cosa indecente!! Brucia olio da schifo.........

That engine sounds poorly

why can you not kick it over like a man, what do you do when you leave the ace cafe lol

@erikvonwachenfeldt

3 жыл бұрын

It's hard to diagnose teething problems with the kickstart, it does get kickstarted every time now(Also later in the video).

@daveberry2177

3 жыл бұрын

@@erikvonwachenfeldt hi i was only kidding, i just been working on a two stroke that will only start with a push, i reckon ill chuck it of a cliff great vid, many thanks for the reply,

Ruin motor... smoke first:)