1959 Velocette Venom
1959 VELOCETTE VENOM BACKGROUND
The
Venom was
Velocette's hottest bike from its inception in 1955. In 1961 a factory-prepared Venom with a small fairing set the world's 24-hour endurance speed record of 100.05 MPH at the Montlhery race track in France. The record stood until 2008 for 500cc motorcycles. The 499cc Venom was derived from the Velocette MSS. In a field crowded with a new crop of vertical twins from nearly every maker, Velocette simply didn't have the means to join the vertical twin race. They had to make do with what they had, that being a line of very advance singles. Designed by Eurgene Goodman (son of the owner) and Charles Udall, the Venom had an alloy cylinder with cast iron liner, an alloy cylinder head and a high compression piston. The cam was set high in the crankcase to allow for very short pushrods. This offered some of the benefits of an overhead cam setup, but was much simpler and cheaper to produce. The Venom was produced until 1970.






ABOVE: The engine on this 1959 Velocette Venom clearly shows the high placement of the cam, allowing shorter pushrods. This reduced the mass of the valvetrain, which is one of the advantages of going with OHC. But OHCs were complex and expensive to mass produce when this '59 Venom was made, so Velo used this creative approach to have his cake and eat it too.
THIS 1959 VELOCETTE VENOM JUST SOLD
This particular bike just sold at the
Mecum Auction in Las Vegas in January 2018. It sold for $5,500. It looks like a bit of a project, mostly cosmetic though, as it looks like its all there mechanically.
1959 Velocette Venom SPECIFICATIONS
Engine type
Displacement
Bore & Stroke
Compression ratio
Fuel system
Ignition system
Engine output
Wheelbase
Suspension, front
Suspension, rear
Brake, front
Brake, rear
Dry weight
|
Air-cooled OHV single
499cc / 30.45 ci
86mm X 86mm / 3.40" X 3.40"
8.0:1
1-Amal carburetor
Belt-driven Lucas dynamo
34 hp @ 6200 rpm
1391mm / 54.8"
Telescopic fork w/hydraulic damping
Swing arm w/2 dampers
TLS drum
SLS drum
177.0 kg / 390 lbs
|
Check out these VELOCETTE BOOKS

Velocette Motorcycles

BOOK OF THE VELOCETTE ALL SINGLES & TWINS 1925-1970

Velocette: Production Motorcycles (Crowood Motoclassics)

Velocette Motorcycles - MSS to Thruxton: New Third Edition

The Velocette Saga: The Story of a Great Motorcycle

Velocette 350 & 500 Singles: All 350 & 500cc models 1946-1970 (Essential Buyer's Guide)

Always in the Picture: History of the Velocette Motorcycle

Velocette: The Racing Story (Crowood Motoclassics)

Velocette (Illustrated Motor Cycle Legends)

Velocette - Technical Excellence Exemplified
For more like this, please visit our
VELOCETTE MOTORCYCLE BOOKSTORE


Comprehensive Vintage Motorcycle Price Guide 2020-2021
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MOTORCYCLE BOOK STORE
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Back to top - 1969 Velocette VenomUpdated 12/11/20
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