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Another fine piece of British engineering

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britrifles View Drop Down
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    Posted: July 04 2018 at 6:15pm
My other love (besides Enfields, not the motorcycle, the Lee Enfield), is keeping this fine piece of British engineering running.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pukka Bundook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 04 2018 at 7:10pm
Tank reminds me of  a Manx Norton, Brit.
 
I might be Miles off though!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 04 2018 at 7:17pm
I’m curious if anyone knows what it is. It’s of that era, a bit later, this is a 1968.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 04 2018 at 8:08pm
I was going to say "Triton", (Norton feather-bed frame & a '68 Triumph Bonneville engine) but it isn't with that fishtail silencer & gear train cover.
I'll bet dollahs to donuts it's Its not a NorVin? (Norton Vincent) those were V  not parallel twins?

*bink*light comes on
Ok, Alex this is may final answer of $64,000
Velocette Venom (Thruxton)?
Geek
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanforth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 1:32am
It's a Velocette Thruxton. Single cylinder, high cam. It was made as an alternative to the BSA Gold Star Clubman.
Below is an earlier Velocette that I used to race and still own.
Life.. a sexually transmitted condition that is invariably fatal.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 5:41am
Oohh a "Thumper" I love the inverse cone meggy too.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 7:23am
Correct.   The Thruxton was a modified version of the Venom 500 cc OHV single.  About 1100 were made at the factory before closing in 1971.  Some made from spares after the factory closed.  I wonder how many are still out there.  It has respectable power, even for today's standards of 500 cc displacement.  
 
Sanfourth, yours looks like a KTT (overhead cam), but with telescopic forks.  Fuel tank looks like a Thruxton tank.   
  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanforth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 9:38am
Of the 1100 made, 20,000 still exist..Wink Bit like the BSA Gold Star and the Porsche 911 2.7RS.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanforth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 9:50am
While we are at it, here is one of my Italian Mistresses.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 11:18am
Originally posted by Stanforth Stanforth wrote:

Of the 1100 made, 20,000 still exist..Wink Bit like the BSA Gold Star and the Porsche 911 2.7RS.
 
Many Venoms have been "Thruxtonized" over the years, so you may be right!  Converting a standard Venom to a Thruxton these days is a bit tough, not easy to find the cylinder head.  The rest of the bits are fairly available if your willing to pay.  I think the price of a new fuel tank is about what my Dad paid for the entire machine in 1968.  He had several Velocettes, most were Thruxtons, but sold them all off except this one. 
 
This machine is mostly in original condition; I rebuilt the clutch, magneto and top end (piston, rings and valve guides) and put in an electronic voltage regulator. 
 
I've never been able to get mine to go past 100 mph.  I found the engine was running way too lean at WOT, although the carb had a standard #320 main jet, and couldn't get past 90 mph.  I had to go up to a #380 before it would run too rich; I settled on a #360.  Once I hit 100 mph, I decided this was a foolish thing to be doing with a 50 year old motorcycle and an even older rider.
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 2:04pm
I was a Bonnie guy.
Had a '68 Thruxton Pretty much like this except for the high level Siamese pipes. Like everything I owned at the time It was sold when I emigrated.
https://wesellclassicbikes.co.uk/img/bikes/large/991890.jpg
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A square 10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2018 at 3:40pm






















       i was a bonny guy as well - little later version 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 06 2018 at 6:21am
'73, or '74? With the disc front brake.

Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanforth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 06 2018 at 7:09am
Originally posted by A square 10 A square 10 wrote:


If you look at the image of my Velo' you will notice that it sports a Thruxton tank (nearest I could get to a MK8 KTT. That tank came from India via E-bay and is of superbe quality.
 
The fastest I have seen out of my 1947 (basic stating point) 350cc KSS special is 109mph on the run through Brandish on the Isle of Man.

 




















       i was a bonny guy as well - little later version 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 06 2018 at 11:38am
Love those Velocette's Gent's; very nice indeed!
 To fund my passion for Enfield rifles I sold this Moto Martin Z1 (front left of photo) The Ducati  and Speed Triple were also mine at the time; seen here at Forza Automobiles in Paris, were I used to work.
I still have the Triumph Speed Triple, an XT500 and a 73 Z1 that needs renovation.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 06 2018 at 11:41am
I did notice that.  It's impressive how much power the 350 OHC Velo engine produces.  Wished Velo had further developed the 500 cc DOHC rather than the pushrod 500 cc; too costly for that small company; they just would have went out of business sooner.    
 
I'm probably not laying flat enough on the bike to get up past 100 mph.  And I'm not going to go back and try it again!  The Thruxton was rock solid and smooth at 100, but getting past cars and trucks on the highway made it tough to not have to come off WOT.
 
 
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