Established in 2003 by Chris Spaett when he gave up a well paid position as Managing Director of one the Uk's largest Car Dealer Groups to fulfill a lifelong dream to work professionally with Classic Motorcycles. It is a business with an aim, as any other, to make money but it is not the main driver (as if it were he would have stayed where he was) but to enjoy with fellow enthusiasts, the passion of riding and restoring old two wheeled machines. British Motorcycles are our specialty but anything interesting that is motorised and on two wheels is catered for.
Our overheads are intentionally kept as low as possible to ensure that margins don't have to be high, therefore we do not have a shop and have to restrict viewing of any of our machines to pre arranged appointment times only please.
Some of my own Motorcycles
The latest addition to the collection is one of two Velocette Thruxton Production Racers built by Ralph Seymore for the 1975 & 1976 TT. This bike has a very well documented history and is featured in Ivan Rhodes book. It was raced in the 1976 Production TT piloted by Danny Shimmin and Fred Walton. In practice it covered the course 3rd fastest at 93.5 mph but sadly the result of the race is not recorded or known as it was postponed due to poor weather and therefore the results were not reported in the Press. The previous owner had the bike since 1981. This is a very quick Velocette and fun to ride! Photos will follow shortly.
The Vincent Black Shadow featured below was bought as a 'Basket Case' in 2006 and Bill Graver of Middleton Motorcycles were tasked with completing a total restoration on the machine. A truly superb job of it he has done too. The Vincent had been in the same ownership since the 1950's (confirmed by the Buff Log Book and V5) and unused since 1966 when it holed a piston. It was then (reasonably well) stored until I acquired it and still in fantastically original condition. As much of the original machine as possible was saved and restored including the 'Burgess' silencer. It was bought with the full intention of selling it on again in the end but I have totally fallen for the bike and therefore decided to keep it despite receiving a couple of very generous offers quite close to the £42,500 then asking price. It is now no longer for sale. It is my intention to use the machine as much as possible and at the time of writing have covered over 1,000 miles on it. In fact on its first Club Run outing it came away with 'Best Post War' and 'Best Overall' Machine Cups which was a nice unexpected surprise. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger images
This little Gilera 50cc RS Trial (below), is an exact copy of the machine that I started my Road Legal motorcycling career on when I was 16 years old. I had a couple of Off Road machines before but this is the little bike that started it properly for me. In a fit of peak a couple of years ago I bought this little chap as an unfinished project (I know, to relive my youth) with a view to restoring it to as new condition. In the event Bill Graver of Middleton Motorcycles was asked to do the job because with time constraints etc, it was never going to get done otherwise. An excellent job he has done of it too. It will certainly not be just an ornament and will be used but probably not too much in all honesty. It has covered over 100 miles within it 1st week of being with me though. I had forgotten what fun these little things were not to mention the fabulous feeling of freedom that I had when I got my first one, JJB107N, is it still out there I wonder? I think not as I pretty much destroyed the poor little thing in a constant pursuit of speed. I actually got a Speeding Ticket on it!!! Absolutely true, I promise. If anyone can help with a Pedal Cog Cover for this bike, I would be most grateful. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger images
Here (below) is a Triton that I rebuilt many moons ago. It was sold when I set up Venture Classics because my thinking then was that I didn't need any of my own bike to keep any more and that I needed to devote all of the cash and space to stock for sale. This decision I regretted very much and the bike that I most regretted selling was this Triton. Much to my astonishment, it appeared on eBay in the Summer of 2006 so I was able to buy it back from the person that I sold it to. Much to my delight it was pretty much in the same condition as it was when I sold it 3 years previous other than that it had developed a couple of minor faults, the worst being a horrendous oil leak which turned out to be nothing more than the drain plug on the Primary case had fallen out. It took me a while to find that believe it or not. Teach me to look for the obvious first. Now over 10,000 miles since its rebuild, it is still oil tight and goes really well (it has run on Castrol R all of that time). It has gained a few battle scars and a pair of 'Bacon Slicers' along the way though. I'm glad its back. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger images
This lovely little bike is a 1939 Velocette MAC which I have owned for a few years now and love to bits. If I had to sell all of my bikes bar one, this would almost certainly be the one that stays. I use it all year round and have covered quite a few thousand miles on it. It has been totally dependable, never letting me down (not yet anyway). All that I have done to it to date is to service regularly which is a testament to the people that built it in the first place and its subsequent owners. It appears to be largely un-restored and is in superb mechanical order. I know that the previous owner also used it a lot and covered a very large mileage on it. He also never touched the engine and it is still sweet as a nut. The phot was taken shortly after I bought the bike and it now has a few period 'bits' re-fitted such as Push Pull Throttle, period Choke Lever and tax disc holder etc. It was tested by Frank Westworth and Rowena Hoseason of Real Classics and featured in the magazine and they both loved it too. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger images
Here is my Honda CB200 which I had for many many years. It is the only bike to survive the Cull that I had when I sold everything to start up Venture Classics. Don't laugh, they are great little bikes and we all (my friends and I) had them when we were 17 as the learner limit was 250cc. Must of us couldn't stretch to a 250 and as these were a lot cheaper and totally 'Bomb Proof' we bought these little Hondas instead. It has still only done 13,000 miles from new and is totally original. It used to get a fair bit of use but now only really comes out to play for its MOT once a year. It will suit me well if I get to the point where I can only manage a light weight with electric leg. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger images
This is a bike that was in the collection for a couple of years but has now been sold to make space for the Vincent Black Shadow. It is a 1970 Velocette Venom Thruxton which had been in storage since 1975. It is beautifully original having covered a mere 7,834 miles from new. It still has the original Log Book showing Geoff Dodkin as the 1st & 3rd owner and MOT's to confirm the mileage. The 4th owner bought it in 1972 and put it into storage. It was pulled out into the daylight again after 30 years of darkness in August 2005. The engine was seized as were many other parts but with careful preparation the glorious old Velo is coming back to life. It actually moved under it's own steam today (4th Sept 2005) and sounded as wonderful as you would expect from such a low mileage machine. The intention is to leave it un-restored and to just clean it and tidy it up as much as possible before it goes back into regular service. I used the machine for 2 years and covered around 1,500 miles on it. It was totally reliable but I did have the Big and Main Ends replaced just before sale as it was just starting to rattle very slightly from the bottom end. It had obviously not been apart before. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger images
Here is the same bike after having completed the 2006 'Spirit of the Sixties'. The bike didn't miss a beat and is now running very well after its careful but light re-commissioning. As little as possible was changed but as much as reasonably possible was carefully taken apart, cleaned, lubricated and then reassembled. There were a lot of comments about it being well used and a bit rusty from other entrants on the run but I prefer to keep it as genuinely original as possible including the slightly now shabby paintwork. It just needs to run well which it does.
Another one of Chris's 'own bikes' (now sold, that was a tough decision), and another Velocette Thruxton (Seymore built Replica) resting after the 2005 'Spirit of the Sixties' run. It was bought as an unfinished project and is now a truly wonderful, fast & furious machine. Photo courtesy of Mr P Rooke.
The same bike at Motorcycle World Beaulieu June 2005. Covered 500 miles and 4 Parades in 2 days without missing a beat and all in searing heat too. Fabulous selection of machines present including the 'Roarer' all to commemorate the Centenary of the Velocette.
Chris on a very special October 1958 T120
'Tangerine Dream'.
Here is another one! We had the restoration commissioned in 2004 and it sold immediately when finished
Another wonderful machine sold during 2004
And another, this time a genuine Long Stroke Double Knocker Manx bought in 2005.
The engine was wonderfully rebuilt by George Cohen shortly after this photo was taken
and is now truly a work of art again.
