Velocette Venom petrol tank from India reviewed - Vintage and classic motorcycle

The tank took about three weeks to arrive - I guess it was probably made to order.  Here's how it was packed.

Really no compaints at all about the packing. There was no damage to the tank in transit.

Here it is unpacked. The chrome and paintwork are excellent. It came with a cap. When you look closely you can notice a few slight ripples in the finish that are a giveaway that the tank has been rolled rather than pressed.  This is being fairly picky though. An all painted tank would probably be harder to spot from an original than a chrome one.

The front mounting lugs are a bit roughly finished though in reality you do not notice this once fitted to the bike.

Less good was that the studs for the front brace were roughly cut and bent. A shame that this let the side down a bit as otherwise all was good. I had to sort these out with a thread file in order to run a nut down them.

Underside of the tank.

Fitted to the bike. The bike looks a lot smarter and importantly is back on the road with a non-leaky tank. The tank fitted perfectly and everything lined up. The only snag apart from the bent studs noted above is that I am getting some leaking from the petrol cap. It seems to be that the tolerance on the height of the filler is poor and there is not a good seal with the cap's washer. A change of cap didn't help so I'm going to experiment with a thicker washer.

Overall verdict. Delighted. The tanks are good value and we've got to be thankful that there are guys out there making these parts and keeping our old nails on the road. With bikes like the Velo hitting their sixtieth birthdays it is no wonder that they are getting leaky (thanks to ethanol too...) and if these tanks weren't available fewer would be out on the road. Advice - don't be shy on buying one of these tanks but choose carefully who you buy from based on feedback (there are some suspiciously good prices advertised from folks with low scores) and accept them for what they are - very good but not perfect replicas of a part not otherwise available and very reasonably priced.