BIKERELIABILITY Reg check
League table/ VELOCETTE/ VENOM/By year
Registration-year report · 2005–2025

Data as of: DVSA MOT results to 2025

Velocette Venom: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which Venom years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 94.4% average, from 5,005 DVSA tests.

1970
highest-passing year · 98.6%
1955
lowest-passing year · 88.2%
10.4pp
spread across 18 years

Pass rate by registration year

first-time pass rate · cohorts with 50 or more tests · registration year from first use date

Highest pass rate: 1970 (98.6% of 69 tests). Lowest: 1955 (88.2% of 85). Years more than two points below the model average: 1955, 1956, 1971.

86%93%100%1954: 92.4% pass (66 tests)1955: 88.2% pass (85 tests)1956: 92.2% pass (128 tests)1957: 94.0% pass (215 tests)1958: 95.3% pass (343 tests)1959: 95.1% pass (690 tests)1960: 93.9% pass (1,139 tests)1961: 93.8% pass (547 tests)1962: 94.2% pass (448 tests)1963: 94.7% pass (303 tests)1964: 95.8% pass (189 tests)1965: 96.0% pass (200 tests)1966: 95.5% pass (176 tests)1967: 97.6% pass (127 tests)1968: 97.7% pass (86 tests)1969: 94.8% pass (58 tests)1970: 98.6% pass (69 tests)1971: 91.0% pass (111 tests)195419631971
RegisteredTestsFirst-time passvs model (94.4%)
1954 66 92.4% -2.0 pp
1955 85 88.2% -6.2 pp
1956 128 92.2% -2.2 pp
1957 215 94.0% -0.4 pp
1958 343 95.3% +0.9 pp
1959 690 95.1% +0.7 pp
1960 1,139 93.9% -0.5 pp
1961 547 93.8% -0.6 pp
1962 448 94.2% -0.2 pp
1963 303 94.7% +0.3 pp
1964 189 95.8% +1.4 pp
1965 200 96.0% +1.6 pp
1966 176 95.5% +1.1 pp
1967 127 97.6% +3.2 pp
1968 86 97.7% +3.3 pp
1969 58 94.8% +0.4 pp
1970 69 98.6% +4.2 pp
1971 111 91.0% -3.4 pp

Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years. A first-time MOT pass is a roadworthiness check, not a full mechanical inspection.

Pass rate over time

first-time pass rate by test year · 2005–2018
90%94%98%2005: 95.2% pass (105 tests)2006: 96.1% pass (533 tests)2007: 94.1% pass (478 tests)2008: 94.0% pass (487 tests)2009: 92.5% pass (478 tests)2010: 95.1% pass (467 tests)2011: 91.2% pass (479 tests)2012: 94.9% pass (430 tests)2013: 92.0% pass (286 tests)2014: 96.0% pass (323 tests)2015: 96.6% pass (293 tests)2016: 94.2% pass (259 tests)2017: 96.4% pass (253 tests)2018: 95.4% pass (65 tests)20052018

Questions

Which Venom years have the lowest MOT pass rate?
1955, 1956, 1971 registered examples pass first time less often than the Velocette Venom overall (94.4%); the 1955 cohort is lowest at 88.2% from 85 tests.
Which Venom year has the highest MOT pass rate?
1970, at 98.6% of 69 first tests (2005–2025). Years more than two points above the model average: 1967, 1968, 1970.
How much does the Venom pass rate vary by year?
10.4 percentage points between the highest (1970, 98.6%) and lowest (1955, 88.2%) cohorts with at least 50 tests. Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years.

Full report: Velocette Venom reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #126 of 5428 models· other Velocette models: Viper, Le, Mac, MSS, Thruxton, KSS