Is there any greater bike, or any greater song, than this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKTzwaEa2o

Peter.

No doubt the Vincent is a very fine machine however, I'd say there's an even finer machine in the Brough Superior

WAY before my time, Shakari! But, the Vincent was not. For some time a company was making Vincent Black Shadow reproductions. Could not afford it. Fastest production bike as I recollect. 150mph!
Peter.

I've never ridden the Brough but did know an old timer who'd owned one for years & he was kind enough to let me sit on it a few times.... LOL

I did once get to ride a Vincent Black Lightning but it was years ago..... and FWIW, wrote a short piece on the Vincent history for my local paper (in RSA) a couple of years ago:


VINCENT MOTORCYCLES – ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AT IT’S BEST!
By Steve Robinson
Way back in time, when the world was in black and white (1928 actually) and even a motorcycle was a rare and desirous thing, Phil Vincent bought the bankrupt HRD motorcycle manufacturing company for the princely sum of UKP500. This money bought him not only the HRD name but also all the tools, jigs, patterns and remaining spare motorcycle parts. Phil’s ambition was to build the world’s fastest motorcycles.
The first machines to come out of the factory featured JAP engines and were known as Vincent HRDs and they were blessed with frames and innovative cantilever suspension designed by Phil Vincent. There was nothing wrong with these machines at all and in fact, were considered top quality at the time but they were too slow for Vincent’s tastes. Phil Vincent was a very ambitious young man and by 1931, he had recruited a chief engineer by the name of Phil Irving and it was it this time that things got really interesting.
Irving designed a 500cc overhead valve engine that once married to the unusual Vincent frame and suspension became the Vincent Meteor and what we would now call the hot version, the Vincent Comet. These machines were way ahead of their time and very fast indeed. It wasn’t long before they were cleaning up at the race tracks but despite this, Vincent and Irving wanted yet more speed.
The story is that one day, chief engineer Irving was shuffling his drawings around on his desk and accidentally laid one Comet engine drawing wrong way around and on top of another Comet engine drawing and the combined drawings showed him a 1000cc in line, V twin engine that was to become the power source of some of the best known motorcycles on the planet. These machines became the famed Vincent Black Shadow and (later) Black Lightning.
The first of these ‘Series A’ machines appeared in late 1936 and came with such innovations as duplex frame, four speed gearbox with foot operated lever instead of the more usual hand change of the time and side stand. The first ‘black Shadows’ were capable of a searing 110 mph/177 kph and developed no less than 45 horsepower. List price for a new on the road 1936 Series A black Shadow was UKP600 and to put this in perspective, that same money could have bought a small house in the suburbs at that time!
In 1939 WWII arrived and the Vincent Motorcycle company were unable to produce any new versions until the end of hostilities in 1945 but by early 1946, the Series B (Rapide) Black Shadow arrived on the scene. This improved version featured many improvements such as integral (unit construction) gearbox & engine and improved suspension and handling.
At this time, the British motorcycle industry considered it de rigour to produce other versions of their same models fitted with either full or part fairings and Vincent followed that trend by producing the Black Lightning which was no more than a dressed up Black Shadow. These particular machines and, in the eyes of this particular classic vehicle fan, were ugly as sin but I guess my view isn’t shared by others because Lightning values are similar to those of the Black Shadows.
In December 1955, the last Vincent Black Shadow rolled off the production line and sadly the company went into bankruptcy.
Potential buyers of these very collectable motorcycles need to check the provenance of individual machines very carefully and as part of that, they need to know that the engine and frame numberings of most, but not all Vincents differ from one another by a considerable amount. Most commonly, but not always 1900 digits.
Vincent motorcycles are extremely collectable in this modern era in which we now live. Values are going through the roof, mainly because many people are currently reluctant to invest their money in the banks. In the last 12 months, good, original ex factory Vincent Comets, Black Shadows and Lightnings have almost doubled in value and I’d expect them to at least double in value again before the end of 2013. A good Vincent Comet (let alone a Black Shadow or Black Lightning) with an interesting history is currently demanding an asking price of something in the region of US$35000 or more and that translates to over a quarter of a million Rands. So if you have one tucked away in your barn somewhere, please take very good care of it!

Thanks for posting, now what about the damn SONG? Do you remember the name of the company that was building Vincent Black Shadow replicas in the 60's or so? As I recollect that had a lever on the handlebars for lifting the valves in order to start them.
Peter.

I do remember a song about Vincents and maybe the one you posted is a bluegrass(?) version of it but it was soooooo long ago, I don't remember anything else about it I'm afraid.

As for the 60s(ish) replicas: Maybe someone in the US made them but I have to admit, I don't remember anything about them at all.

Could it be that someone was buying separate frames and engines and marrying them together to make non ex factory versions? - Certainly an awful lot of that went on in the 60s and 70s which is why collectors are so keen to check full provenance etc on them........

As for valve lifters, I'm fairly sure that was a standard fitting right from the start on the 1000cc models.

I'm not 100% sure if the Comet had them or not but I have several pics of various Comets on my laptop (lost a lot more a couple of years ago during a data transfer) and will try to check them out later today.

Well finding the pics took a lot less time than I expected!

I've got pics of several comets & shadows and all have what appears to be a valve lifter on the right hand side.

Shadow



Comet

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
As I recollect that had a lever on the handlebars for lifting the valves in order to start them.
Peter.

They are called "decompression" levers, and a lot of engines used to be fitted with them.
The purpose is to lower the compression ratio for easier starting.
I still have one on my 69 Greeves 2 stroke, and have hand started many a John Deere tractor that used a similar decompression system for starting (petcocks on each cylinder)

Damn Steve, that's just gorgeous. A friend sent me a link to a Black Lightning for sale in New Mexico. Supposedly last one made...$150K!!! Back in 09!
Steve, the version I linked to is by the guy who wrote it. YouTube does also have a bluegrass version that is very good as well.
Tailgunner, I can imagine that kick starting a 1000cc engine would be interesting.
Peter.

Peter

The comet was a real once in a lifetime deal...... not bog standard but had taken some records in the States (can't remember which ones) and had an ultra interesting provenance.

The shadow wasn't as good as it first looked...... also the numbers were wrong so almost certainly not ex-factory.

That said, I'd love to own either of 'em!

Steve, there was a recent thread, something about "you can't go back". I see a Kawasaki Concours in my future. Just have to convince my wife. I'll tell her
"and if fate should break my stride; I'll give you my Vincent to ride."
Peter.
PS. How about a note on "life in Portugal"?

I (regretfully) sold what was probably my last ever bike a couple of years ago because the arthritis in my hands made it painful for me to ride it.

She was a 1982 Honda CB900F and I can't express how much I miss the bike.

If you're a Kwacker fan, then I reckon the most elegant of them were the early Z900s.

My other British dream bike is the Ariel square four & my favourite American bike would have to be a pre war Indian.

Sorry. I missed your PT comment.

We got here last September and arrived just in time for the coldest winter on record & it nearly killed us.

By Christmas, I'd made up my mind to get the fuck out of it asap....... but then we found a house we liked & bought & then summer arrived & we're now beginning to enjoy life here..... We still miss Africa & our friends there but at least we have the right to live here so don't have to argue with the Govt and even better, we don't have to worry about crime etc.

I can't tell you how nice the locals are here. Hardly a week goes by without someone swinging by the house and leaving us either a sack of spuds or onions or a 5 litre bottle of vino...... most of 'em don't speak a word of English & neither of us have learned much Portuguese yet but nevertheless, we get by and seem to make friends.

Home is a small, smallholding with house, wine cellars, additional rooms, workshops, 20 metre barn , 2 garages and a field I have no idea what to do with.

Outside we have several hundred metres of grapevines and about 8 types of fruit trees.

We're undecided about what to do with the barn etc so will give it a few months to decide on that. One option is to convert it into guest accommodation for friends and rental but I have a hankering to buy an old ruin that's on the market a few miles away...... it's located in a little valley and has one of the finest trout rivers on one boundary and only about 35 metres from the house....... which incidentally was built in 1734.

We saw the place when we came here but it was overpriced then and the owners have now dropped the price dramatically.

So now we take time to decide quite what we want to do with the rest of our lives......

Here's my 900



A Squariel I helped a friend of mine (vis the site mentioned below) sell a few years ago

Check out 'Freedom Of The Open Road' Here

Also the Cafe' Racer, The movie, immediately below.

This is my hobby site that started out as the precursor to our site at www.shakariconnection.com.

We needed to find out if were capable of building a website before we started the shakariconnection project so this was the original experiment and it's evolved into what it is now..... and I have to say, I'm quite chuffed with it.

Oh & check out the last clip as well....... I'd forgotten it was even there!

Hmmm, not a Douglas Dragonfly?
Peter

I like 'em but that Squariel is just so perfect to me.

Don't know if you remember the old film 'Reach For The Skies' with Kenneth Moore which told the story of Douglas Bader?

I'm noy 100% sure but I reckon the bike he rides in that is a Dragonfly.

I sure do remember both Douglas Bader and the movie. Can't remember the bike though. Bader and his buddy Leigh Mallory have not come off very well historically in their battle with Hugh Dowding ref. "big wings". They basically got him fired! Huge injustice! He was right! It came down to: If the RAF survives, we win".
Peter.

I've got a DVD of that movie somewhere!

" Black leather and red hair, my favorite color scheme"