I had the opportunity to buy a Vincent Black Shadow in 1975, 3000.00 was a lot of money, I had it though, I could have bought it but I bought a BSA Rocket 3 instead.. Can you say dumbass?
In 72, they were worth about $1200, which is what I paid. A Sportster new then was about $1500 out the door. A hot Sportster would kick a Vincent's butt but definitely not as cool. Sounds better, too. That two-into-one sounds like shit. And it's hard to get many ponies with only 3/8" valve lift, which is
all you can get because of the design. Vincents are cool in some ways but not so impressive, performance-wise. Big engine loafing makes for nice touring but the "so fast Vincent !" myth is baseless. Your Rocket 3 was probably faster.
Although you bought it new in 1975 ? Didn't they go broke in 74 ? If so, yes, that wasn't the best of all ideas
Richard-Thompson--1952+Vincent+Black+Lightning
It would have been a better song if he'd known that
Vincents don't have keys.
Stupid fuck.
A Black Shadow went by on one of the roads at a good clip, so I tucked in behind him, for a few miles we were doing an indicated 100, at which point he opened up and left me for dust
He should have, high-geared 1000 cc vs a 400 four, and those were not famous for power or speed, either. And they had weak cranks. Adorable bikes tho. Whoop whoop whoop, 10,000 rpm
it was evident the Vincent was handling the undulating and bumpy roads better than my 400/4.
No, he just had bigger balls. Vincents are okay for smooth high-speed touring but they don't really handle well. They sproing up and down in the middle, which feels weird, the wheels are too big to turn in fast, and the worst of all, they don't shift. I ran one at Sears and Ontario and Riverside, which taught me that myths and reality don't mix. Even putting the engine into an XR frame couldn't fix the shifting .... ended up getting a real race bike.