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Photo: ...Vincent Motorcycles...
- Thread starter lathefan
- Start date
- Replies 78
- Views 21,060
Tom A
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2009
- Location
- NW Florida
Not to create thread drift, but I found this nice photo, of the fruits of their labor :
IMHO, the finest motor bikes ever made :~)
IMHO, the finest motor bikes ever made :~)
moonlight machine
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2007
- Location
- marysville ohio
In 1974 I could have bought a Black Shadow for 1500.00.....I bought a BSA Rocket 3 for 900.00 instead....What a dumb ass!
bhigdog
Stainless
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2005
- Location
- Eastern PA
I bought a Triumph Bonneville. Rode it an hour, fixed it an hour, road it an hour, fixed it an hour. etc etc etc. All hail Lucas the Prince of Darkness........Bob
moonlight machine
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2007
- Location
- marysville ohio
I have listened to that bull shit for 40 years. I have been riding Triumphs and BSA's since 1970. Electrical problems put me on the side of the road once. It was on a 1969 BSA 650 Lightning. The power wire to the ignition coil broke at the connector. I stripped a little insulation bent the wire over the top of the blade terminal on the coil and pushed the connector on over the wire. 10 minutes to diagnose, repair and get back on the road. As simple as old english bikes are I don't think much of the mechanical ability of anyone that can't keep one running reliably with a minimum amount of effort.
Change the name, and it fits as well... It can easily apply to older Harleys, too...
And, as usual, maintenance fixes many problems.... no surprise there.
jim rozen
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2004
- Location
- peekskill, NY
There's a reason I bought this bike. Reason being, I used to own a '68 BSA
thunderbolt. That bike would have been great if you could buy 10 volt batteries
and 25 watt headlights. The bike below can have then entire charging and lighting
gear removed and it will go down the road just as fast....
This having been said - Rollie Free Forever!
thunderbolt. That bike would have been great if you could buy 10 volt batteries
and 25 watt headlights. The bike below can have then entire charging and lighting
gear removed and it will go down the road just as fast....
This having been said - Rollie Free Forever!
Joe Michaels
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Location
- Shandaken, NY, USA
The Vincent Black Shadow was legendary, and the legend endures to this day. I've seen a few Vincent motorcycles up close, talked to the owners (one of whom is a machinist who rode his as a commuter bike back in the 80's),, but never ridden one.
I also was swayed by the mystique of the classic British bikes back when I got out of engineering school in 1972. My first bike was a 1972 Triumph Bonneville that I bought in partners with another young engineer. It was a classic British bike, and it handled and rode far beyond my capabilities as a rider. I loved it. I honestly do not recall any serious problem sidelining it. We did have to keep up with maintenance, which included inspection for loose fasteners and fittings.
I moved on to another jobsite, and a friend of a friend was the manager of a motorcycle shop. At the time, they were franchised to sell Nortons, along with BMW bikes. The manager had a building behind his house where he had a stash of bikes of his own- some were trade ins that he took over to repair and re-sell, some were used bikes he bought on his own to shape up. This guy had me try riding a number of bikes, loaning them to several of us for a few days or a week at a rip as he also wanted to keep them exercised and limbered up. The result was I had a Norton Commando to ride for a week, then another Triumph, then a Harley Panhead. After trying all of the major types of motorcycles, I was still thinking of another Triumph. There just was something about the appearance of a classic British bike, and they were what I call a "lean motorcycle", a basic motorcycle without a lot of heaviness to it, a motorcycle you could get on and throw into curves and ride hard and enjoy the riding.
The shop manager agreed about British bikes, but he saw the handwriting on the wall. It was by then, 1975. He said the British bike industry was faltering, and he also knew I'd be moving around the country, and had come to know me as an engineer. He said he had the machine for me to try: a BMW R 75/5. I took it home and rode it for a few days. I fell in love with the Airhead BMW. The design of that bike appealed to me as an engineer. I enjoyed riding it, and pronounced it the "most forgiving motorcycle" I had ever ridden. I bought a used BMW R 75/5 from the shop manager.
I rode that little R 75/5 for a few years and traded it against a new 1978 R 100/7 BMW, which I still ride to this day. I still love to see the old British bikes, as there is something special about them. A schoolmate of my son's has a father who is affluent enough to have a collection of motorcycles. This guy is a bit of an Anglophile, and he drives an old Bentley or modern Land Rover. He has a converted chicken coop with his lineup of bikes. He has a BSA twin, a Velocette, an Ariel Square 4, and a Vincent Black Shadow in his collection, along with a number of early Japanese 4 cylinder machines. He rides the Vincent regularly. Other than looking at the Vincent close up and all over, I've never sat on one, much less ridden one. At this point, a Vincent is too rare and valuable a machine and I am older and wise enough to know there are some things to be looked at and not ridden.
Any machine needs proper maintenance. A motorcycle, being subject to road vibrations and hard running (assuming the rider is up to it), needs regular inspections and maintenance moreso than a car. My old BMW gets maintained by me. I carry spare ignition points, condenser and spark plugs along with a tool kit aboard the BMW bike. Valve lash and cylinder head stud torque need to be checked at regular intervals, carb and cable adjustments occasionally walk a little, point gap gets checked and rubbing block on the points gets a little point grease, spark plugs get pulled and inspected (and "read" as well as gap checked), oil and filter get changed, and the bike gets a "going over" by me at regular intervals.
The photos are interesting. Over the years, here in the USA, there are always people who bash the old British bikes. Aside from comments about Mr. Lucas and the Prince of Darkness, there were stories about how the British motorcycle factories were old, machine tools and jigs an fixtures worn beyond any hope of holding close tolerances, and on it went. Of course, none of these people who were describing the British factories had ever been there. It was all hearsay.
The photos show old wooden buildings. In the assembly bay photo, there is a cast iron drainage pipe mounted on the wall. The buildings look like they are probably drafty and probably have had a number of uses before Vincent took occupancy. Some people would seize on the wood buildings and say: "How could they hope to build fine motorcycles in that kind of plant ? They need a clean, modern, factory- not some old barn of a building..." The answer is: the workers. There is an old saying: "A poor worker blames his tools". Put skilled workers in an old barn of a building, give them the machine tools, simple frame building equipment, and tell them to build fine motorcycles, and they will. A modern factory with climate controlled environment and filtered air and CNC machine tools is only as good as the designer of the motorcycles and the workers who build them. If the designer follows the herd and designs modern "crotch rocket" bikes, or "cruisers", then the bikes will be reliable and perform as expected, no maintenance issues or roadside breakdowns, but will not have the essence or soul of the old classic British bikes. The classic British bikes had soul, no question about it. There is a song about the "Vincent Black Shadow" that I've heard along the way. Not too many motorcycles inspire a song.
I also was swayed by the mystique of the classic British bikes back when I got out of engineering school in 1972. My first bike was a 1972 Triumph Bonneville that I bought in partners with another young engineer. It was a classic British bike, and it handled and rode far beyond my capabilities as a rider. I loved it. I honestly do not recall any serious problem sidelining it. We did have to keep up with maintenance, which included inspection for loose fasteners and fittings.
I moved on to another jobsite, and a friend of a friend was the manager of a motorcycle shop. At the time, they were franchised to sell Nortons, along with BMW bikes. The manager had a building behind his house where he had a stash of bikes of his own- some were trade ins that he took over to repair and re-sell, some were used bikes he bought on his own to shape up. This guy had me try riding a number of bikes, loaning them to several of us for a few days or a week at a rip as he also wanted to keep them exercised and limbered up. The result was I had a Norton Commando to ride for a week, then another Triumph, then a Harley Panhead. After trying all of the major types of motorcycles, I was still thinking of another Triumph. There just was something about the appearance of a classic British bike, and they were what I call a "lean motorcycle", a basic motorcycle without a lot of heaviness to it, a motorcycle you could get on and throw into curves and ride hard and enjoy the riding.
The shop manager agreed about British bikes, but he saw the handwriting on the wall. It was by then, 1975. He said the British bike industry was faltering, and he also knew I'd be moving around the country, and had come to know me as an engineer. He said he had the machine for me to try: a BMW R 75/5. I took it home and rode it for a few days. I fell in love with the Airhead BMW. The design of that bike appealed to me as an engineer. I enjoyed riding it, and pronounced it the "most forgiving motorcycle" I had ever ridden. I bought a used BMW R 75/5 from the shop manager.
I rode that little R 75/5 for a few years and traded it against a new 1978 R 100/7 BMW, which I still ride to this day. I still love to see the old British bikes, as there is something special about them. A schoolmate of my son's has a father who is affluent enough to have a collection of motorcycles. This guy is a bit of an Anglophile, and he drives an old Bentley or modern Land Rover. He has a converted chicken coop with his lineup of bikes. He has a BSA twin, a Velocette, an Ariel Square 4, and a Vincent Black Shadow in his collection, along with a number of early Japanese 4 cylinder machines. He rides the Vincent regularly. Other than looking at the Vincent close up and all over, I've never sat on one, much less ridden one. At this point, a Vincent is too rare and valuable a machine and I am older and wise enough to know there are some things to be looked at and not ridden.
Any machine needs proper maintenance. A motorcycle, being subject to road vibrations and hard running (assuming the rider is up to it), needs regular inspections and maintenance moreso than a car. My old BMW gets maintained by me. I carry spare ignition points, condenser and spark plugs along with a tool kit aboard the BMW bike. Valve lash and cylinder head stud torque need to be checked at regular intervals, carb and cable adjustments occasionally walk a little, point gap gets checked and rubbing block on the points gets a little point grease, spark plugs get pulled and inspected (and "read" as well as gap checked), oil and filter get changed, and the bike gets a "going over" by me at regular intervals.
The photos are interesting. Over the years, here in the USA, there are always people who bash the old British bikes. Aside from comments about Mr. Lucas and the Prince of Darkness, there were stories about how the British motorcycle factories were old, machine tools and jigs an fixtures worn beyond any hope of holding close tolerances, and on it went. Of course, none of these people who were describing the British factories had ever been there. It was all hearsay.
The photos show old wooden buildings. In the assembly bay photo, there is a cast iron drainage pipe mounted on the wall. The buildings look like they are probably drafty and probably have had a number of uses before Vincent took occupancy. Some people would seize on the wood buildings and say: "How could they hope to build fine motorcycles in that kind of plant ? They need a clean, modern, factory- not some old barn of a building..." The answer is: the workers. There is an old saying: "A poor worker blames his tools". Put skilled workers in an old barn of a building, give them the machine tools, simple frame building equipment, and tell them to build fine motorcycles, and they will. A modern factory with climate controlled environment and filtered air and CNC machine tools is only as good as the designer of the motorcycles and the workers who build them. If the designer follows the herd and designs modern "crotch rocket" bikes, or "cruisers", then the bikes will be reliable and perform as expected, no maintenance issues or roadside breakdowns, but will not have the essence or soul of the old classic British bikes. The classic British bikes had soul, no question about it. There is a song about the "Vincent Black Shadow" that I've heard along the way. Not too many motorcycles inspire a song.
Tom A
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2009
- Location
- NW Florida
Smoothbore
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Location
- PA, USA
It never ceases to amaze me, the way otherwise intelligent people, will put up with sub-standard design, and performance, ... rather than admit a mistake.
Cranky old British bikes, that you don't dare ride in the rain, ... Harleys that need a "support van" to follow them around, gathering up the parts that fall off, ... John Deere tractors that only start on the "dark of the Moon".
None of the above are any more sophisticated than your garden variety lawnmower, ... but command stupid prices, ... due to their perceived "mystique".
Life's too short to plague yourself with such things.
If you get a sense of fulfillment from mastering that sort of minor-league machine maintenance, ... that's cool, ... but then realize, that's all about you, ... rather than the machine.
While it's difficult to quantify a "negative" result, ... a machine that's simple to diagnose and repair, ... is in-no-way "superior" to the one that didn't fail in the first place.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Note :
None of the above diatribe is aimed at the magnificent Vincents.
However, ... those who knew them best, were enthralled by the idea of a "Best of BOTH Worlds" hybrid.
Hence, the legendary "Vincati" .....
.
Cranky old British bikes, that you don't dare ride in the rain, ... Harleys that need a "support van" to follow them around, gathering up the parts that fall off, ... John Deere tractors that only start on the "dark of the Moon".
None of the above are any more sophisticated than your garden variety lawnmower, ... but command stupid prices, ... due to their perceived "mystique".
Life's too short to plague yourself with such things.
If you get a sense of fulfillment from mastering that sort of minor-league machine maintenance, ... that's cool, ... but then realize, that's all about you, ... rather than the machine.
While it's difficult to quantify a "negative" result, ... a machine that's simple to diagnose and repair, ... is in-no-way "superior" to the one that didn't fail in the first place.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Note :
None of the above diatribe is aimed at the magnificent Vincents.
However, ... those who knew them best, were enthralled by the idea of a "Best of BOTH Worlds" hybrid.
Hence, the legendary "Vincati" .....
.
walked into Big Sid's (the famous Vincent tuner) shop on Va. Beach Blvd. back in the day and saw my first (2) Black Shadows, a red Rapide and he had a Black Lightning (!) roped off on the floor. I had at the time a 75 Norton 850 C. and had been calling around looking for a Vincent after having read Peter Egan's famous Vincent story....had to have one I thought. So someone tells me about Sid's shop at the beach......1/2 hour away ?!!!! ...broke the sound barrier getting there ....walked in the door of the little unassuming strip mall store front ....jaw dropped im thinking "that's why he's called BIG Sid "... second impression HOLY@#$%! ...like discovering the holy grail in your backyard.Sid spent an hour or so educating me on all things Vincent ,like how you lower the engine stands, quick disconnect the oil and gas lines and roll
the whole front of the bike out of the way.. COOL! So I decide to ask...how much?.....25k if you buy it today sir......dreams of blasting down the road at midnight .....CRUSHED instantly, I had only paid 500.00 for the 13k original mile original paint clean Norton....@#$%!... hindsight-
to have one tuned by the man himself?
!@#$%! oh well... still don't have one but here's one that showed up last summer at our town square.
the whole front of the bike out of the way.. COOL! So I decide to ask...how much?.....25k if you buy it today sir......dreams of blasting down the road at midnight .....CRUSHED instantly, I had only paid 500.00 for the 13k original mile original paint clean Norton....@#$%!... hindsight-
to have one tuned by the man himself?!@#$%! oh well... still don't have one but here's one that showed up last summer at our town square.
Atomkinder
Titanium
- Joined
- May 8, 2012
- Location
- Mid-Iowa, USA
I will make sure to share these photos with my father, who has had several Vincents, and the one I grew up with, a 1952 Black Shadow, he rode on the Isle of Man. My mother was none too happy as he did that when I was less than a year old. No handy photos of the Shadow, but here's one of him with his 'Norvin':
I will make sure to share these photos with my father, who has had several Vincents, and the one I grew up with, a 1952 Black Shadow, he rode on the Isle of Man. My mother was none too happy as he did that when I was less than a year old. No handy photos of the Shadow, but here's one of him with his 'Norvin':
thats awesome! Sid and his son were talking about the "VINCATI" once when I was visiting....happy to see they finished it, the book is a great read.
walked into Big Sid's (the famous Vincent tuner) shop on Va. Beach Blvd. back in the day and saw my first (2) Black Shadows, a red Rapide and he had a Black Lightning (!) roped off on the floor. I had at the time a 75 Norton 850 C. and had been calling around looking for a Vincent after having read Peter Egan's famous Vincent story....had to have one I thought. So someone tells me about Sid's shop at the beach......1/2 hour away ?!!!! ...broke the sound barrier getting there ....walked in the door of the little unassuming strip mall store front ....jaw dropped im thinking "that's why he's called BIG Sid "... second impression HOLY@#$%! ...like discovering the holy grail in your backyard.Sid spent an hour or so educating me on all things Vincent ,like how you lower the engine stands, quick disconnect the oil and gas lines and roll
the whole front of the bike out of the way.. COOL! So I decide to ask...how much?.....25k if you buy it today sir......dreams of blasting down the road at midnight .....CRUSHED instantly, I had only paid 500.00 for the 13k original mile original paint clean Norton....@#$%!... hindsight-
!@#$%! oh well... still don't have one but here's one that showed up last summer at our town square.
View attachment 135752View attachment 135753View attachment 135754View attachment 135755View attachment 135756
Another Egan fan! When I read his columns in R&T it really took me back. I'm letting my subscription lapse since they replaced him with a blowhard like Bob Lutz. That's after 50 years as a faithful reader.
I will make sure to share these photos with my father, who has had several Vincents, and the one I grew up with, a 1952 Black Shadow, he rode on the Isle of Man. My mother was none too happy as he did that when I was less than a year old. No handy photos of the Shadow, but here's one of him with his 'Norvin':
...wow...riding a Vincent on The Isle of Man...now there's a "bucket list" wish...
Tyrone Shoelaces
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2006
- Location
- Manchester, England
I know nothing about motor bikes but when I was a paper boy in the early 1960's a guy on my round had a really nice " Vincent ". He used to leave it parked up outside his terraced house in all weathers ! I've seen it covered in snow on many occasions. It wouldn't last five minutes today. A young ex workmate of mine had a " Ducati Monster " for a while until it got stolen in broad daylight in the middle town. He'd just gone into his bank for 10 minutes, when he came out it was gone.
Regards Tyrone.
Regards Tyrone.
jim rozen
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2004
- Location
- peekskill, NY
The front brake on that Norvin is a very special piece. One of the few four leading shoe
brake setups.
There's a gent local to me who has been known to ride his Vincent to work every day.
Yep, a black shadow on public roads, in commuter mode. Amazing.
brake setups.
There's a gent local to me who has been known to ride his Vincent to work every day.
Yep, a black shadow on public roads, in commuter mode. Amazing.
JohnMartin
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2006
- Location
- Cumberland, Maine
A song that itself has become so much of an institution that the name of the heroine in it would then be used as the name of a group:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJa8QoUcN5A
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
I didn't think my memory had let me down - it hadn't.
Yamaha had a 4LS front brake set up on their ''over the counter'' 1973 TZ350A racers http://www.tz350.net/images/350/tz350a_vintagebike1.co.jpg
Just remembered THE name for 4LS brakes of that period - Fontana http://www.manx.co.uk/products/hubs/f250f.htm
