Showing posts with label Vincent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vincent. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 04, 2025
Monday, February 03, 2025
Phil Vincent had yearned to build something to outperform the Brough Superior SS100, which had ruled unchallenged since the 1920s.
Britain’s postwar steel shortage made Vincent’s now much-copied frameless construction their choice—the steering head attached to the cylinder heads via a welded sheet metal box—that was “the frame.”
The result was an extremely compact 1,000cc V-twin of unmatched acceleration and speed. Nothing else came close, but production was limited by high price.
Think of this bike and doesn't the photo of Rollie Free, horizontal in bathing shorts, setting a 150-mph record at Bonneville, pop into your mind?
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Wednesday, October 04, 2023
there's now a documentary movie about the Vincent (thanks Lucian!) Speed is Expensive: Philip Vincent and the Million Dollar Motorcycle
Very well written and nicely narrated by Ewan McGregor, a great documentary for any motorcycle enthusiast, Vincent fan or not, about the company, the name, the legend and people involved with Vincent.
the Ewan McGreggor-narrated documentary has garnered international recognition, receiving four awards from various film festivals
The film explores the tension between Philip Vincent's love of speed and his personal and financial struggles.
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Monday, October 24, 2022
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
Wednesday, March 07, 2018
Does it look like a million dollars? Or just an investment where some buyer wagered a million that some one else in the future will pay more than a million to own it?
19 of the bikes built are believed to still exist. This three-owner bike has a glorious racing history.
It was built by Sydney rider Tony McAlpine, who became virtually unbeatable in Unlimited class events aboard the Black Lightning, winning 12 major races from 13 starts. While racing the 1951 Isle Of Man TT between races, McAlpine worked at the Vincent factory at Stevenage assembling this bike. He sold it to a racer, who crashed it, and sold it to Jack Ehret who owned a couple motorcycle shops. He worked on it and broke the Australian speed record for the sales promotion for his business. He raced it occasionally, storing it for a decade at a time.
This Vincent stayed in Jack Ehret’s hands for nearly half a century, and he finally sold it when he was 76 yrs old, and running nightclubs in the Philippines
The standard Black Lightning was supplied in racing trim. It had a tachometer, Elektron magnesium alloy brake plates, racing tyres on alloy rims, rearset foot controls, a solo seat and aluminium mudguards. Dry weight dropped to just 172kg versus the Black Shadow’s 208kg.
The Lightning’s 998cc air-cooled, overhead valve 50º V-twin engine got cams with higher lift and more overlap, stronger Vibrac connecting rods and Specialoid pistons delivering a 13:1 compression ratio for methanol fuel. The combustion chambers were polished, as were the rockers and inlet ports, fed by twin 1¼-inch Amal 10TT9 carburettors. The Ferodo single-plate clutch’s cover featured centre and rear cooling holes, while the 4-speed gearbox was beefed up to transmit extra power.
https://www.motorcycle-magazine.com/ridden-ehret-vincent-black-lightning/
Sunday, January 07, 2018
1949 - the end of the Indian and Vincent motorcycle companies... but I didn't know until reading this, that Indian killed Vincent like a drowning man pulls a lifeguard under.
The year 1949, the Indian Motocycle Company, beleaguered on several fronts, was circling the drain mostly (entirely) due to finances.
The president of Indian was envisioning the future of motorcycling, and realized it belonged to lightweights, like the Japanese manufacturers would confirm in a few short years. Getting lightweight Indians into the market would give Indian an advantage over the British bikes (due to import fees)
His Torque series motorcycles were six months delayed leading to a loss of income, plus the manufacturing costs were double the estimated costs, and the deathstroke was the British currency getting devalued
Indian invited the Vincent Company to visit and the two company presidents devised a concept to create a blend of the Indian Chief and the Vincent motorcycles. The compromise would have helped Indian with a modernization of the venerable Indian Chief with less investment funds, and also would have helped the Vincent by supplying engines.
The plan entailed two prototypes; one would be a Chief with a Vincent engine installed and the second would be a standard Vincent Rapide customized with Indian parts recognizable to the Indian faithful. The proposal would supply 50 units of the former prototype, the Vindian, per week and the delivery of 20 units per week of the latter prototype, the Indian-Vincent.
Well Indian never followed through on the plan, leading Vincent to enter into receivership due to purchasing materials for the business plan that would never happen.
Vincent engineer, Phil Irving took on the project of the Indian and Vincent combinations. He completed the Vindian project within a month of hard work, fitting the engine from a Vincent Rapide into the 1948 Chief.
The bike was road tested and following the necessary photo sessions, the project was dismantled, the Indian put back together and returned to the U.S. The second project entailed the blending of Indian parts to a 1949 Vincent Series C touring Rapide. The Indian-Vincent wore a Delco generator and regulator, a 1940 style fender light, a stock Indian tail light and headlight, an Indian ignition/lighting switch, stoplight switch, dimmer switch and horn. This prototype used a later die cast kick starter cover and timing cover which had Vincent on the cover instead of H.R.D.
The president of Indian resigned due to mounting internal pressures, and in December, Phil Irving also retired from Vincent. Irving was presented with the Indian-Vincent, now stripped of its Indian parts which he mounted his Blacknell sidecar full of this tools and moved to Australia.
Irving rode the "Vincent" until 1953 when he traded it for a Vauxhall Wyvern sedan. Then the Vincent disappeared until 2001. It came into the hands of the current owner who started to recognize that certain parts weren't correct when he learned the true history of this very special motorcycle. Pieces of the motorcycle which had been modified for the fitting of Indian parts still remained, and correspondence with Phil Vincent's son-in-law confirmed that his Vincent was the actual prototype for the Indian-Vincent. Special stampings and the serial numbers were vindicated in this research.
The owner had to decide how to restore this relic of a motorcycle. Should it be returned as a Vincent and go unrecognized among other Vincents, or should it be restored as the iconic project between two great motorcycle companies? Luckily its history has been preserved as the Indian-Vincent won out.
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23804/lot/187/?category=list&length=10&page=10
Monday, November 27, 2017
probably the largest collection of Vincent motorbikes in the world, is in Jurien Bay Australia
about 2 hours from Perth Australia is this incredible collection of motorcycles... they aren't all Vincents, but 46 are.
See an interview with the owner at https://apps.facebook.com/TodayTonight/videos/1623502557689194
http://www.bikeshedtimes.com/from-hrd-to-black-lightning-and-rtv1200-ian-boyd-has-amassed-the-ultimate-vincent-collection/
Monday, October 23, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
the Vincati
a Vincati (all Ducati 750 SS/Vincent 1000cc engine)
The first Vincati was reported by the Australian Motorcycle Action in October 1975, and it was put together by Max Johnson.
In 1972, Johnson was looking for a Vincent but first found a Vincent engine installed in a racing car.
He acquired it and started his quest for frame parts, and the idea of the Vincati simply came as he was assisting a friend in repairing his Ducati 750. He assessed that the Vincent Twin would fit quite well in this chassis and that it would also be a much easier to find a wrecked bike on the market.
After about three years of intensive work including the mock-up, rebuilding the engine and finally assemble the bike, the Vincati was ready and made its first apparition during one of the VOC outing.
Phil Irving, co-designer of the Vincent, was there and made the following comment ‘It almost looks as if it grew there.’ reported AMA, which also commented that ‘Phil Irving was not partial to the many variations and hybrids of the traditional Vincent, these faint words of praise indicate he was not unpleased with the Max Johnson version.’.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210242164390739&set=a.1617402035143.2077580.1239146710&type=3&permPage=1
Sunday, June 11, 2017
there is a documentary movie about Vincents in the works
The story of the amazing rise and the dramatic fall of Vincent motorcycles produced by visionary Philip Vincent in a modest factory in war-torn England.
Faster than anything on the road, two or four wheeled, they took on the world – and won – gaining more speed records than any other manufacturer.
But by 1955 the firm pulled out of the motorcycle market through a toxic combination of a high-speed crash, poor industrial relations and Philip Vincent’s stubborn refusal to compromise.
The Vincent family’s fortune was spent and Philip Vincent died in a council flat in West London in 1979.
Now a movie about the world’s most desirable motorcycle has secured access to over 20 hours of fully restored period film shot by Vincent himself which has never been seen before, plus other long-lost footage, audio interviews and period pictures.
Also, quite important is the interview with John Surtees – uniquely, world champion on two and four wheels – on his apprenticeship at the factory, setting records and his relationship with Vincent... and the remaining 11 men who built and designed the bikes in the 1940s and 50s
https://speedisexpensive.com/
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Friday, July 06, 2012
I found a new website that celebrates cool photography, airplanes, celebs, motorbikes, race cars, etc.. Silidrome.com very cool stuff, not much info, but cool photos
I posted last November... wire wheels, not that common
... notice the banner hanging from the handlebar, it says US Tires
there is a lot about their story, so late in life the youngest kid's wife and daughter put together a book. The boys were raised by their dad, and somehow got hooked on being exploited for cash prizes, ala the cross country ride, drive, or whatever - craze that newspapers were using to sell papers... beginning at age 5 and 9. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0966216601/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=giftbasketsfr03-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0966216601&adid=1DDBRAT23E67XAH6S6N3&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanishedamericana.com%2Fkids%2Fmore-information-on-the-abernathy-kids%2F
So what is the name about? A silodrome is the "Wall of Death" like the one that Fearless Elbert and his Racing Lion rode on... and that was one of his first posts... he has a lot of cool stuff I've posted years ago, like Elbert and the lion, Burt Munro, the Fonz, old race cars, old motorcycles, and so on... so much cool stuff, that the above is just a glimpse at the ones I liked the most when browsing through http://silodrome.com/ enjoy!
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