Spotted: A VINCENT!!!

Steve

Moderator

Staff member

Platinum

Offline

• Jul 9, 2008

• #1

On my morning commute to work today, I was driving through Elm Grove WI when I saw an obvious antique being ridden towards me. A quick sideways glance allowed me to read "Vincent" on the tank, but other than that not much.

I had NEVER seen one being ridden before, they have always been museum pieces. I am a happy camper this morning, just because of that chance sighting.

I'm going to see if I can find out who it is..... :laugh:

 

drooartz

Moderator

Staff member

Gold

Offline

• Jul 9, 2008

• #2

Fantastic to hear of one out on the roads!

 

ecurie_ecosse

Luke Skywalker

Offline

• Jul 9, 2008

• #3

Haven't seen one of those on the road since I left Scotland in 1969. Then I stood beside a Black Prince. That was some bike!
Way to big for me,it was about chest height and I would have needed a ladder to get on board.

Stuart.

 

OP

Steve

Moderator

Staff member

Platinum

Offline

• Jul 9, 2008

• #4

I shall do some scouting this weekend if the weather cooperates. The neighbourhood that he was coming out of has only one road in or out, and so he may not be too hard to find. Throw the digital camera in the car and hope for the best.

 

J

jessebogan

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jul 9, 2008

• #5

I have a friend with a Vincent Coment (500cc single) and he rides it fairly often. His friends with Vincents ALL ride them, and several do long distance touring Some of these have been upgraded with automotive alternators and the like, but they are still ridden hard and often. I think the reason you seldom see one is that there are not so many in the first place. Anyone remember the comic strip "Steve Canyon"? My buddy got his love of Vincents from that...

 

G

Guest

Guest

Guest

Offline

• Jul 9, 2008

• #6

There's a guy near me rebuilds them as a hobby.
I see him at the local car show every week.
Uses his Healey to tow them, which I think is pretty cool!

 

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin

Offline

• Jul 10, 2008

• #7

Those and the Ariel Square Four are the coolest looking bikes.

I saw ~THESE~ a while back at the Moss Britfest

And of course, there was a ton of interesting bikes at the New Hampshire Vintage races 5 weeks ago.

We have a guy who teaches night classes for us once in a while.
When I first met him, we hit it off right away because he started talking about bikes and guitars. But he didn't actually tell me that he had anything interesting (he mentioned his Honda street bike, but that was it).
A week after I met him, we arranged to meet to discuss a school project. When he arrives, he says, "Come on outside...let me show you my other bike."
It was a BSA Gold Star!

 

weewillie

Darth Vader

Offline

• Jul 14, 2008

• #8

A buddy of mine used to have a douglas horizontal twin

 

Moseso

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jul 15, 2008

• #9

The guy I bring odd jobs to, like reaming bushings, welding and stuff, is one of the go-to guys in Brit bikes in The Twin Cities. I just took him some work today, and his Black Shadow was in the back of his truck. It is a breathtakingly beautiful bike -- looks showroom -- and yes, he rides it. He has another one that he races. He's been very busy this summer modifying heads for the racer, so he can get "NASCAR levels" of horsepower/cubic-inch out of the thing. He says he's currently at about 2HP/CuInch, roughly, 120 HP. He's trying for 2.2. I believe he's planning to make a stab at the motorcycle land speed record on the thing.

I'll try to remember my camera when I go to pick up my parts, and hope his beautiful street machine is still visible.

 

coldplugs

Darth Vader

Platinum

Offline

• Jul 19, 2008

• #10

Awesome!

I had a friend with a Black Shadow way back when & have a vivid memory of him drag racing my father one night. The old man had a brand new '62 Corvette fuelie from the dealership and they raced up to about 100 mph. (The roads were less crowded then - don't try this stuff today). I think they came out about even.

I lusted after that bike but could only pretend that my Triumph Cub was a Black Shadow.

 

Moseso

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jul 23, 2008

• #11

I did a little googling, and found out a lot about, A) Vincents and, B) my mechanic, Steve Hamel.

He is definitely going to Bonneville Salt Flats this year and he has been there before -- and gotten results. He has beaten Rollie Free's record, and he's going for more!

This link gives a quick overview and some nice pictures.

If you want to spend some <span style="font-style: italic">real</span> time checking this out, Google <"Steve Hamel" Vincent> There's a fair amount out there about Steve.

 

bobh

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Jul 30, 2008

• #12

Someone rode a Black Shadow to the nashville British Car Show either last fall or the previous fall.

 

Gray_Cat

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Oct 1, 2008

• #13

Anyone in Socal may want to make it out to Hansen Dam (out around Sunland off the 210) on November 2nd for the Norton Club "Best Ride by a Dam Site". Usually all kinds of really great vintage bikes (in additon to the Nortons) including Vincents, Areil Square 4's (my favoties),Triumphs, BSA, etc. It's free and absolutely worth a look. They get started early Sunday AM, have a ride then a show competition. All very low key but great people, bikes and fun!
Roy

 

bgbassplyr

Darth Vader

Offline

• Jan 27, 2009

• #14

Best looking Vincent I have ever seen was a Black Lighting ( I think it was, in England).

A friend bought a Black Shadow cheap. It ran but neither one of us had enough lead in our britches to crank it, even with the compression release.

He kept it for many years, then found out what it was worth and sold it for a HUGE profit.

 

SilentUnicorn

Yoda

Offline

• Jan 31, 2009

• #15

zwaEa2o" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>