You know that Vincent you couldn't afford?, CL, ny

[chuck peterson]

Still can't...... $100k

Modified to correct listing...Lannis is curious...windfall lotto ticket?

https://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/mcy/d/1949-vincent-rapide/6772185691.html

[Roebling3]

Cripes! Unlikely he/she garages it @ the NYC address?
But. Might it be ridden tomorrow to the 'Ear Inn on Spring St., barring snow showers? For Euro Bike night? I'd drop-in for that,--- from here.
    All that power w/cable mechanical brakes, too. Thanx for the temptation.  R3~ 

[ken farr]

                                                                     



kjf

[Sasquatch Jim]

Cripes! Unlikely he/she garages it @ the NYC address?
But. Might it be ridden tomorrow to the 'Ear Inn on Spring St., barring snow showers? For Euro Bike night? I'd drop-in for that,--- from here.
    All that power w/cable mechanical brakes, too. Thanx for the temptation.  R3~

Hey, it was designed to go fast, not stop fast.  Just make sure it has a loud horn.

[tetarabra]

If you are serious looking for a genuine bike , you will discover this one needs HUGE money to (re)become a real and valuable Vincent .
Fortunatly everything is available . Have a look on Vincent spares from the VOC , quote and run , run ,...
But if you are rich and you don't care about original bikes , why not waste your money ?

You want to buy a Vincent ?  Best advices from my experience :
- Be a VOC member and learn the models , the series and their differences.
- Learn the way of understanding the serial numbers .
- A doubt ? Contact the VOC registrar. Simon is very helpfull.

And don't forget . As those splendid bikes are turning ridiciously expensive , don't trust anybody , especially the seller ( even if he is a well known member).

Now, you won't say you didn't know.

[Lannis]

Still can't...... $100k

Modified to correct listing...Lannis is curious...windfall lotto ticket?

https://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/mcy/d/1949-vincent-rapide/6772185691.html

That one there looks a little pricey, but you can still get a decent riding Vincent in the $50,000 range.

We were on a Britbike ride in the Carolina mountains with some friends last year; and one of the guys brought his Vincent for the 220 mile ride, he rode it just like a regular motorcycle in the mountains.

Last gas stop was about 60 miles from the destination motel.   He said "You want to take it back to the barn?"

I said "Yes PLEASE".   He gave me the starting procedure for that particular bike (Open kill switch, pull in decompressor, 'long swinging kick' and release the decompressor right at the end), it started right up and idled perfectly.   I took off, about a mile down the road a pickup truck pulled out in front of me necessitating getting HARD on the brakes, and it stopped without drama.

My take after 60 miles of mountain riding was that it has a beautiful, torquey, powerful engine, the equal of any V-twin sold today, which engine is enclosed in supported by pure 1950s British frame and girder fork technology, which means you'd better stay on top of things or it will get on top of YOU.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity provided by a good friend to whom I will be forever grateful, but it also dissolved any "bucket list" dreams I might have had about cashing in all my existing bikes and sinking it into a Vincent for regular riding ....  I'm very happy now without one, instead of having this gnawing "Should I?  Should I?  I only live once ..." feeling ....

Lannis

[JukeboxGothic]

Back in the late eighties I was working my way through university by fixing mowers and gardening at a large cemetery in my area. One of the jobs I had was maintaining the Honda motorcycle the grounds keeper used to get around. One day I was buying parts from the Honda dealer that I liked (and close to a pub I really liked) when the owner said to me, (your into old bikes, See that old guy. Hes got a shed full of Vincent's).  I didn't really think much of it at the time as you hear these stories all the time but this disheveled little guy became my unicorn and I kept hearing the same story.

Fast forward a few years and I was at the same dealer buying parts for a Honda CB200 that I had. The dealership had moved but it was a real old fashioned bike shop and I liked it. Parked outside was the most beat up BMW R90s I have ever seen.  So having owned two I thought I would talk to the owner. Little guy in a torn parka. About four days growth on his chin. Turned out he was the guy with the Vincent's.  He was also into Honda CB160s but had owned a Vincent dealership in the forties/fifties (two stores, one behind my favorite Chinese restaurant). He told me he used to buy them off guys when they wore them out after not maintaining them properly. Some he got for a case of beer. He said one he got had been run with no oil. A lot were ex speedway sidecar racers that were popular here in the old days.

 Anyway he was a nice old gent but a bit prickly and it turned out his house was across the road from where my parents were married. Small world. I didn't see him again but I was told he had died and when they cleaned out his house he had 27 Vincent's in varying states of disrepair and assorted motors and tons of other parts. This was before the ridiculous explosion in prices but it still would have been worth a lot. Now ask me about the Brough I found in a disused goods lift.

[Aaron D.]

Lannis, your story is one that all who lust for our childhood desires should read, and having read let our hearts rest easy that we have not done ourselves wrong.

[SED]

So Lannis, what did you give him to ride "back to the barn?"   

I think my favorite Vincent was one ridden by an older gent at the Ariel- Vin rally a couple years ago.  It was a Rapide with the correct touring fenders (almost all have the Shadow blades) and Craven panniers.  It had a burgundy and black paint job which he explained by saying he painted it like that when they weren't worth too much. 

In the morning he turned on the taps and a float chamber started spilling gas.  He deftly grabbed a wrench from the pannier, tapped the float and chuckled - "a bit of morning incontinence".  It started right up and off we went. 

Later I learned he'd ridden it from California to Alaska - twice! 

[oldbike54]

 Uh , the type of people who spend that kind of money on a rare or exotic motorbike want it to be either original , restored to orignal , or have some significant provenance , none of which this bike has .

 Dusty

[Turin]

They painted flames on it.

wtf

[keener]

They painted flames on it.

wtf

yea they did way to much to it ...............  

[Kiwi_Roy]

I have a Vincent story
When I was about 16 I went with my older Brother to have a look at a Vincent Rapide for sale, it was out in the country where a guy was renting an old farm house, he had restored it in the lounge.
He also had one other item he was quite proud of, an AJS Porcupine motor.
My Brother bought the Vincent and had it for several years, it ran pretty good but it had a fierce clutch, very hard to take off which made it hard to ride in town, I think this was his reason for parting with it.
He wouldn't sell it to me, i think he figured I would kill myself on it.
My Brothers Rapide, the other bike might be an Indian


In the town I grew up I would sometimes see a Vincent Comet, several years later I bought that off the owners estate for about $500. It had a few issues, the shafts in the front forks had corroded (electrolysis I think) and were quite loose
and the cams and followers were badly worn, I was only a poor apprentice at the time so I built the cam & followers up with weld and re-shaped them with a file.
Thinking that the wear was due to lack of oil I drilled a hole above the cam and tapped into the oil line going to the cylinder head.
Underneath the seat is a tool tray that slides in a bracket like a drawer, I remember one day hitting a bump so hard the tray tore out and scattered tools all over the road.
At one time it dropped the exhaust valve and I had one of the machinists turn me another from a diesel valve.
I had the bike for about 5 years and eventually my Brother sold it to a collector on my behalf, he was going to restore it, last I heard it was still in bits.
The front forks are not really Girder, they are quite high tech with a cam you can flip over to change the rake for sidecar work.

[HB1]

So JukeboxClassic,
tell us the one about the Brough in the disused goods lift.

[JeffOlson]

Uh , the type of people who spend that kind of money on a rare or exotic motorbike want it to be either original , restored to orignal , or have some significant provenance , none of which this bike has .

 Dusty

Exactly!

I don’t have that kind of dough to spend on a toy, but if I did, I would want it unmolested.

[s1120]

Exactly!

I don’t have that kind of dough to spend on a toy, but if I did, I would want it unmolested.

Thats it in a nutshell...  its one thing to see a mis matched, cb750 thrown together with conflicting visions... but ... I dont know... this just doesnt work for me. The problem is they were so right to start with.. your not improving it... only changing it.. 

[Lannis]

Thats it in a nutshell...  its one thing to see a mis matched, cb750 thrown together with conflicting visions... but ... I dont know... this just doesnt work for me. The problem is they were so right to start with.. your not improving it... only changing it..

On the other hand, the "Egli Vincents" and people creating nice "NorVins" are not necessarily doing a bad thing.

The Vincent engine is SO much nicer than the Vincent "frame" (consisting of the oil tank and ... nothing else), Girdraulic front end, funky rear end, and brakes, that I can see why someone would want a good-handling, good-stopping bike with that motor for go-power.

I don't say that an Egli or other well-engineered Vincent special should be worth more than a stock one, but I can see why people do it after riding one.

These Vincent experiences make it pretty clear, I think, that at one time Vincents WERE in fact treated like we would treat a worn out CB-350 Honda or Yamah Big Bear Scrambler ... chucked in the back of a shed to rust, or parted out for race bikes.   I say again that we never know what will be a six-figure classic and what will not ...

As far as what did my Vincent friend get to ride back to town ... That year, some friends from England had come over, and we were riding the East Coast - Hatteras, Huntsville AL, Barber, and all.   USUALLY I would have ridden a BSA or Norton down to North Carolina and done the Mountain ride on that, but this time we were in the middle of a 3000 mile two-week sightseeing trip, and we did the ride with Fay and I on our Triumph Trophy SE and my English friends on my Stelvio.

So I swapped him the Trophy SE for the Vincent.   He climbed aboard, laid back against the backrest with his feet up, and said "Do I have to push a button or is there a voice command for "Take Me Home"?" ....

Lannis

[LowRyter]

I found this guy broken down on the side of the road.  Both of us were out of breath trying to start it and finally pushed it to his garage.   I took this photo after he was able to get it going a week or two later.   

[Rough Edge racing]

My take after 60 miles of mountain riding was that it has a beautiful, torquey, powerful engine, the equal of any V-twin sold today, which engine is enclosed in supported by pure 1950s British frame and girder fork technology, which means you'd better stay on top of things or it will get on top of YOU.

Lannis

 Are you saying the Vincent was equal to a triple disc brake 100 HP modern V twin sport bike ?

[Lannis]

Are you saying the Vincent was equal to a triple disc brake 100 HP modern V twin sport bike ?

No, I was saying the opposite of that ... ??   

Brakes that would haul you to a hard stop reliably ONCE on a long downhill .... a suspension that created a great adventure for you using nothing more than a bump in a curve .... in other words, 50's Brit girder fork drum brake technology.

The ENGINE is the equivalent or superior of anything else I've ever ridden.   Smooth, torquey, powerful.   Nobody's made a better V-twin since.

Lannis

[JJ]

Coming up at the MECUM auction in Vegas next month...("Oh my!!!")  

A Vincent for EVERYONE's taste!!  Just bring the BIG CHECKBOOK!!






face in hole harry potter

[Turin]

Brakes that would haul you to a hard stop reliably ONCE on a long downhill .... a suspension that created a great adventure for you using nothing more than a bump in a curve .... in other words, 50's Brit girder fork drum brake technology.

The ENGINE is the equivalent or superior of anything else I've ever ridden.   Smooth, torquey, powerful.   Nobody's made a better V-twin since.

For those of us who may never get the chance to ride one, what would you compare the engine to? As I understand it, the chassis has adjustments all over, and once dialed in handles very well. Adjusted wrong and it's supposedly a mess.

[Rough Edge racing]

No, I was saying the opposite of that ... ??   

Brakes that would haul you to a hard stop reliably ONCE on a long downhill .... a suspension that created a great adventure for you using nothing more than a bump in a curve .... in other words, 50's Brit girder fork drum brake technology.

The ENGINE is the equivalent or superior of anything else I've ever ridden.   Smooth, torquey, powerful.   Nobody's made a better V-twin since.

Lannis

 Ok, ...Extremely unlikely I 'll ever ride one so I have to take your word for it....No one lets me ride anything nice, 

[Lannis]

For those of us who may never get the chance to ride one, what would you compare the engine to? As I understand it, the chassis has adjustments all over, and once dialed in handles very well. Adjusted wrong and it's supposedly a mess.

Well, the owner liked it and rode it way faster than I ever would be able to, but perhaps some of that is due to the fact that I'm worried about throwing someone ELSE's $60,000 motorcycle down the road, and he's not.   So maybe it was handling "good" and he's used to it and I wasn't, although I have four 50's and 60's Britbikes in the shed and thought I was well broke to them.  Handling was not confidence-inspiring for me.

The motor wasn't rough, didn't vibrate, pulled hard from low RPMs on up, had good engine braking, instantly responded to the throttle, no hesitation.   I couldn't think of any way to make it better.

Lannis

[Howard R]

Many years ago I was at a BMW rally in Boyer, WV and one of the locals came over to look at the bikes, on his daily rider.  It was some manner of Vincent with, I believe, a GSXR inverted fork dual brake disc front end.  Needless to say it attracted a lot of attention.

Howard

[Rough Edge racing]

 Curiosity about Vincents got me to read what's available on the internet, much of it opinion of course.. In terms of acceleration, it can be compared to an ironhead Sportster,  similar weight HP and torque, ..For sure the Sporty is a rougher more vibrating engine...It also seems Vincents like other bikes of that era have flaws that were never resolved by the factory...Some rather expensive one time work on the engine if the bike is ridden a lot.I believe cam and rocker wear issues..and perhaps main bearings...
 The famous photo of Rollie Free stretched out on the Vincent at Bonneville  to set a record of 150 MPH , would require about 75 HP . it's not a factory stock engine of course. But that's impressive power from such an engine..

[Lannis]

Curiosity about Vincents got me to read what's available on the internet, much of it opinion of course.. .......Some rather expensive one time work on the engine if the bike is ridden a lot.I believe cam and rocker wear issues..and perhaps main bearings...
 

Then there's this tough-looking old bird ...



name of Stuart Jenkins who bought this Vincent in 1955 and put 715,000 miles on it touring Europe, UK and lands beyond.   3 major rebuilds in that time, so that's about on par with someone's Guzzi or BMW or Harley Big Twin ....

That's what got me thinking about Vincents.   A lot of people here could do that ... cash in all the other bikes on the list of "My Bikes" in the signature, buy a $5,000 used Dodge Ram instead of the $40,000 crew cab King Ranch, and you'd be riding a Vincent.

But you'd have to be "all in" on it.    Everything except the motor is just Old British Bike - cables, carburetors, suspension, brakes, transmission, chains, sprockets, electrics - all of that would be no different that a BSA of the era, and I already do that.   The motor is a different thing - there are only a few specialists who deal with them, and you'd have to have plenty of lead time and probably a few dollars from the couch cushions to cover a major rebuild.   But if those were truly 200,000 miles apart (as with Mr. Jenkins), that's handleable too.

I thought long and hard about it, but declined.  It would be fun, and if you fancy some socializing and attention, you'd have all you could stand riding one of these everywhere ....

Lannis

[tetarabra]

Close to the best of the two worlds .

[Lannis]

Close to the best of the two worlds .

I'll go along with that!   Yours, by any chance?

Lannis

[Rough Edge racing]

  700K miles on a Vincent is impressive, almost unreal....... The late Pat Owens put over 500,000 documented miles on a 70 Triumph...Certainly it was rebuilt a number of times but I can't imagine riding one 1/5th that distance
  Some riders just don't stop...