The Myth of Vincent Motorcycles' Black Lightning - Robb Report
The bikes created by British manufacturer Vincent Motorcycles are some of the most sought-after collector motorcycles in the world, and the Black Lightning occupies the top rung of this hierarchy. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when it came out, it was the fastest production motorcycle in the world, even beating out the fastest production car of the day, the Jaguar XK120.
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The bike had several owners, but it was in the possession of Australian motorcycle shop proprietor and racer Jack Ehret for the longest period—47 years. During that time, it smashed the Australian Land Speed record, hitting an average of 141.5 mph, and participated in numerous races. One of the most compelling things about the bike is that it is an original, which is exceedingly rare because of the beating they usually take on the track—a legacy that is still evidenced by the wear and tear that is still visible on the bike.
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even for a collectors historical motorbike, i cannot imagine paying that kind of money for anything...
that is an insane amount of money, good on the guy for winning....
Some of my history with the Vincents.
Phillip Irving - He was the engine designer for the Vincents / HRD, and he was my tutor.
He wrote a book, called "Tuning for Speed" - I obtained a copy of it, and read it - and used the applicable information from it.
By circumstance, on the day of his funeral, the Vincent Owners Club were going to the funeral, and I was invited to attend - and that was the thrill of a life time.....
To be a pillion in the middle of a pack of about 15 Vincents... they sounded much like Italian V8 super cars from the 70's.....
I was asked to take some photos of the funeral of Phillips old friend from Adelaide (South Australia) and Ihad been sitting on them for a while and I thought it would be better to give the photographs of the funeral to someone in the USA - so they could belong to the world. He apparently was denounced by the "Vincent Owners" group of some description, as a rogue and the pictures have disappeared forever - apparently. I still have the emails... and scans of the photographs...
I had hoped that they would be shared and published... In hindsight, I ought to have had them scanned in as high definition negatives and then posted those to all the Vincent owners groups of the world...
These are good bikes, in that all the weight is down very low, they are a SMALL motorcycle, and they are a cleverly designed 2 valve head motors.
Because ALL the parts, ARE the motorcycle, it doesn't have a frame - thus the absence of a few inches here, a few inches there and everything being very compact, they are a very small 1000cc motorcycle....
It's not to say that they are the ultimate in anything.
Technology and time moves on, and some things can usually be done better... better alloys, better lubricants, etc., but if they were redesigned from scratch - with the following attributes such as simplicity, durability, ease of maintainence, a more dialled in and tractable performance (the most punch from 80 - 120 Kmh for legal road speeds) and build quality, I am sure that there could be many significant improvements made.
Philip Edward Irving MBE, CEng., FIMechE., MSAE.,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Irving
https://upload.wikimedia.org/w....ikipedia/en/0/03/Phi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Motorcycles
https://upload.wikimedia.org/w....ikipedia/commons/5/5