The Vincent; The Best?

Well, then, sell off your fleet and reinvest in a nice Model D. I would suggest a Black Prince
but I'd be run off the list...

I passed on a Black Prince not that long ago. As much as I've always liked them it just didn't
look like something that, at resale time, many (any) others would stump up for. :-(

Onder said:

Well, then, sell off your fleet and reinvest in a nice Model D. I would suggest a Black Prince
but I'd be run off the list...

Click to expand...

Dafter things have been suggested!

Patrick Godet’s personal bike was a very well sorted, 1330cc, electric start, fully enclosed series D.

But, I’m in the (popular) camp that thinks a naked Vin is just too pretty to cover up. Especially a series C.

Onder said:

I passed on a Black Prince not that long ago. As much as I've always liked them it just didn't
look like something that, at resale time, many (any) others would stump up for. :-(

Click to expand...

None of my bike purchases have been based on expected resale value.
Always been from the heart.
Maybe not smart, but...
Cheers

But for many of us, the unpleasant topic of AGE must be considered. The loss of value of the boat anchors in my garage is, sadly, something one must face. "Later" has a different meaning now.

Seems that many of the old things that have found their way into my garage have lost value since covid. However, that value is the value others place on these things and machines. That is no concern here since like others here, the value is in the heart.

Getting back to the question of if the Vincent is the best motorcycle. There were a lot of "best" machines in the golden era. Each has its "best" place in the heart of one enthusiast or another. Many folks think the Brough SS-100 is the best. It is a very interesting-looking machine--never rode one. For the SS-100, George Brough bought in JAP engines which to me is a step backward. Phil Vincent dumped JAP in 1934 after a disastrous outing with their engines. With the help of Phil Irving, Vincent designed and built his own engine and produced it within a year. That deserves a lot of credit and should be considered.

It has been 50 years since I first saw a photo of a Vincent in a cycle mag. I was awe struck! A couple years later, I came face to face with a Black Shadow while out on a ride, and the search was on. Coming upon 45 years with my Shadow, and I'll never tire of it. Today, I ride the Vincent for specific rides and destinations, usually a 50 mile loop through the Sierra Nevada mountains. If I get a call to just go for a ride, the '73 Commando is the usual choice.

Cheers and regards,
Russ

As Jay Leno said "Sometimes you just want to go for a ride". Believe it or not, the Enfield Interceptor gets the nod.
Makes no sense except that if does not encourage hooligan behavior nearly as much as the Commando and certainly
not as much as the 850 T150v.
Vincent? Got close to buying several times but at my point in life, it ain't gonna happen.

I ride with 2 fast guys from the Vincent club. For how much older and heavier the bikes are, they have no trouble on our rides setting the pace against bikes which came out much later. They do this seemingly effortlessly, even in the twisties. "Girdraulic" forks and reproduction Avon tires.

“Seemingly effortlessly” made me smile…

I was once out for a ride on roads I know well when I came across two lads on sports bikes, they made me smile hanging off and blipping on down changes etc, it all looked rather impressive, but kinda theatrical.

I thought I’d try and stay with them as long as I could, just for a giggle.

Much to their disgruntlement, and despite their hanging off theatrics, they couldn’t shake me!

Then we came up to a long sweeping left hander, as I said, I know the road well, so sitting bolt upright on my 1950 Vincent and in my open face lid, Barbour jacket and blue jeans, I rode around the outside of these two lads hanging off their sports bikes.

I‘ve often wondered what they said / thought about this as I must have looked bizarrely effortless in comparison to them.

Truth is, I was actually trying quite hard… it’s just I was trying even harder not to show it !!

Fast Eddie said:

“Seemingly effortlessly” made me smile…

I was once out for a ride on roads I know well when I came across two lads on sports bikes, they made me smile hanging off and blipping on down changes etc, it all looked rather impressive, but kinda theatrical.

I thought I’d try and stay with them as long as I could, just for a giggle.

Much to their disgruntlement, and despite their hanging off theatrics, they couldn’t shake me!

Then we came up to a long sweeping left hander, as I said, I know the road well, so sitting bolt upright on my 1950 Vincent and in my open face lid, Barbour jacket and blue jeans, I rode around the outside of these two lads hanging off their sports bikes.

I‘ve often wondered what they said / thought about this as I must have looked bizarrely effortless in comparison to them.

Truth is, I was actually trying quite hard… it’s just I was trying even harder not to show it !!

Click to expand...

Nice story Nigel

A similar thing happened to me on the way home from a Vincent Rally some years ago.
With my wife on the back and a UK Motorcycle Journalist following behind on a new Honda, we were heading towards the Monashee Mountains in British Columbia.
There was a long straight just before we went into the very twisty Monashee Pass section. We were rolling along at about 75 mph when two identical new YAMAHA R1 sportbikes went by very close and full bore at about 175 mph . This is a guess, as that is about the top speed of a pre 2010 R1.
I did not see them coming as the road was otherwise empty and I hadn't looked in the mirror for a minute or so.
It was quite a shock, the air blast as they rocketted by was terrific.
After the nerves calmed down, I thought " Won't be seeing them again, thankfully"
That turned out to be wrong.
I had been having quite a bit of fun with the Vincent on the twisty Monashee section when about 30 miles in, there were the two new R1s wobbling around corners ahead of us.
They saw our loaded down old black bike in their mirrors and immediately sped up, which brought on more R1 wobbling. There were several places were I could have gone around them but it was far more fun to pester them from behind and let then know just how slow they were on cornering, holding us up!
They deserved it as the 175mph close pass could have killed us had things gone wrong.
After many miles of this they finally pulled over as I am sure they were exhausted.
The Honda riding Journo was right there for all of this and he thought it was terribly funny.
He wrote an article about that Vincent Rally for Canadian Biker-