Yes Emily

Yes Emily, girls can ride motorcycles!


Saturday, October 26, 2013

A Vincent In The Barn …

This isn’t about Tom Cotter’s story of motorcycle archeology nor is it about a Vincent found…this
Vincent in the barn is the love child of a friend of mine: A basket (or as he describes it, several baskets) full of Vincent parts, now nearly reconstructed after 31 years in the barn.

A Vincent's Humble Beginnings.
 
The project started in 1982. Back then my friend was racing on the vintage circuit when he picked up several parts cases and a project idea. A serious accident ended his racing career and, as he puts it, the project “languished for 30 years while life got in the way.” The baskets full of ’52 and’53 Vincent parts sat in the barn until 2010 when he succumbed to the “exorbitant pressure” and “unrelenting nagging” of his wife and best friend. Parts were traded across the ocean, parts were machined ... the story was nearly as rich as the history of the Vincent motorcycle itself.
 


 
I got to listen to him and his friend banter about the project tonight. They talked parts and old times and went over a few details of Vincent mechanics, always trying to improve my understanding of engines and cylinders and front ends. They discussed the difference between restoring and recreating and let me peek into the craftsman's machine filled barn cellar. “What was the hardest part? I asked. “All of it,” was the answer. “Lots of parts don’t fit because the originals were all hand built.”  A mechanical technologist by trade he made the parts fit and slowly the Vincent began to rise from the dust.


 
“Spring, next spring,” there’ll be a complete, 1953(ish) Black Shadow in the barn (it'll have the wrong cylinder heads, but they're temporary) – he promised!
 
And then ... he might just start again.


 

12 comments:

  1. "And then ... he might just start again"

    Nice ending to the post. I would love to tackle this kind of project but would need the shop that goes with it to fabricate the parts.

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    1. Thanks Richard. Lucky for him his shop is filled with just the right tools for the job, he was a specialist before retiring - but hasn't retired the shop.

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  2. An amazing story, although I wonder why the parts in the garage didn't call him sooner…
    I envy the craftsmanship that some people have. (Re-)building a motorcycle from scratch. I wish I would be half talented.

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    1. Sonja, like he said, life got in the way. But now it's nearly complete and he glows as he shows.

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  3. Wow, to have that kind of patience and dedication. Good for him.

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    1. No kidding ... and add to it, the talent and the tools. (Just hand me the keys!)

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  4. I'm envious of those with the patience and talents to bring any of the old ones back to life.

    We have a mechanic friend in the Twin Cities that lives and breathes the old Vincents, possibly your friend has had some MN dealings.

    Don't forget to treat us to a photo of the finished machine(s).

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    1. I will have to ask him Coop ... If he has, wouldn't that make the world feel just a little smaller ;0)

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  5. Phew. That is a massive undertaking. Cool stuff!

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    1. Big project for sure, not for the faint of heart. I wouldn't have recognized the parts in the basket myself!

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  6. Karen:

    I'm betting that they both probably know each other. Vincent owners are a small group and they somehow manage to find each other where ever they are.

    what a treat it would be to have access to a barn with tools

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. I will ask him for sure Bob. The shop is highly specialized, luckily the tools fabricate motorcycle parts just as nicely now (in their second career.)

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