MOTORBIKE MONDAY

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about

Vincent Black Shadow

Motorcycles produced by Vincent H·R·D at their factory in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England were renowned for their design innovation, engineering excellence and high performance. Already advertising their existing 110 mph Rapide machine as ‘The world’s fastest production motorcycle’, in February 1948 the distinctive Vincent Black Shadow was announced with a top speed of 125 mph. Built in three different Series over the course of its life, the line continued until 1955, after which the company stopped all motorcycle production.

Bonneville 1948

Black Shadow serial number F10AB/1B/900 was a specially prepared model sold to American John Edgar for the purpose of challenging the American land speed record for motorcycles. The goal was to take the AMA National Class A flying-mile record then held by Joe Petrali and his modified Harley-Davidson and which stood at 136.183 mph (219.165 km/h).:414 The bike had to be in Los Angeles California before September 1948.

1B/900 was a factory-built racer, but as there was no plan to market such a version as a separate model when it was built, the bike began life as a Black Shadow even though it was later referred to as a Black Lightning by the factory.

Vincent mechanic Cliff Brown writes that he built a modified engine for the bike, with extensive porting and polishing and a compression ratio of 12.75:1 Brown also reports that he designed and ground three sets of prototype MkII cams for the bike. This origin of the engine is disputed by Denis Minett, head of the Special Engine Department at Vincent at the time. 1B/900 was test-ridden by Cliff's brother George, who was said to have taken the bike to over 140 mph (225 km/h) at the Gransden Aerodrome. After this the bike was shipped to Vincent dealer V.L. Margin in California.

Edgar had arranged for American Rollie Free to pilot the bike on the record attempts. Free unofficially broke the record during a test run at Rosamond Dry Lake in California with a recorded speed of 138 mph.

On 13 September 1948 Free and 1B/900 appeared at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA. On his first run Free set a new record for naturally aspirated motorcycles of 148.6 mph (239.1 km/h). Free then stripped off his racing leathers and on his final run, laying prone on the fender of the bike, set a record speed of 150.313 mph (241.905 km/h). A picture taken during this run earned this motorcycle the name "the bathing suit bike".

On the basis of this run Vincent's subsequent advertising used the slogan "The world's fastest standard motorcycle: This is a FACT - NOT a Slogan!"

Montlhéry 1952

With support from the Wakefield Oil Company, owners of the Castrol brand, Vincent took seven bikes to Montlhéry France in 1952 to challenge a variety of endurance records, the 100 mph for 24 hours record in particular. The bikes were a mix of Black Shadows and Black Lightnings, along with Gunga Din which served as a test hack and did not participate in the record runs. The Black Shadows that did run were modified to very nearly the same specifications as the Black Lightnings.

The record attempts started on 13 May 1952 and continued for three days. The motorcycles faced unusually high temperatures at the track that year. Big-end failures put an early end to the attempt but several records were achieved including the 6 Hours and 1000 Kilometres by a Black Shadow. One of the spare engines for the run at Montlhéry wound up in Vietnam. It was sold to an owner in the United States, who installed it in a Rapide frame. The bike changed hands several times before being bought by Herb Harris and restored to Black Shadow specifications.

A really cool Motorbike that i personally want and as always have a chilled day from the viking.