My first (brief) ride on a Vincent

DBT

Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
40
Country flag
I was recently lucky enough to take an Egli Vincent for a spin around suburban Perth in Western Australia. It was my first ride on a Vincent and it was very satisfying to experience the magic of the big v-twin, a machine I've longed for most of my life. Having said that, I've finally taken the plunge and put a deposit down on a very nice Rapide built by Terry Prince. The bike is about to be returned to Australia from the US. In the meantime, I've indulged another passion on mine which is writing. I hope you enjoy this short piece.

https://motorshedcafe.com.au/egli-project-part-ii/
 
Congrats on the first ride and the Rapide in transit! :)

~998cc
'53 Shadow
 
  • Like
Reactions: DBT
Great write up and a great bike too!

I just hope the Egli hasn’t raised the bar too high for your Rapide to meet?
 
Many years ago, a friend of mine bought a lovely original Rapide which he proceeded to stuff. He raised the comp. to 13 to 1 and put it on methanol. He also grafted a Velocette rear end onto it. I managed to start it and had a ride on it. It was much higher geared than a normal road bike, but it had me wondering where all that bloody urge was coming from. There was no fuss about it, it simply leaped forward in one big thrust.
 
My brother and his friends have about 5 Vincent Speedway sidecars between them - enough to make a race, They are horrors to work on - every bolt is a special. But their 880 JAP sidecar is even worse - but faster.
 
The Prestwich is faster-----than a Vincent? Envisioning the late Phil Irving scratching his head over that one.
Ironically, if it were not for faulty JAP engines in the IOM TT, the Vincent engine as we know it may have never been designed.

~998cc
 
Many years ago, a friend of mine bought a lovely original Rapide which he proceeded to stuff. He raised the comp. to 13 to 1 and put it on methanol. He also grafted a Velocette rear end onto it. I managed to start it and had a ride on it. It was much higher geared than a normal road bike, but it had me wondering where all that bloody urge was coming from. There was no fuss about it, it simply leaped forward in one big thrust.

Honestly this sounds like something you would do. :rolleyes: ;)
 
One thing I really hate about historic racing is the number of good bikes which get destroyed, for something which is not really racing. My own bike was built from bits. That fella had bought the Rapide for $500 in the 1960s when it was complete and original, then proceeded to absolutely stuff it. In those days we were buying Thunderbirds for $50. He worked for his father and spent most of his working life patting his dog, while other employees built roads.
An original Vincent was always something special. I don't even like Norvins or Egli Vincents. The ones on the speedway are a cult thing, so there might be a bit of an excuse.
 
Back
Top