Vincent motorcycles
Created | Updated Jun 19, 2007
I was surprised to find a dearth of information about the Vincent motorcycles on this site. The Vincent motorcycle has to be the the best thing on two wheels ever produced by England.
I had one myself, long ago, and I am now trying to get another before I am too old to enjoy it.
In a nutshell, the Vincent motorcycles were produced from the early 1940's until around 1955, when the company went bancrupt.
There is an army of admirers who can be found all over the world, who admire, collect, repair, ride, display, discuss and generally enjoy association with these great machines.
I am not going to claim that Vincent motorcycles did not have some drawbacks. The magnetos were not reliable and supposedly the only way you could start a Vincent twin was to kick it over on the rear cylinder. Another big drawback was the clutch, an elaborate and over-engineered device that required more hours of labor in adjusting it than it provided in actual riding time. (I exaggerate, but those who own these machines know where I am coming from.)
These machines draw attention wherever you go. They have unique appearance and even today, thirty years after I gave up my machine, I can still detect their presence by the distinctive sound of the exhaust bark.
I shall add more to this later.
I had one myself, long ago, and I am now trying to get another before I am too old to enjoy it.
In a nutshell, the Vincent motorcycles were produced from the early 1940's until around 1955, when the company went bancrupt.
There is an army of admirers who can be found all over the world, who admire, collect, repair, ride, display, discuss and generally enjoy association with these great machines.
I am not going to claim that Vincent motorcycles did not have some drawbacks. The magnetos were not reliable and supposedly the only way you could start a Vincent twin was to kick it over on the rear cylinder. Another big drawback was the clutch, an elaborate and over-engineered device that required more hours of labor in adjusting it than it provided in actual riding time. (I exaggerate, but those who own these machines know where I am coming from.)
These machines draw attention wherever you go. They have unique appearance and even today, thirty years after I gave up my machine, I can still detect their presence by the distinctive sound of the exhaust bark.
I shall add more to this later.
