Comments on: 1950 Vincent Series C White Shadow

By: Kelvin Macdonnell

Kelvin Macdonnell — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:27:37 +0000

i have an all metal 1/9 scale model of a Black Shadow built by R.A.E. Looking for more of these kits if anyone has any information, they made @ 7 different British bike models. What are the differences between the Black and White Shadow? Since it is all metal i want to polish the metal engine and not paint it a la the Black Shadow. It wouldn’t be proper to do that to a Black Shadow, but i can do it to the White Shadow. Any help would be appreciated

By: aichbe

aichbe — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:47:56 +0000

For what it’s worth, there were a couple of Vincent Black Lightnings here in Texas which were fully road-ready and ridden all over, as well as drag raced. They may have been Shadows, with the lightweight performance parts from Lightning, etc., or original Lightnings which were fitted with lights, either at the factory or after purchase. The photos I saw showed Amal GP’s, not Monoblocs, so…

This was several years back, (60′s or 70′s), and I’m unaware of whatever became of them. Supposedly, they were owned by either a father and son, or two brothers. They’d show up at the drag strip, with one of the bikes tuned for a nitromethane blend, (probably 50% or less), and they started it by putting the two up on the centerstands, back to back, with the rear tires touching, and spin the race bike’s tire with the other bike’s engine, as nitro bikes don’t kick-start very easily, being a known leg-breaker. I heard that these two Vinnies were almost unbeatable by other bikes or cars of the era, especially by anything that was street drivable. I’d sure like to see what one of those new Austrailian 4-valve 1600 cc Irving-Vincents would do on a dragstrip, in a lightweight Kosman-style frame and on a decent load of nitro…

By: bobc

bobc — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:04:01 +0000

Interesting thread! I bought a 1980 XL250S for $200 in perfect condition that had not been riden in years. All it needed was a coat of wax and to be ridden. It fired up with the old gas still in it. My Tote-Gote I got for $65. My ’69 Johnson snowmobile for $25. Do you think 3/4″ of frozen crud in the float bowl is enough? More? Less? Once clean I hit the gas and it went straight into the garage door. Yes, I fixed the damn door! There out there. Just keep looking.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:56:38 +0000

Todd, one reason that there are many vintage BMW’s out there is that the old bikes were durable and designed to be rebuilt as needed. Add to that the buyer tends to be older and not as likely to abuse the bike. But in my estimation the single biggest reason that there are a lot of old BMWs about is the manufacturer continues to support the old bikes through parts availability, either through the regular parts catalog or via a robust vintage program. New-old-stock parts dealers, replica parts manufacturers and talented garage machinists who create custom parts for antiques and you have fertile ground for keeping the bikes running.

As far as other manufacturers, I think Harley provides similar support, but most of the great European marques are either gone or have had such checkered financial histories that a vintage group was a luxury.

For some reason the Japanese manufactures have not made it a point to provide vintage support.

By: Mark X

Mark X — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:54:04 +0000

FACT: It is entirely possible to live very well in America, if you don’t have to have everything brand new. RideSafe, Mark.