The Kneeslider

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Big Sid’s Vincati – Review

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Big Sid's VincatiBig Sid’s Vincati, as you might guess, is the marriage of a Ducati 750 GT frame with a Vincent V-Twin. We mentioned it on The Kneeslider a while back after it appeared in a couple of magazine articles. Not very many have ever been built and all but this one, were assembled in Australia. They have the reputation of being a very nice bike, better handling than the original Vincents with more power than the original Ducatis. Of course, Vincent engines just look so good, it’s reason enough to find another nice place to put one.

Big Sid Biberman has been known over the years as one of the premier Vincent tuners in this country. When he had a heart attack and lost the will to live, his son, Matthew, needed something to rekindle the spark. While in the hospital, Matthew promised his Dad they would, together, build a Vincati. This book is the story of their multi year quest to build the bike and rebuild their difficult relationship. There’s also an interesting back story throughout the book that highlights how small and close knit the Vincent community really is.

The book, just recently published, is an easy read, not technical at all and a reminder that life’s challenges can lead to impressive results when faced head on.

UPDATE: The Vincati will be at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days this year. So if you want to see it up close, it’s one more reason to be there.

Link: Big Sid’s Vincati

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Books, Vintage Motorcycles

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Comments

  3. You mentioned the “small and close knit Vincent community.”

    Some 5 years ago, the Vincent Owners Club had a gathering in Harrison Hot Springs, BC (Canada). There were well over 100 bikes … everything from the daily commuters to beautiful museum pieces that would fetch a million plus. They were all started and ran.

    Ok, you say. But realise that this group is based in England. Every 4 years they go somewhere in the world for their rally, Miami, Cape Town, Darwin …. you name it. They load the bikes into multi-deck shipping containers and fly over to pick them up for the rally. In this case, several of them were shipped to Vancouver through the Panama but quite a few were picked up on the East coast and ridden across.

    Of course, they were joined by the several Vincent Owners Groups in both Canada and the US. Yes, it was an incredible sight ….

  6. In a discussion about Vincents with another grey beard motorcycle enthusiast … he described the Black Shadow as being the Ducati of the mid 20th century. Meaning that it was the cutting edge of performance technology and happened to be powered by a sophisticated V twin engine.

    I agree. I was also startled to see the bike in that picture … I bought a 1970 GT from a dealer in 1972 … it was one of the first imports to North America of the twin cylinder bikes.

    It was the same blue metallic color … seeing the bike in the picture I thought “Gee my old duc” .. but what’s different … then I figured it out … har!

    Now that put a smile on my face.

  7. Just saw this bike in person yesterday at Mods vs Rockers in Chicago. Met Big Sid and Matthew at Restoration Werks afterward, and got to see and hear it up close and personal. Big Sid lights up when he talks about this machine, and his son. Stephen Pate, owner at Restoration Werks (www.restorationwerks.com) was given an opportunity to ride it (only the 6th person), and came back amazed. Sid really tuned the heck out of this machine. Great book and a nice story – even better when you’ve met the men.