Topic: Scrumptious looking Black Shadow

[Hope]

Honda is really missing the boat by not going retro....

















http://www.vincentmotors.com/BIK/

Q.     What will the price point be?
A.    Vincent Motors will to begin production of the motorcycles in late 2004 and expects the selling price will begin at $20,000.

[Hope]

[DammitDan]

Ahh, if only I could afford one... 

[bill440cars]

        Oh Yeah! Totally Awesome bikes, those Vincents and the Honda powered one really gets your motor running!!!!! I'd seen them, but not so many shots. Thanks for posting!


                                   Later on, Bill

[cb350twin]

what do they start at?

[DarkRider]

which one is the Honda powered one bill?? At least both versions of the bike look somewhat close in appearance to eachother however after looking at that configurator on the site i must say the version that hope posted looks a lot better with the full touring fairing..mostly because it completes the bikes lines instead of leaving the radiator on the liquid cooled bike open like that..wait a sec..is that a VTR engine in that one with the rad?? Also..the headlight on the first bike...ugh..give me a simple round headlight anyday..

[dusterdude]

mmmmm,sweeeet

[Hope]

Q.     Why the Honda RC51 engine?
A.    

At Vincent Motors we're committed to building a motorcycle with the classic styling, state-of-the-art technology and performance true to its heritage.

The core of the Vincent project has been the search for a suitable engine design and manufacturing source. Given the extraordinary difficulty of designing and building a modern motorcycle engine capable of superbike performance, reliability and the certifiability issues, the search focused on engines already available or sourced from an established original equipment manufacturer.

Based upon its own designs, Vincent Motors USA completed a Phase I Prototype with an RTV engine and chassis in February 2002. While the RTV engine is no longer being considered as the basis for the proposed new Vincent, it is a valuable tool in assessing market reaction to its nostalgic styling theme and modern chassis design.

Vincent Motors' pursuit of a viable engine led to conversations with many O.E. manufacturers. This resulted in a letter of intent for American Honda to supply Vincent Motors with drivetrains based on Honda's RC51 platform. In a perfect world, this 1000cc, V-twin, water cooled, dual cam, four valve, fuel injected 130 hp marvel of Honda technology would be the ideal choice and we believe the right fit to power the new Vincent line.

http://www.vincentmotors.com/NEW/faqs.php#1

[ekim98]

Get rid of the ugly radiator, go with the Black Eagle seat and fairing and go with a 2 into 2 exhaust and I'm sold. Well not for $20,000, but at least I would like it much better. It is a good looking bike tho.

[nickjtc]

Get rid of the ugly radiator, go with the Black Eagle seat and fairing and go with a 2 into 2 exhaust and I'm sold. Well not for $20,000, but at least I would like it much better. It is a good looking bike tho.

Or better still get something that is closer to the original.....

http://www.johnmosseyrestorations.com/JMR_eglivincent.htm

[eldar]

I just wish the euro and asian hondas were available here.

[Uncle Ernie]

That head light- I shouldn't say it in mixed company, but it would never get past the door of my garage. 
There seem to be 2 different bike- one liquid cooled and one not.  I like the loks of the air-cooled model more.

I wish we could get a Kawasaki Estrella with a 600 single, sort of Nortonesque, if I may.  I don't seem to be a big cc kind of guy.

[bill440cars]

which one is the Honda powered one bill?? At least both versions of the bike look somewhat close in appearance to eachother however after looking at that configurator on the site i must say the version that hope posted looks a lot better with the full touring fairing..mostly because it completes the bikes lines instead of leaving the radiator on the liquid cooled bike open like that..wait a sec..is that a VTR engine in that one with the rad?? Also..the headlight on the first bike...ugh..give me a simple round headlight anyday..

          Chris,  The first one has the Honda motor. RC51, according to what Hope posted, I couldn't remember for sure. I could do without the fancy lights myself. I just think that the Vincents just say "SPEED" with their look!

           


                                    Later on, Bill

[fuzzybutt]

DROOOOOOOOOOOL! the one with vincent power is about the most beautiful thing on 2 wheels.

[bill440cars]

        My Dad got to ride a Black Shadow back in the 50's that looked something like this 52' (don't remember what year he said it was though). He said he wondered why the speedometer why the speedometer was so big and turned upward like it was. He found out, when he was up to 100mph in about 2 blocks and realized why the speedometer was done like that! The rear wheel had sprockets on both sides of the rear wheel (1 was larger than the other and you just positioned the wheel for whatever ratio you wanted. There was also a short piece of chain with an extra master link, for the changeover). My Dad said it was the fastest, best designed and best handling motorcycle he has ever ridden.  Here's the picture of the 52' model.

             



                               Later on, Bill

[ekim98]

Or better still get something that is closer to the original.....

http://www.johnmosseyrestorations.com/JMR_eglivincent.htm

I wouldn't spend $20,000 for the first ones listed much less what those Mossey restorations might cost. But they are beautiful. 

[azuredesign]

I played a bit of music, and bought my first tenor sax off of a fellow in D.C. named Truck Baldwin, who owned 3 Black Shadows back in the 70's. I hope he's still around and playing. Anyway, he told me that the achilles heel of these bikes was the paucity of brakes once you got 'em marching. Apparently there was a big discrepancy between getting going and stopping. They are one of my all time favorite looking bikes, and if I recall, I had a poster of one along with a Velocette Thruxton in my bedroom as a pre-riding teen. I think the new bikes look great too. Kind of like the Ducati I alway wanted. Makes me want to go find a salvaged rc51 motor and start messing around...