Ouch! But it happens, I’ve got a very early diecast K0 engine here that I need to start assembling, I bought the cases from a guy in Canberra who I’d bought a crashed CB750 from, he’d thrown out the K0 frame, and sold the head, cylinder block and carbs to a scrap metal recycler.
My dad’s cousin, who Dad hated, was a “Coffin Cheater” MC member in the 70’s, and between him and his brother owned 3 Vincents, because back then Harleys were kind of scarce here in Oz apart from WLA750’s which weren’t cool.
When I went to boarding school (for my sins) for a year, I used to hitch a ride with a Mister Vincent, who drove 400 miles each day to collect newspapers from Melbourne to deliver them to my home town. He’d been a bike mechanic in the 50’s and 60’s, and one day when he was a new apprentice mechanic several tea chests of Vincent parts arrived at his workbench.
His boss explained that a guy was facing having his Rapide repossessed, so spent his last week with the bike stripping it down to the last nut and bolt, even stripped the wheels down to the spokes and nipples, and neatly packed everything into the tea chests.
Mr Vincent was given a week to put it back together and have it running so it could be re-sold, which he did, and loved it so much did a deal with his boss to buy it on a payment plan, and (in 1975, when he told me the story) still had it, but hadn’t ridden it in years. I love those sorts of stories.
