A long but amazingly enjoyable day that started bright and early with a 8:45 AM arrival at Tom and Debbie’s place. Tom rode his Velocette as his Vincent stable is currently under construction.
I will leave the specifics for newsletter, but here is a shot of the group gathering. Bill Easter’s Shadow is on the right and Greg McBride’s Series B Shadow is next going left. There are a few Velos and a few more Vincents farther to the left.
That’s me in the middle with my overalls in flux.
Not lot after we departed Derry had a gremlin pop up in the engine and although the bike would run, the sound it made was not desirable. Derry trucked his bike back to Tom and Debbie’s place to wait while we did a run to Idyllwild.
The ride was amazing. We were now separated from the bunch and it was just four in our group now. What a beautiful ride. The valley as we rose up. Then over the ride and into another valley. Then seemingly out of no where a small town. It looked like it was a town that had been frozen in time. Motorcycles everywhere. We relaxed a short while and then blew back down to the superslab and a great meal and meeting at the Gross’.
When we returned there we found that Bill and Derry had nearly field stripped Derry’s Shadow in a search for the elusive gremlin. Bill had returned earlier with some clutch slipping issues not much farther into the ride then when Derry had turned back.
They had the Primary case off, the clutch disassembled and the generator disconnected.
They also had the Timing case open and the current theory is that the issue may be related to the distributor.
Here’s and after shot of the bunch.
Two Rapides, two Shadows, a Velocette Venom, Shadow in the pickup bed, Bill’s Shadow lurking in the back of the drive.
Speaking for myself, it was a great day. I have been riding many years. Never have I seen the comraderie and friendship that the So Cal VOC show to each other. A bike breaks down and within two hours a group of club members already have the motor apart and are well on the way to finding the gremlin.
A truly special experience this Vincent one is.