SoCal VOC

BikeMike misses you already Steve and he asked me to upload a photo from our ride up the Ortega Highway last Summer. I say ride up because the photo illustrates the descent in the trailer. Fun regardless. BikeMike’s Rapide on the left, your Comet (Steve) in the center and my Rapide on the right. An envious load. Send us some pictures from your forays round your new home. Once the spring arrives of course.

Cheers 

Many years ago, Tom Andrus purchased a Black Shadow basket case, and also a sidecar basket case.  Take a look at these before and after pictures.  Like the guy on the tv show American Restorations, Tom can restore just about anything.  He has worked on Ferraris, Maseratis, Model Ts, Packards, Rudges, Scotts, and of course Vincents, including a really nice Firefly, which Tom owned for about 30 years or so.  Oddly enough, the current owner of the Firefly can be seen taking a photo of Tom on the Firefly at the 1980 Bass Lake rally, the fellow in the black t-shirt, Glenn Shriver.

Here are a couple of pictures of David and his Flash taken by Carleton Palmer II at the last Maxton land speed event.  Note the front brakes.  I asked David about them and here is what he says:

“The brakes are the 8″ brakes made by Hugh McAlister and sold by the Club. AHRMA allows me to use OEM style brakes up to 8.5″, so I decided to try them. They are pretty good for racing, although I suspect the 4 leading shoe conversion might be better. AHRMA does not allow 4 leading shoe brakes in Class C. The 8″ are more expensive than the 4 leading shoe, but for racing I feel you need to use new drums, so, in effect, the price is comparable. I had a rear brake drum shatter at Deland and although I have not had a hub shatter, others have, so I think it is good insurance to use a new one. A final advantage is that the geometry of the shoes appears to be correct. As has been discussed on the Forum, the Factory made a mistake when designing the original brake plates that makes the braking spongy.”

Click the thumbnails to view larger images

Congratulations to Steve Batesole and his 1953 mostly unrestored Black Shadow.  At our section picnic, the participants voted their answer to the question “Which Vincent would you most like to take home?”, and Steve’s Shadow received the most votes.  It is a very nice survivor bike, with a few period accessories like the locking twist grip, the headlight dimmer grip switch, and the crash bars.  The petrol tank has the original paint, although new decals and a coat of clear was applied, and both rims are replacements for the alloy rims that were on the bike when Steve obtained it, that is about the only cosmetic restoration work done.

Click thumbnail to view a larger version.  Photo courtesy Doris Endo.

Rollie and Margaret Free attended the 1980 Bass Lake rally, and at that time, Nick Pierce owned Rollie’s Black Lightning.  Nick drove out to California from New England with the bike, and Tom Andrus took some photos of Rollie reunited with his record setting machine.