MT.net Motorcycle Thread
10-11-2011, 12:35 PM
#342
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Yeah!!! Dope. I see you got the race exhaust, you flash the race map on it yet? Intake? What other mods? Its really easy to use, ive got the .msq/eeprom files for the race map here as well, all you need is a spy cable. Let me know if you need these maps.
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10-24-2011, 11:51 AM
#343
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1948-52 Vincent Black Lightning
An article:
"This 1000cc V-twin was THE super bike then. It was the ultimate ride. Its chassis was unlike anything ever produced then and till now the frame is still considered unique. The Vincent Black Lightning was built between 1948 and 1952 when the last model rolled out of the Vincent factory in Stevenage, England. It was at that time the fastest production motorcycle in the world. Even a song about this bike was recorded by Richard Thompson. The song ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning’ was later re-recorded by several others. Racing trims were supplied with magnesium alloy parts, special racing rims and tyres and others which made the Lightning lost weight to a mere 380 lbs.(170kg.) The 1000cc V-twin, OHV, air cooled, pushrod engine was capable of 150 mph (240km/h) with only 70 bhp. A supercharged unit was specially built for a record attempt but never made it. That bike was subsequently sold for £221,500 (RM 1,121,750.00) in 2008. This set a record as the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at an auction in UK.
Supercharged Black Lightning in race trim:
This is one of only 30 Black Lightnings ever made and was the first one in the USA. This bike when owned by Joe Simpson, held the American motorcycle speed record three times. The first being unsupercharged and the following two being supercharged. The bike was ridden by both Joe Simpson and Marty Dickerson.
The famous picture of a man stretched out in only a bathing suit on a Vincent is not in fact a Black Shadow but a Black Lightning.
The Black Lightning was a custom order from the factory and was some 100 pounds lighter and 25 hp more powerful than the stock Black Shadow. In one of his books, Phil Irving (one of the designers) said that there were only about 16 of the model produced. The Black Lightning is the fastest Vincent ever produced.
As for the famous "bathing suit bike" picture, it is of Rollie Free, an American, riding on the Bonneville Salt Flats on 13 September 1948. Free was determined to break the land speed record in the "Flying Mile." His first pass hit 148 mph (238 km/h), which broke the record, but Free was determined to break 150. Noticing that his riding leathers had started to come apart at the seams from the force of the wind, Free borrowed a bathing suit, cap, and a pair of tennis shoes and laid down on the bike. With the decreased drag, Free broke 150 mph, topping out at 150.313 mph (241.905 km/h), shattering his record of only a few moments before. That bike, also known as the "John Edgar Lightning" after its sponsor, is currently in the private collection of Herb Harris of Austin, Texas."
This is an actual photograph of Bluey Henderson at the time of the Lightning F10AB/1C/4439 purchase in 1951. The photo is taken just outside the front door to Sven Kallin's dealership and on the door is a Christmas greeting which is unreadable in this format , but says "We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and properous new year". The photo shows the Vincent Black Lightning with the expected details of no battery, no lights, rear sets, straight thru pipes ( and these are parallel to the ground, exiting at the bottom of the rear sprocket), alloy rims, trimmed front fender, the usual placement of the tachometer for a Lightning, trimmed chain guard, and nice period clothes on Bluey. Note the unsual routing of the rear plug wire and the fact that it is most likely a light colored, fabric covered spark plug wiring of the period. The look of the seat confirms the use of the Faridax model seat as opposed to the more flat model seats seen on more recent restorations. The shift lever is a simple reversal rather than a more complex rearset linkage and there are both sets of fender braces used at the rear with the fender length easily noted. The asymmetrical mounting of the speedometer on a Rapide bracket is a nice exclusive touch for this particular machine!
1952 Vincent Black Lightning:
All of this came up because I know a Swiss fellow who is a machinist at a heavy machinery manufacturing company in Liechtenstein who races his Vincent Black Shadow at the Isle of Man. That, and I happened across the song mentioned above.
1951 Vincent Black Shadow:
An article:
"This 1000cc V-twin was THE super bike then. It was the ultimate ride. Its chassis was unlike anything ever produced then and till now the frame is still considered unique. The Vincent Black Lightning was built between 1948 and 1952 when the last model rolled out of the Vincent factory in Stevenage, England. It was at that time the fastest production motorcycle in the world. Even a song about this bike was recorded by Richard Thompson. The song ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning’ was later re-recorded by several others. Racing trims were supplied with magnesium alloy parts, special racing rims and tyres and others which made the Lightning lost weight to a mere 380 lbs.(170kg.) The 1000cc V-twin, OHV, air cooled, pushrod engine was capable of 150 mph (240km/h) with only 70 bhp. A supercharged unit was specially built for a record attempt but never made it. That bike was subsequently sold for £221,500 (RM 1,121,750.00) in 2008. This set a record as the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at an auction in UK.
Supercharged Black Lightning in race trim:
This is one of only 30 Black Lightnings ever made and was the first one in the USA. This bike when owned by Joe Simpson, held the American motorcycle speed record three times. The first being unsupercharged and the following two being supercharged. The bike was ridden by both Joe Simpson and Marty Dickerson.
The famous picture of a man stretched out in only a bathing suit on a Vincent is not in fact a Black Shadow but a Black Lightning.
The Black Lightning was a custom order from the factory and was some 100 pounds lighter and 25 hp more powerful than the stock Black Shadow. In one of his books, Phil Irving (one of the designers) said that there were only about 16 of the model produced. The Black Lightning is the fastest Vincent ever produced.
As for the famous "bathing suit bike" picture, it is of Rollie Free, an American, riding on the Bonneville Salt Flats on 13 September 1948. Free was determined to break the land speed record in the "Flying Mile." His first pass hit 148 mph (238 km/h), which broke the record, but Free was determined to break 150. Noticing that his riding leathers had started to come apart at the seams from the force of the wind, Free borrowed a bathing suit, cap, and a pair of tennis shoes and laid down on the bike. With the decreased drag, Free broke 150 mph, topping out at 150.313 mph (241.905 km/h), shattering his record of only a few moments before. That bike, also known as the "John Edgar Lightning" after its sponsor, is currently in the private collection of Herb Harris of Austin, Texas."
This is an actual photograph of Bluey Henderson at the time of the Lightning F10AB/1C/4439 purchase in 1951. The photo is taken just outside the front door to Sven Kallin's dealership and on the door is a Christmas greeting which is unreadable in this format , but says "We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and properous new year". The photo shows the Vincent Black Lightning with the expected details of no battery, no lights, rear sets, straight thru pipes ( and these are parallel to the ground, exiting at the bottom of the rear sprocket), alloy rims, trimmed front fender, the usual placement of the tachometer for a Lightning, trimmed chain guard, and nice period clothes on Bluey. Note the unsual routing of the rear plug wire and the fact that it is most likely a light colored, fabric covered spark plug wiring of the period. The look of the seat confirms the use of the Faridax model seat as opposed to the more flat model seats seen on more recent restorations. The shift lever is a simple reversal rather than a more complex rearset linkage and there are both sets of fender braces used at the rear with the fender length easily noted. The asymmetrical mounting of the speedometer on a Rapide bracket is a nice exclusive touch for this particular machine!
1952 Vincent Black Lightning:
All of this came up because I know a Swiss fellow who is a machinist at a heavy machinery manufacturing company in Liechtenstein who races his Vincent Black Shadow at the Isle of Man. That, and I happened across the song mentioned above.
1951 Vincent Black Shadow:
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10-25-2011, 10:51 AM
#347
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Thanks Vlad! Better get one while you can. The prices are shooting up, they were at an all time low about a year ago this time, they have already gone up several grand since then. The good thing about them is with the motor they have, you can always get parts. Harley parts are cheap and plentiful, at least for the internals of the motor. A rebuild can be done by any harley shop that builds race motors. One day mine will either be a 1500cc stroker or have a turbo kit, I'm not sure yet.
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10-25-2011, 07:44 PM
#348
The earlier bike was a **** pile. The early motor mounts would shake your teeth out, especially at two major vibration points in the rev range, where if felt like it was going to actually vibrate your eyeballs out of your head. If you left it idling on flat ground long enough, it would actually turn itself completely around as the vibrations caused it to orbit the kick stand. It would sit there and shake the rubber mounted turn signals in circles, too. Plus the fueling was chunky, and it really didn't handle that well. It was so unpleasant to ride that he only put ~1000 miles on it, and sold it for a loss.
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10-25-2011, 09:48 PM
#349
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Ride one before you get all fired up. Two of my buddies had XB12SSs, one an 05, and one an ~08. The later bike was a gem. Excellent fueling, comfortable, fast enough to be fun, but not so fast that you have to stay on top of it to keep your license.
The earlier bike was a **** pile. The early motor mounts would shake your teeth out, especially at two major vibration points in the rev range, where if felt like it was going to actually vibrate your eyeballs out of your head. If you left it idling on flat ground long enough, it would actually turn itself completely around as the vibrations caused it to orbit the kick stand. It would sit there and shake the rubber mounted turn signals in circles, too. Plus the fueling was chunky, and it really didn't handle that well. It was so unpleasant to ride that he only put ~1000 miles on it, and sold it for a loss.
The earlier bike was a **** pile. The early motor mounts would shake your teeth out, especially at two major vibration points in the rev range, where if felt like it was going to actually vibrate your eyeballs out of your head. If you left it idling on flat ground long enough, it would actually turn itself completely around as the vibrations caused it to orbit the kick stand. It would sit there and shake the rubber mounted turn signals in circles, too. Plus the fueling was chunky, and it really didn't handle that well. It was so unpleasant to ride that he only put ~1000 miles on it, and sold it for a loss.
I do know since 03 when the first XB's came out they have fully programmable ECU including fuel and timing maps, all you need is a spy cable and some free software and you can fix any fueling issues.
The kickstand issue you speak of was a recall, so I'm guessing that one was never taken in. Again mines got an 07 drivetrain and ive been using the kickstand that came with that setup with no issues whatsoever.
It does vibrate like a beast at idle. It is a 45 deg vtwin so no avoiding that, don't get me wrong these bikes are quite quirky and NOT for everyone. Mine constantly takes out turn signal bulbs due to vibrations, and you need to loctite everything together if you ever take it a part. The vibrations clear up completely once above 2k rpms and you can actually use the mirrors to see at that point.
The chassis on the other hand is amazing, its so flickable with a low center of gravity. Its short wheelbase makes it handle way different from a standard supersport 600 bike, and people used to those bikes are scared away at first. You have to get used to it before you can really enjoy it. Because of the short wheelbase you have to countersteer hard into turns, but once its leaned over and locked into a line its very confidence inspiring. It will also flick from one side to the other in the quick twisties in a snap. If there is one thing i could not praise more about this bike it would be the handling. The xb series have been voted as one of the best handling bikes of all time over and over again. The suspension is fully adjustable front and back, perhaps your friend never properly set up the bike for his weight and riding style? I've never heard of a complaint about the chassis, that is new to me. Most people say an amazing chassis with an old motor holding it back(which is kind of true), but i love that old vibrating huge displacement air cooled lump and the sound it makes.
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne...ording-to-you/
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10-25-2011, 10:09 PM
#350
Cpt. Slow
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Never understood those quirky automobiles/bikes. I'll leave the quirky experience to some other person who enjoys it, I'd rather have a bike that's been designed well.
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11-01-2011, 05:13 PM
#352
tt?
OK, so I haven't looked at this thread in a while. Went back and read more...this is basically the bike that started it.
You should check out a Sprint before you go SV650. The SV is an awesome bike but kind of pedestrian / "everyone has one". I'd never ridden a triple before my friend brought this over and proposed a trade. He wanted a Duc real bad. This bike is powerful down low, fast, way more power overall than the 750 Ducati; but somehow feels docile at the same time. Handles great and the power comes on strong and smooth. I'd like to see the torque curve, I'll bet it's real flat; sure feels like it. Also it sounds amazing.
OK, so I haven't looked at this thread in a while. Went back and read more...this is basically the bike that started it.
You should check out a Sprint before you go SV650. The SV is an awesome bike but kind of pedestrian / "everyone has one". I'd never ridden a triple before my friend brought this over and proposed a trade. He wanted a Duc real bad. This bike is powerful down low, fast, way more power overall than the 750 Ducati; but somehow feels docile at the same time. Handles great and the power comes on strong and smooth. I'd like to see the torque curve, I'll bet it's real flat; sure feels like it. Also it sounds amazing.
Last edited by soloracer; 11-01-2011 at 05:41 PM. Reason: stupidity
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