The Irving Vincent 1300
(Page 5 of 5)
March/April 2008
By Alan Cathcart
The born-again Aussie Vincent feels relatively tall when you first straddle it, and there’s a good stretch across the 5.8 gallon fiberglass fuel tank to the high-set but wide-spread clipons bolted to the top of the Ceriani forks. The forks have been pushed up through the upper triple-clamp around 60mm, bringing the front of the bike down to sharpen the steering and improve front end weight bias for extra grip in the turns. It works, as the Vincent isn’t light steering, but is not as slow as I was expecting, either. The wide bars deliver good leverage for hustling the bike through Broadford’s tight bends, and while the spring on the rear Ohlins shock is pretty stiff to cope with all that torque under acceleration, it still felt reasonably compliant over Broadford’s bumps.
RELATED CONTENT
Motorcycle Hall of Famer Marty Dickerson was back at Bonneville in 2007, and at 81 years old, he’s ...
Not surprisingly, Bonhams’ record-breaking price for the Verrall Vincent is sparking more interest...
New Hampshire Vincent enthusiast David Dunfey says he’s unearthed the last Vincent Black Lightning ...
Paul Zell likes old British motorcycles. And like many aficionados of old British bikes, he believe...
The cocktail of ingredients in the 38mm forks worked very well, with what was probably the best feedback from the front tire through a set of Cerianis that I’ve ever experienced. I spent the best part of a decade racing with the Italian suspension, so compliments to Ken and Barry for getting it right straight out of the box.
And well done, too, for reviving the Vincent name in a way that Phil Irving himself would have approved of. The Horner brothers have followed in Phil’s footsteps by producing a modern re-creation of his most iconic engine, which I’m perfectly certain he would have applauded for the excellence of its execution, as much for the logical development path for his period design which it surely represents.
This is a glance in the rearview mirror of history that was worth taking — but we now look forward to the Ohlins-equipped, disc-braked Irving Vincent 1300 street bike that’s coming up next, which will bring the Horner brothers’ homage to a giant of motorcycle engineering to a wider public.
I can’t wait, but in the meantime, I reckon the Honda fours that currently dominate Aussie Post-Classic racing better get ready for some serious competition, because in the right hands, the Irving Vincent 1300 just might be a potent threat to that Oriental supremacy. Just as Phil would have liked it to be. MC
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | 5 |