Vincents in Colorado August 24-31

Reader Contribution by Richard Backus
Published on August 12, 2008
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The very first Vincent Black Shadow, JRO 102, built in 1948.
(Photo courtesy Phillip Tooth)

The Vincent Owners Club is all set for its 2008 North American Vincent Rally August 24-29 in Idaho Springs, Colo. 2008 holds special significance for the marque as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vincent founder Philip Conrad Vincent and the 60th anniversary of the Vincent Black Shadow and Vincent Black Lightning. Based on the standard 45hp, 998cc V-twin Rapide, the 55hp Black Shadow and its even more powerful sibling, the 70hp-plus Vincent Black Lightning, were the undisputed kings of their day.

Considered by many as the world’s first Superbike, Vincent motorcycles were produced at Vincent’s Stevenage factory from 1928 until 1955, when the innovative English manufacturer (Vincent made the world’s first production mono-shock rear suspension) turned out its last motorcycles. But that hasn’t stopped interest in the brand, with Vincents more popular today than they ever were in their heyday of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Colorado Vincent fans and Vincent Owners Club members Peter and Mickey Allen are the moving force behind the Colorado rally, and they’ve put together an ambitious and active schedule of events for fans of the Stevenage marque. Headquarters for the week will be Idaho Springs, a historic mining town in the Rocky Mountains less than an hour west of Denver, but the real action will be in nearby Central City on August 25, where the rally will hold a Vincent Bike Show on Central City’s Main Street, giving visitors to the Colorado gambling town an interesting sight as they roll out of the gambling halls lining Central City.

The rally also includes numerous rides, including a trip the next day, August 26, to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park via the Peak-to-Peak Highway. This is one glorious piece of blacktop on any motorcycle, let alone a Vincent, with spectacular views of the Continental Divide and surrounding territory.

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