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Welcome to the website of the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club.
Should you have any questions relating to the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club, or Vincent H.R.D. motorcycles in general, please contact Graham Smith, Hon. Editor and Webmaster by calling 07977 001 025 or please CLICK HERE.
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About:
The Club
In 1948 Alan Jackson founded the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club. At that time Vincent motorcycles were still in production at Stevenage and Philip Vincent gave his full support to Alan’s initiative, even though the Club had no formal connection with the company.
Phil’s enthusiasm for the Club was such that he gladly accepted the invitation to be the Club’s first Honorary President. By 1955, the year when production of Vincents ceased, membership of the Club had reached 1,800. Today the membership stands at roughly 2,500.
The unbroken, high profile reputation of Vincent motorcycles is clearly due to the extraordinary innate qualities of these machines, but also owes much to the dedicated work and commitment of the Club to keep these machines on the road, in regular use and in the public eye.
To continue riding our favourite motorcycle, we must support each other. Membership of the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club is the best way to ensure this and at the same time make true friends who, when needed, offer encouragement and real help. Our shared interest is principally in the ownership and continued pleasure in riding Vincent and Vincent H.R.D machines, but equally welcome in our ranks are those who hope one day to own a Vincent, those who have in the past owned one, or those who have no ambition to own one but are just enthusiastic about being in the Club to support our objectives and enjoy our extensive and varied social life.
The Club has 56 local Sections, 29 in the UK and 27 worldwide, added to which are ten special interest non-territorial Sections. In all, we have Members in 30 different countries. Consult our listing and find out where you nearest Section is and introduce yourself. You will always be made most welcome.
The continued life and vitality of our Club is purely dependent on our Members being actively involved; the more you put in, the more you will benefit. All Members are encouraged to take an active role in the running of the Club.
Riding and Events
Section-run events regularly take place in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, New Zealand, Scandinavia, USA as well as all over the UK. These may be one-day rides, camping weekends, show stands, or social dinners and dances.
Approximately every four years the Club holds an International Rally, with between 150 and 600 participants drawn from around the globe. Past venues have included Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, USA and the United Kingdom. Other official Club events held each year in the UK, include the Bill Hancock Rider’s Rally (a one day event), the Annual Rally (long weekend camping and hotel accommodation), and the Annual Dinner (at a hotel overnight, good food, company and dancing). So there are plenty of opportunities to get many miles on your Vincent visiting new places and making new friends.
MPH
Welding all of our dispersed membership together, we publish a monthly journal, MPH. In its pages you will find a rich mixture: news from local Sections; for sale and wanted advertisements; reports of social events and rallies; Letters to the Editor; a Club Diary of events; technical articles; historic interest articles, and news and updates of Club business and affairs. Keep in tune; make it essential reading
The List
Why not sign up for the The List? This book is worth carrying with you when you are touring. It supplies contact details of members who are willing to accept social calls or, if need be, to offer local help and assistance in times of difficulty
Publications and Regalia
We supply a range of books, including the essentials; Eddie Stevens’ Know Thy Beast, Paul Richardson’s Vincent, and the Vincent Rider’s Handbook, for the owner who wants to know how to do everything from general servicing and maintenance right through to a complete rebuild. For those who enjoy being readily recognised as a VOC Member, we offer Club badged clothing, enamel lapel badges, machine badges and other items of memorabilia. All of these products are sold on our behalf by The VOC Spares Company Limited, of which the Club is the major shareholder
Online
Members can also access information on our website and online forum, which has a whole archive dedicated to every technical article published in MPH since 1949 — of which there are many! There are photo galleries and all the other material you would expect to find, much of it exclusive to Members. The Club Forum is very active with Members engaged in extended discussion about all things Vincent, plus more general topics. Overseas Members who may not get their deliveries of MPH quite as promptly as UK members, can still access the sales advertisements through the Forum at the same time and so not be disadvantaged. Membership renewal can be carried out online as can payment for various events and services.
Club Officials and Organisation
The Club is managed and organised by a group of volunteers, some elected, whilst others are appointed, as determined by the Club’s Rules. The various Club Officials have their individual responsibilities ranging across technical support for Members, Club finances, issues specific to individual membership, social events, communications, publications, general administration, governance etc. Get to know the individual responsibilities of your Officials so that you will know whom to contact when you have questions or problems. All Members and Nominated Members are entitled to vote and you are encouraged to partake or contribute in the discussions and decisions of the General Committee, and to have your voice directly heard at Annual General Meetings. Get to know the democratic structure of our Club so that the life of the VOC truly reflects the wishes of its Members: our Club is after all, a mutual organisation.
Machine Registry
The Club owns the original Works records, which contain manufacturing information of the majority of machines sold by Philip Vincent’s company: Combined with an up-to-date record of the movement, ownership and history of many of the machines still existing, these form an unrivalled archive of Vincent information. Members are able to draw on this archive to learn about their own machines, to confirm authenticity of machines they hope to purchase or to assist in verifying details required for registration or Customs purposes. Members who contribute to keep this archive up-to-date help prevent fraud and assist in the possible recovery of stolen bikes. Have you registered your machine(s) with us?
