Simon is the machine registrar for the VOC and has records of most of the bikes which Vincent produced as to engine no, frame no etc. His name on here is vin998 and you can contact him personally by going to the top right of the page, finding 'inbox' and then sending a message to 'vin998'. Due to the history of the bike I doubt that there is much to worry about regarding its provenance but comments about possible hidden faults are all relevant.
BUYING ADVICE Vincent Black Shadow
- Thread starter Tomas
- Start date
Tomas, to give you a guide. I bought a low milage, two owner Shadow with all matching numbers in March of this year. It has a 12V system with electric start, Alton alternator and centre stand. It has been ridden, tested and MOT'd. I paid in the lower range of what Bonhams want BUT I may have to spend some to take it riding. A VOC member here in Australia paid £60+ for a beautiful Shadow and has already spent £4 K to get it running properly. Do away with rose tinted glasses and be very objective. Shadows may or may not be at the top of their cycle; E Types are now selling at massive money and they have always been a comparator to Shadows.
In the early 1990's E types took a big drop. Some lost 50%. I'm not saying it will ever happen again, but you never know........
Did they all lose that sort of value? there are many different models, I doubt that the original 3.8 lost that much.
Hello Tomas, Why pay all that money, You would be better off getting a bike that is running and you can see it go up the road.
Unless you just want to own it rather than ride it.
If you can't do the work yourself, I don't think you would get to ride it for many years.
The Rapides are cheaper and most of them have been rebuilt to Shadow spec' , You could always paint the Engine Black, If that is what you want.
I have had my Vin's for 50 years, I love them, But they need a lot of looking after.
If you pay this type of money then spend a lot getting it right, I don't think it will be worth it.
Good Luck, Bill.
Unless you just want to own it rather than ride it.
If you can't do the work yourself, I don't think you would get to ride it for many years.
The Rapides are cheaper and most of them have been rebuilt to Shadow spec' , You could always paint the Engine Black, If that is what you want.
I have had my Vin's for 50 years, I love them, But they need a lot of looking after.
If you pay this type of money then spend a lot getting it right, I don't think it will be worth it.
Good Luck, Bill.
I really dont know. I bought my Vincent in 1992 when the market has slumped a bit and having a passing interest in all things classic noticed that quite a few classic cars had dropped around then with the E types appearing to be the worst hit.
Bill,
I agree with you what it is a better idea to buy a running bike,I had several options in the past but most of the bikes came from the basket cases of all different parts or were too modernised,I am not saying what it is something wrong with the basket case bike but it is much more convincing when you see a motorcycle which seems to be still in one piece.
I can do some work myself but it is all to certain point...
I do not want just to own it, I want to get my hands dirty and used it as much as possible,painting Rapides engine black isn't my case...Rapide is beautiful the way it is!
I wasn't planing to pay silly money for it,there were several motorcycles which sold for much less then a recent market prices so though will try my luck
RAPIDE'S are better, I've told this story before, but not a clue how to find it or make a link. I visited PCV on numerous occasions, every time I left the passenger / banana boats (SS Golfito or SS Camito) at Southampton, hired a car detoured via Mr Vincent's with the usual offerings of a 40 oz bottle whisky and a stem of bananas. He always took the full bot whisky but only cut off a few hands of bananas! Many discussions, mostly about his new engine, but adaptations for marine concepts (he had a wonderful way of selling you his product to match your requirements), occasionally reminiscing about the works, he said he wouldn't have survived it it hadn't been for the Black Shadow, Why ? they had such a stock pile of crankcases that had all been machined ready to build, but testing them with blanks fitted to all apertures and air pressure applied whilst submerged in water revealed porous cases. The blanking idea only came about when they weighed up the wasted man hours building a complete bike only to find they oozed oil through the castings after road testing. So, typical manufacturer with a poor product, devised a method to seal the cases by submerging them into a vat of shellac, pulling a vacuum, so extracting the air, then releasing the vacuum and the shellac is sucked into the cases, cleaned off and coated with yellow chromate and stove enamelled them black (nice shiny overcoat & piss poor for dispersing heat).
Then make them more attractive, how ?! Speed, revamp it with bigger carbs, ribbed drums, and a five inch windscreen speed-clock.
I've a feeling that the majority of "high" speed machines have been Rapide's, some one most know differently! Occasionally when the demand for B.S. bikes was higher than painted cases they called them White Shadows using Rapide cases. PCV didn't make as much money on a BS because of the work involved. this is backed up with the introduction of the series "D's" with dye cast cases. They were not painted black because the was no necessity to do it, the covers were done just to keep up the theme and save owners the necessity for polishing, but it has to be very good to look good, some tail end "C's" with dye cast were still painted all black. The difference in price is "silly high" get a Rap and spend the difference on it to what "you" want as there are so many standard Vincent's about it's bloody boring,, generally only show pieces for adornment, I do appreciate that they have not been superseded by any other two wheeled machine with such aesthetic beauty only with the "A" Rap is an UGLY ABORTION to what came later, fascination, it's kept me entranced for years. God bless Mr P. Vincent, I wish he had benefited from his achievements along with Mr P. Irving.
Then make them more attractive, how ?! Speed, revamp it with bigger carbs, ribbed drums, and a five inch windscreen speed-clock.
I've a feeling that the majority of "high" speed machines have been Rapide's, some one most know differently! Occasionally when the demand for B.S. bikes was higher than painted cases they called them White Shadows using Rapide cases. PCV didn't make as much money on a BS because of the work involved. this is backed up with the introduction of the series "D's" with dye cast cases. They were not painted black because the was no necessity to do it, the covers were done just to keep up the theme and save owners the necessity for polishing, but it has to be very good to look good, some tail end "C's" with dye cast were still painted all black. The difference in price is "silly high" get a Rap and spend the difference on it to what "you" want as there are so many standard Vincent's about it's bloody boring,, generally only show pieces for adornment, I do appreciate that they have not been superseded by any other two wheeled machine with such aesthetic beauty only with the "A" Rap is an UGLY ABORTION to what came later, fascination, it's kept me entranced for years. God bless Mr P. Vincent, I wish he had benefited from his achievements along with Mr P. Irving.
Sorry Tomas, I was not trying to put you off.
I built my L/ning rep' out of a load of broken bits from Africa, Many years ago, But then they were very cheap !.
Trust me, Just because a bike is made of odd bits they can still go well.
Just that I know how the money side of it can go very high.
And the time at the repairers can be long.
All The Best, Bill.
I built my L/ning rep' out of a load of broken bits from Africa, Many years ago, But then they were very cheap !.
Trust me, Just because a bike is made of odd bits they can still go well.
Just that I know how the money side of it can go very high.
And the time at the repairers can be long.
All The Best, Bill.
Marcuus,
Thank you for informative and detailed advice,sensible way was chosen to rectify the weak point...