For anyone contemplating entering the Vincent owning community, Tony makes some most relevant points.
My own experience was building a twin from a basket case but the considerations are the same or at least similar.
Some factors to consider:
- When do you hope to have something to ride? If you want to ride soon forget it and buy a complete bike if you have the budget.
- If you don't have the budget for a complete (and maybe even one in good running order) a basket case may be your most likely way to start and then buy parts as and when your budget allows. Before you decide to buy or not have a good look at the parts you are buying, preferably with someone who knows a bit about Vincent machines. In a pile, the main parts may be obvious to spot at a glance but some smaller parts are expensive to buy if you don't have them. (e.g. I saw two wheels at a glance, (both were rear wheels but I was later able to sell one to help to buy a front-wheel so that was OK.)
- If you have some mechanical / motorcycle experience you may be able to do most of the work yourself to save money but not time. You will learn a lot about the Vincent as you look through your bits and try to identify them from the MO parts drawings. Vincent machines have one or two quirks of design that you may not have come across. You can get useful information and advice at Vincent owner club nights, this forum, Vincent manuals and various other documentation.
I had other bikes to ride and so took around 3 years to collect/buy assemble parts but I tried to do something towards the project almost every or as often as possible, even if it was read a section of a manual. It is easy to lose interest with long projects and here the Vincent may not help as it is difficult a see a bike coming together as with no conventional frame you can't easily visualise it as motorcycle until you have an engine to hang all the bits on.
Don't give up if you get stuck, ask for help. Was it worth the wait? Yes, every time I take it for a ride.