Misc: Everything Else Complete Restoration of a Black Shadow

[Magnetoman]

The early Shadows, especially series B & early C ...

Is it known roughly how many Series C Shadows were made in the interim 1948-1950 period from the date of its introduction until production of the Series B was dropped? In other words, was most of the production in this overlapping period of the Series B? My Series C Black Shadow was completed in July 1950 and I'm curious how "early" it is in terms of Series C production numbers despite that date.

Related to this, the B Shadow was introduced in 1948 and the C later that year. Can these 1948 dates be narrowed down to the months during that year that each was introduced? Also, is the month in 1950 known when the last of the B Shadows were made? I realize someone might have special ordered a B Shadow after they had been dropped from the lineup, but I'm more interested in when they were "officially" dropped, not in outliers.

Thanks in advance for answers to the above.

 

[Simon Dinsdale]

Is it know roughly how many Series C Shadows were made in the interim 1948-1950 period from the date of its introduction until production of the Series B was dropped? In other words, was most of the production in this overlapping period of the Series B? My Series C Black Shadow was completed in July 1950 and I'm curious how "early" it is in terms of Series C production numbers despite that date.

Related to this, the B Shadow was introduced in 1948 and the C later that year. Can these 1948 dates be narrowed down to the months during that year that each was introduced? Also, is the month in 1950 known when the last of the B Shadows were made? I realize someone might have special ordered a B Shadow after they had been dropped from the lineup, but I'm more interested in when they were "officially" dropped, not in outliers.

Thanks in advance for answers to the above.

I've had a quick look through the factory records which are in the Machine Registrar database in table format so I had a quick play with it. This below is for Black Shadow's only.

There was 78 series B Shadows made and the first was Feb 1948 and the last official one was built in May 1950.
The first series C Shadow was Dec 1948 and approx 1500 were made and of those series C Shadows yours Magnetoman is the 298th one so I wouldn't consider it early, especially as the series c Shadow had been out for 18 months when yours was built in July 1950.

Before anybody asks, no I have not done such a chart for any other models or time period but its something on my list of things to do - one day.

Simon

	Series B Shadow	Series C Shadow
Feb-48​	1​
Mar-48​
Apr-48​	1​
May-48​	2​
Jun-48​	2​
Jul-48​	2​
Aug-48​	2​
Sep-48​	1​
Oct-48​	3​
Nov-48​	8​
Dec-48​	7​	1​
Jan-49​	11​
Feb-49​	8​
Mar-49​	21​	3​
Apr-49​	3​	3​
May-49​	2​	25​
Jun-49​		18​
Jul-49​		15​
Aug-49​		8​
Sep-49​		9​
Oct-49​		6​
Nov-49​	1​	18​
Dec-49​		7​
Jan-50​		14​
Feb-50​		37​
Mar-50​	2​	23​
Apr-50​		13​
May-50​	1​	37​
Jun-50​		50​
Jul-50​		35​

 

[Magnetoman]

I've had a quick look through the factory records which are in the Machine Registrar database in table format so I had a quick play with it. This below is for Black Shadow's only.

​

Fantastic! I can't thank you enough. This is much more than I could have expected.

 

[Marcus Bowden]

One of the many stories Mr Vincent told me there were many mostly about his new rotary engine, but this was about the bikes production and how they overcame all the hundreds of castings, machined & matched in pairs with porosity after having all the opening sealed off and submerged in water with an air line connected, they eventually developed a sequence of placing them into a vat of shellac and pulling a high vacuum and releasing it so the shellac was drawn into the casting then chrome-mated (etch priming for aluminum) then BLACK stove enameled. He admitted he didn't make much profit on them, when the "D" series came into being with the smoother castings out of the die casting molds only the covers were painted.
bananaman.

 

[greg brillus]

Charlie, what state is your Shadow in........Is it in a million bits in boxes, or in big lumps of assembly........?

 

[Magnetoman]

Charlie, what state is your Shadow in........Is it in a million bits in boxes, or in big lumps of assembly........?

It was in a complete lump when I got it, but now has the pieces of the Girdaulics in a box, the cleaned-out and painted UFM, the primered fuel tank, and the rebuilt magneto, all on a shelf. But, basically, it's mostly still one big lump. Not counting the boxes of replacement parts, also on the shelf.

Everything I did for the first decade after I bought it is documented on Kodachrome (now scanned), and since then on digital images, so my restoration started from a complete bike, will disassemble it into 2000 bits, refurbish or replace those bits, as appropriate, and put all those bits together to end up with a complete bike again. Anyway, that's my plan.

 

[Albervin]

Charles, in a way, you have a reasonable straightforward project. My C Shadow has a mix of earlier (don't call them Series B) and later parts originally fitted. While having HRD cast on all the alloy it was specified with a set of Vincent tank transfers. It is a veritable minefield IF you want to return a bike to the same specifications as it left the factory. Fortunately that is not my intention. I have actually thought about making it into a "fake" Series B Shadow as all it would need is a set of Brampton forks (of which I have a couple lying around) just to annoy people. I would never contemplate making any alterations that were not easily reversible nor would I tell anyone it was a B Shadow. In light of the proposed changes to the forum and club site you may want to consider making your own blog/vlog.

 

[Magnetoman]

In light of the proposed changes to the forum and club site you may want to consider making your own blog/vlog.

My plan to post the complete rebuild of my Black Shadow isn't entirely a humanitarian gesture for the sole benefit others. My hope is that knowledgeable people will jump in at appropriate times to stop me from doing something I shouldn't, or point out mistakes I just made in time for me to correct them. By the time a separate blog had enough regular followers, let alone regular knowledgeable followers, to do any good (assuming it ever even reached that number), the bike would be finished.

The update mentioned for this site gives me the excuse to postpone starting on the Vincent and first finish re-rebuilding my 1928 Ariel after the Cannonball of two years ago. I'm at the time-consuming stage of installing a new, hardened exhaust valve seat to replace the one that receded into the head as I crossed the U.S.

 

[craig]

I looked thru 6 pages and did not find any Black Shadow pictures and it worried me.
Here is an early C Shadow , I think, or maybe a late B with Girdraulics.