Opinions differ on the fitting of the rear mudguard of the Grey-Flash road version. On the only surviving original copy (which is in France restored by Patrick Godet), the FT148 mudguard has no FT152 reinforcement as on the track versions (to lighten the bike). According to other opinions the FT152 reinforcement is necessary to withstand road conditions. Do you have any information on this ?
The Grey Flash model was officially introduced for the 1950 model year. The model was officially withdrawn from the Vincent model line in August of 1950. I am not certain that any single item can be characterized as standard. The model did not exist long enough to gather a life of its own.
For example, the photo in post #6 is not a road model. As far as I know, the records do not say "road model" or "built in road trim." Some sheets may say "dual equipment" or "delivered with lighting set." It seems to me that if the Factory delivered a Flash as a road bike, it is a road model. If it is delivered with lights, generator, mudguards, and silencer in the box, then it is a Grey Flash racer with originally delivered equipment (installed or uninstalled). The Factory did list three different levels of trim: Racer, Dual Equipment, and Road Trim. The build sheets may not list these three levels so distinctly.
The Belgian Flash that Patrick restored has lots of original equipment, but it was also maintained as a Comet and the prior owner was not aware that it was a Grey Flash. It is unlikely that we will ever know how the original bikes were built unless some original factory photos of Flashes on the Factory floor pop up and show details of the build.
The Factory was also quite happy to supply bikes that were not built to work well. Rollie free told the story of the Edgar bike being uncrated at VL Martin's. He prepped it to run and jumped on the KS which crashed into the straight pipes where the KS stopped. The Factory had no problem delivering a bike that could not start as supplied. Rollie removed the KS and bumped it to life. It is a mistake to infer that the Factory would only supply a bike that worked perfectly out of the box.
I would build the bike to be functional and not worry about the original specification, which is mostly an educated guess.
David
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