Montlhery Shadow 2

[Diogenes]

Why not put them on the forum it worked this time, I am told rider is Cyril Julian hired rider I live 12500miles from Stevenage

Yes I agree that using the Forum is better than nothing.
But there are hundreds if not thousands of VIN photos in books and articles and that is beyond my resources to cope with.
And the very old ex-Works people do not use this Forum.
That is why I think it would be more likely to succeed if people living near Stevenage could get in contact with the survivors, and divide the task up between several people.

 

[Diogenes]

Yes the bikes had 5" speedos and were found to be accurate to be within 1 mph . (with FIM timekeepers) .Riders were instructed at the start to ride at 110mph to allow for fuel stops etc . Vic was rider number 4 so he must have had some idea of which speed to travel . Two riders where unable to do this and where therefore let go . The revs would have been around 5000 or so with a 44 tooth rear sprocket.

Just had another look at the photo and there appear to be no front brakes .
So that would make installing the speedo drive tricky.
Maybe a rear wheel speedo drive cable was used?

 

[Graham Smith]

Thanks.
Rider appears to be Cyril Julian, as his 2 tone helmet seems same as that of rider on page 62 of Peter Carrick's 1982 book VINCENT-HRD ISBN 0-85059-512-6 .

At the risk of seeming tedious, it seems to me that there are loads of excellent photos of the Vincent story in various books and articles. In many cases the people in the photos are not named fully.

In my opinion it would be a help in capturing the fullest possible Vincent history if as many names as possible could be added and published.

Most of the surviving ex-Works people are still in the Stevenage area, so it would seem natural for local VOC Sections to have a shared project of trying to get and record as many names on photos as possible, while those ex-Works people are still available.

For a start, there are loads of really interesting photos in the small VINCENT booklet available from Stevenage Library ( if it has not yet been closed ).
Some of those fuzzy photos were taken from a local newspaper, so that would be a source of better quality pictures.

Time is not on our side and action would be most effective by those living near to Stevenage.

I feel reasonably confident that this suggestion will be totally ignored.

Probably not ignored, but people these days are stretched to the limit with their free time.

 

[Montlhery]

Just had another look at the photo and there appear to be no front brakes .
So that would make installing the speedo drive tricky.
Maybe a rear wheel speedo drive cable was used?

No a special adaptor was made to run the speedo of the front wheel with no brakes or brake plates.

 

[Diogenes]

Probably not ignored, but people these days are stretched to the limit with their free time.

Yes, I expect you are correct, especially for those still employed.
But I suspect that many ( most?) Vincent types are now retired and have more control over use of their own time.
So it is mainly a matter of deciding priorities and allocating some time for an opportunity which is slipping away from us each month as time goes by.

 

[david bowen]

Get lost untill you join the VOC

 

[redbloke1956]

Get lost untill you join the VOC

STILL Snakey David...play nice.

 

[Daimog]

3rd from left (above riders helmet) R.Sherry

 

[Diogenes]

3rd from left (above riders helmet) R.Sherry

Thanks for that name R.Sherry.

Searching internet for ROBIN SHERRY AJS AMC yields several mentions.

R.Sherry was clearly one of the top AMC race riders, but the link with Vincents and why he was chosen for the Record attempts is not yet clear.

ROBIN SHERRY - was he ever a Vincent employee?

If so, employed as what and when?

He was used as rider for 1952 Montlhery record attempts.

For a 1953 photo see:

http://forums.autosport.com/topic/112178-ajs-team-at-the-iom/

QUOTE:
Hi,about the photo, I confirm that Bill Doran is N° 46 and Robin Sherry is the N° 88.
The man with a beret is Freddie Neale according to the Rod Coleman's book.
If you want to have more information about Rod Coleman : visit my website
www.rodcoleman.be
END QUOTE:

 

[Len Matthews]

The Vincent "Made in Stevenage" booklet is still available from Stevenage Museum, St. George's Way, Stevenage, SG1 1XX. Price £3.50 + a !st class stamp for P&P. There's to be an Open Day there on March 17th; Vincent riders most welcome.