It might not work to apply logic to an illogical pursuit, which is what Motorcycling is in general, especially the world of Vincents. The logical thing for a Vincent owner to do is to sell the bike(s) for top dollar, go purchase some new reliable little car, put vthe excess cash in the bank and be comfortable. But that would not be half as much fun! I had a lot of fun building this and even more fun riding it. On the strictly logical side of things, with 1360cc motor it weighs 348 lbs with oil but no fuel. This is 200 lbs less than a 2013 Suzuki Hyabusa 1300 , almost exactly 100 lbs less than a new GSXR1000 and even undercuts a Ducati Paningale by 52 lbs. It does weigh roughly the same as a new Kawi 250 Ninja, which has 11 ft lbs max torque. So there is one good reason to do this, the low finished weight cannot be equalled with any modern massproduced road machine. It follows that handling, braking and acceleration are all improved with the weight reduction. And as I age, the idea of a really light machine that still has good power is very appealing.Fifty years ago someone wanting a brand new high performance motorcycle had a choice that, for the present discussion, let's say was basically limited to buying a Bonneville/Lightning/Atlas (take your pick). So, if none of those offered enough acceleration/speed/handling/stopping performance for your taste tuning one of those engines, putting it in a better frame, adding aftermarket TLS brakes, etc. made sense.
Today there are a number of 100+ h.p. motorcycles on the market having excellent handling, twin front disks, amazingly wide tires, etc. Unlike the case 50 years ago, very few amateur riders even have the skill to ride one of these modern machines close to the limits of their performance. Because of this, other than nostalgia (which certainly can be a powerful factor), building one's own high performance motorcycle from a mix-and-match set of components doesn't seem to me to make as much sense as it did 50 years ago. None of this takes away from my admiration of that beautiful piece of CNC-carved Al.
And here is David Dunfey enroute to the Shadow Lake Rally in 77. I think this proves that the fun level is very high when riding an Egli- Vincent
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