Recommissioning a '48 Rapide

[Bill Thomas]

Even that doesn't work Gary, Brother Ron, Can only push and get on from the right,
Photos are the way to go ??, Even that can go wrong !, There are some Vincent Tea Mugs printed wrong,
Looks strange with the Ex' Pipes coming out the left side .

 

[BigEd]

Convention these days, where people are more likely to be driving a car than mounting a horse, is that the nearside is the side to the left of the driver, the off side is to the drivers right. This is in the UK, maybe this is the opposite in countries where they drive on the right.

 

[stu spalding]

How about "timing" and "primary" sides, or is that a bit too practical? Cheers, Stu.

 

[Martyn Goodwin]

Near side and off side come from the equestrian world. The near side is the side you mount from. It's just a tradition that becomes a habit, both for the rider and the horse. Same as a bike, actually.

I like the terms but then I ride horses as well as bikes.

In regard to a Vincent why not just refer to Timing Side and Primary Drive Side?

 

[bmetcalf]

Convention these days, where people are more likely to be driving a car than mounting a horse, is that the nearside is the side to the left of the driver, the off side is to the drivers right. This is in the UK, maybe this is the opposite in countries where they drive on the right.

Not being a horseman, I have only heard the terms in British descriptions, not in US conversation or writing.

 

[Bill Thomas]

I sold a nice V8 Rover to a young Lad once, Being a lad he started playing with the H.T. leads =
No Start, I gave Him a book with it and No 1 Cylinder was on the left ??.
But He had his head under the bonnet / Hood, So was all wrong, Use your own words .

 

[Marcus Bowden]

Why is it that the first Rapides had rear heads and the last had front heads ??

 

[Bill Thomas]

For me, I would have thought Mr Vincent , Thought we don't need to make rear heads,
If the front one had better gas flow,
Save Money ??..

 

[PaulC]

Paul, A lot of us played Racers in the old days, We had 2 Race days a year at Cadwell park ,
And a Twisty Sprint at Curborough, Super Times.
Plus we were invited to other clubs to race.
As "Mercurycrest " said, Yours should be a good ride.
A Standard "B" should have a front and a rear cylinder head, The inlet on the front head comes out on the left,
The inlet on the rear comes out on the other side, You have 2 front heads !!!.
On a Comet they have a front head.
The Racing Lightning mostly used 2 front heads, For better gas flow,
The last Vin's The "D" Used 2 front heads and monobloc Carb's.
On your carb's you have extended float bowls, Fast men liked those.
The last owner also drilled holes in the footrest plate and maybe in other places to go faster ??.
I enjoy "Trying" to help other owners, So no problem with anything we can do, As Marcus said , We have a lot of info' After owning our bikes for 50 plus years, And in my case breaking most things on a Vin' !!.
I raced a road Twin for 10 years and a Lightning rep' for 7, Plus my poor old Comet got thrashed as well !.
Good Luck Tomorrow, Bill.

Hi Bill,
I found that both my carbs are 389-10 and the throttle stop screws have been removed and blanked off, hence my idling problem. It looks like the top carb is too close to cylinder head to fit one but wondered if you knew how others have overcome this problem, either with an off-set manifold pipe or alternative carbs with RH float bowls perhaps. I would rather keep mine if possible but need to sort the idling problem either way.

 

[Bill Thomas]

Morning Paul, Not really into monoblocs, I know they did a later monobloc that was handed the other way,
So a left and right one, To overcome your problem, But you don't want to spend that money,
Without seeing your carb', And being a bit of a bodger, I would grind a bit off the Fins and replace the stop screws.
Is a 389 an 1/ 3/16" ?, No matter.
Another thing we did as Racers On race Carb's ie TT carbs that don't have a slow screw,
Was grind a small half round hole in the middle and bottom of the slide, So a small amount of air could get through,
Handy if you have a spare slide ???.
Another Bodge would be to grind a bit off the manifold at an angle, So one side would not be as thick as the other, Don't know how much room you are looking for, If you take the manifold and carb' bolts off at the head and twist the assy, You might see how much would be needed and if it's possible ??.
If you have room under the tank, You could put spacers between carb' and manifold, They do them to stop the heat getting to the carb' on some makes, Triumph ?, About an 1/8" thick, maybe use 2 ??.
Lots to think about, Depends if you are a standard Man, I tend to just try to make things work, Within reason ?.
Did you manage to get out for a ride ?, Good Luck, Bill.