Series A Handlebar Levers

Dinny

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VOC Member
I think these may be A levers. They are for one inch bars. The holes center to center are one inch. The threaded hole is 1/4 BSF. They are six inches long, made of brass or bronze. I was hoping to find the rest of the bike one day.View attachment 24712View attachment 24713View attachment 24711

I'm not sure they are original A as they are handed as in they are a brake and clutch lever. Originally they were just one side (not sure which)...

I could be wrong of course though.

Mark
 

A_HRD

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I will have a set too please Peter, Do they come with the clamp horizontal so the advance/ retard /choke levers fit directly above, as I feel with all levers and individual clamps crowd the bars up too much. Will they be supplied with the square headed clamp screws ?
bananaman.

Marcus,

The lever assemblies will come as "standard" as we can ascertain after some exhaustive research. We're not going to rush into this until we are as certain as we can be that we have got this right. So that means the clamp/bracket/perch and lever will be similar to what you see in the attached photo. Note the 'flat' nature of the bracket where it lies parallel to the lever between pivot and nipple; we are rapidly coming to the conclusion that this type is correct. And yes, the lever assemblies will come complete with pivot bolts and the beloved square-headed 1/4 BSF screws in stainless.

Peter B

20181103_114948.jpg
 
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A_HRD

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VOC Member
MSVH Y3 wrote:
(Quote) I think these may be A levers. They are for one inch bars. The holes center to center are one inch. The threaded hole is 1/4 BSF. They are six inches long, made of brass or bronze. I was hoping to find the rest of the bike one day. (Unquote).

Thanks for the great photos, this sort of clarity is extremely helpful. However, one thing we have ascertained quite rapidly is that the original type of solid A levers were a nominal length of 5 inches - not the more common 6 inches. See comparison photo below. Sorry to deflate your ego somewhat; but at least you can rest in the happy knowledge that you might find the rest of the bike and that your bench is held together by those lovely Robertson countersunk square socketed screws! What is it about Vincent guys and square heads? :cool::rolleyes:

Peter B

20181103_113825.jpg
 

A_HRD

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VOC Member
I'm not sure they are original A as they are handed as in they are a brake and clutch lever. Originally they were just one side (not sure which)...

I could be wrong of course though.

Mark

Mark,
I suspect you are right. I think it was Andrew Walker who brought-up this subject in a recent MPH article. I haven't got access to my MPHs at the moment to check - but I need to because I think he included a photo or two....
Peter B

EDIT: Found it! It's MPH 812, Page 54, (Sept 2016) - with photos.
 
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A_HRD

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VOC Member
Meanwhile, thanks to all for the measurements, photos and expressions of interest coming in. Please keep them coming, we can't have too much information; we all stand to learn from it - and to secure a source of another rare Series A assembly.

(If you don't want to go public with your info/photo, please click on my Vulcan avatar and select "Start a Conversation"; that way the communication remains just between the two of us).

Peter B
 

bmetcalf

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VOC Member
I've asked Glenn Shriver about this, from when he restored the bike in ~ 1978 that another member has now. He was in touch with Bob Stafford then, so maybe he'll have some good thoughts. Maybe Watson will weigh in, too?
 
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