Series E

Peter Holmes

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Confused!

The Honda one! That will be the one I saw when I was over there. Looked o.k to me. I'm sure someone told me that Phil Irving's son had something to do with it but that could just be a load of sh*te.
I think you are referring to the Mugen Vincent engine, this was built by Soichiro Honda's son Hirotoshi Honda, he owns the Mugen company, they manufacture and tune engines for motorsport from F1 down to 10th scale ic engined model cars
 

Hugo Myatt

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Thanks for clearing that up, Pete. The one I was being impolite about was Mr. Li's, of Vincent Motors USA, 'Black Eagle'.
 

ET43

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Vincent rotary engines

Following up the enquiries about the rotary engines, there are a number of articles in MPH's nos. 502, 503, and 504, ie, November 1990 through to January 1991.. I have a copy of Some unusual engines and will photococpy the relevant pages if an sae is sent to my address under the Wylye Valley details. Also re: MPH today, it was nice to find out who built the Yamaha engined Vincent replicas. At least they looked better than the rice burner that Mr. Li envisaged.
Cheers,
ET43
 

vapide

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
I have a copy of a similar questionnaire From Harper Engineering and Electronics that was circulated in the USA to motorcycle dealers, asking if they would be interested in selling a new Vincent retailing for about $2250 "using the existing engine redesigned to eliminate known weaknesses, mounted in a modern redesigned frame".

If the old engine would be acceptable, it asks, for how many years it would be - with the choices being 1, 2, and 3 years!

As is well known, Cope Allman (the successors to Harper Engines) put a questionaire in "Motorcycle Sport" inviting readers to suggest what changes/improvements they would like to see should the Vincent be put back on the market.
 

Tom Gaynor

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Foresight.....

By now we were all expected to be flying about in personal jetcopters, eating protein pills.
George Hack, the "Phil Irving" of Rudge, was shown a near-original, perfectly restored Rudge TT Replica, long after he'd retired and Rudge had gone out of business. Asked what he thought of it he said "If I'd realised how long they would last, I'd have used even cheaper materials."
 

Little Honda

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
So true, Tom,
only yesterday I read PEI´s comment on the subject in 1959: He liked to reduce engine capacity to 750cc to reduce weight, use cast iron liners coz of less distortion and quietness and preferred the Velo rear springing which he had designed instead the triangular Vincent design...
Still my question remains unanswered: where are the remains of this rotary engine or where are written thoughts/plans/diagrams of it? Is there anybody in this club who sits on PCV´s archive, packed in boxes, hidden in the celar?
Has it been sighted, yet? Is there anything in it about PCV´s last vision?
cheers, Little Honda:cool:
 

Robert Watson

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
When Editor I was given, and passed on to the Club Archivist, a copy of the patent on the rotary along with a lot of PCV's writings on this subject - and others - which he had sent to a California based motorcycle magazine. I was told at the time that remnants of the rotary had last been seen in a machine shop somewhere in the South of the UK, but it was all very vague, and certainly nothing I could chase from Canada. Probably long scrapped by now.

Robert
 

bmetcalf

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Rotary

I have a vague recollection of MPH correspondence in the 80's, where some member had some involvement with PCV on the motor and was very supportive of the concept. There was something also about that it didn't run long on the test stand. It may have been info that Robin Vincent-Day was sharing on jtan a few years ago. Apologies for the lack of specificity.
 

Little Honda

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
When Editor I was given, and passed on to the Club Archivist, a copy of the patent on the rotary along with a lot of PCV's writings on this subject - and others - which he had sent to a California based motorcycle magazine. I was told at the time that remnants of the rotary had last been seen in a machine shop somewhere in the South of the UK, but it was all very vague, and certainly nothing I could chase from Canada. Probably long scrapped by now.

Robert
Thanks, Robert, at last one step forward. I shall ask our archivist again for his knowledge. Hope, he´s answering this time...
cheers, Mike
 

Little Honda

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Series E engine

Following up the enquiries about the rotary engines, there are a number of articles in MPH's nos. 502, 503, and 504, ie, November 1990 through to January 1991.. I have a copy of Some unusual engines and will photococpy the relevant pages if an sae is sent to my address under the Wylye Valley details. Also re: MPH today, it was nice to find out who built the Yamaha engined Vincent replicas. At least they looked better than the rice burner that Mr. Li envisaged.
Cheers,
ET43
HI, ET43, thanks for your offer. If you could send me copies of the mentioned pages, that would be very nice. I do have MPH since the mid-fifties, but just these years around no´s 500 are missing, as I was out of the club for some years. I also contacted Peter Bell, who was sent all the material, PCV sent to an american journal about his rotary project, by Robert Watson. I think, the easiest way would be to scan the documents and send them by email to my adress. Any arising costs being refunded, of course.
cheers, Michael
 
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