I was recently asked what are the chances of buying a suspect Vincent after Jon & myself keep pushing the message to get any Vincent you are considering buying checked out before you handing over your hard earned cash. So I delved into the Machine database to extract a few figures.
Of the approx 12,300 bike made by Vincent (pre & post war combined), approximately 55 to 60% have survived which is around 7000 machines. This is just an approximation as its difficult to work out accurately and not every owner is a VOC member.
Now the worrying bit:
There is just over 100 bikes listed on the stolen list and also in the VOC records there are over 250 bikes which have the "restamp" tag attached to them for whatever reason. Now the stolen list is fairly static but the restamp list is constantly increasing as bikes surface and come up for sale. So when looking at buying a Vincent then please consider that at least 5% of whats out there is suspect.
So when buying a Vincent, don't take the chance and do your due dilligance.
Simon Dinsdale
Machine Registrar - Vincent HRD Owners Club
Of the approx 12,300 bike made by Vincent (pre & post war combined), approximately 55 to 60% have survived which is around 7000 machines. This is just an approximation as its difficult to work out accurately and not every owner is a VOC member.
Now the worrying bit:
There is just over 100 bikes listed on the stolen list and also in the VOC records there are over 250 bikes which have the "restamp" tag attached to them for whatever reason. Now the stolen list is fairly static but the restamp list is constantly increasing as bikes surface and come up for sale. So when looking at buying a Vincent then please consider that at least 5% of whats out there is suspect.
So when buying a Vincent, don't take the chance and do your due dilligance.
Simon Dinsdale
Machine Registrar - Vincent HRD Owners Club