Retrospective: Vincent Black Shadow

This article was originally published in the December 1996 issue of Sport Rider.

Readers over 30 (you know who you are) usually share one stunning impression from the days of yore. It’s that 1948 picture of Rollie Free at Bonneville, stretched board-like and semi-naked atop a 1000cc Vincent Black Shadow twin, flying low at 150.3 mph. The American’s world-record performance did more than anything else to burn the name “Vincent” into the postwar riding public’s consciousness. That anyone—well, anyone with a serious cash flow—could buy a factory-prepped machine just like Free’s only heightened the awe. Hail, Britannia.

The Black Shadow was the most powerful standard motorcycle of its time. In an age when the magical “ton” (100 mph) still quickened pulses, the 125-mph top speed of the normal version of Free’s bike was astounding. Equally astounding, it would be a quarter-century before the Kawasaki Z1 900 exceeded it in 1973. Not only that, just three years ago Motorcyclist found very comparable top-gear roll-on times (from 30 and 50 mph) for a 1952 Shadow and…a ZX-11!

And the Vincent? It was the last iteration in a line of fairly conventional (and mostly single-cylinder) bikes made since the early 1930s by English visionary Phil Vincent and his brilliant Aussie collaborator, Phillip Irving. The first Vincent twin arrived in 1936, the fruit of an inspired decision to graft an additional cylinder to the existing 500cc Comet. Like all previous and subsequent models, the 1000cc Rapide was super-expensive. It was also fast. Enter WWII, and from 1939 to 1945, Vincent-HRD toiled for the British military.

Finally, in 1948 the new Black Shadow was unveiled in London. While sharing or improving upon many Rapide features, the most startling change for the Shadow concerned the frame: There wasn’t one. Instead, conventional downtubes were abandoned and the engine/gearbox were used as stressed members. (This was prompted by the Shadow’s 50-degree barrels; the Rapide’s were 47.5 degrees). These in turn were slung from a “main tube” consisting of a robust, elongated box-section oil tank that hid beneath a sculpted fuel cell.

The rest of the chassis comprised Vincent’s patented “Diamond frame” linked cantilever-style to unique dual shocks running diagonally under the seat. Fork duty, meantime, was handled by the “Girdraulics,” which replaced the spindly Brampton units. The “Girds” were slab-like aircraft-aluminum struts joined to small hydraulic spring/damper-tube assemblies. Though dated-looking, they worked as well as the telescopic forks then coming into vogue. And besides, Vincent distrusted the “unequally sprung” telescopics.

Obviously, though, the real eye-catcher is that motor. With alloy barrels and cases and iron liners, it pumps out 55 Clydesdale-size horses at 5700 rpm. This lets the 425-pound motorcycle, with a compression ratio of 7.3:1, sprint to 60 mph in six seconds. At 125 mph, it’s only turning 5800 rpm, and at an easy-cruisin’ 100 mph a mere 4600! Other Britbike riders speak of the uncanny calm of the Black Shadow as it overtakes them at 100-plus. It’s a stump-puller.

There’s enduring appeal, too, in the other innovations and clever touches. A few include: an upward-hinging rear fender for quick wheel removal—or reversing to use the different final-drive ratio of the attached second sprocket; height adjustments for the comfy dual seat; triplex primary chain; 120-horsepower-strong gearbox/tranny; dead-accurate 150 mph speedo; cases machined in matched sets; wide use of stainless and high-tensile steels; and Siamesed exhausts. You can also collapse the whole thing into three main parts, stuff it all into the old Civic and re-assemble when you reach the rally site. (Don’t try this with a ZX-11.) Visually, the Shadow is a feast for the eyes. Look closely—each carefully sculpted rocker cover, decom­pression lever and footpeg hanger is perfect unto itself, yet the whole is integrated, purposeful. It’s all about raw emotion. Park one outside your local high school and you’ll see.

Right, but what’s it like on the road? Well, different. Maybe in Ozzie and Harriet’s America the special dual drums fore and aft were swell, but with today’s clotted roads and feckless motorists the binders must be applied way early. The forks—with less dive than modern telescopics—also take getting used to. Over bad roads, the Black Shadow can buck and jolt terribly.

No, the ride will never be confused with an ST1100’s. Yet on good tarmac, rapid progress can be made even when the sweepers start kinking a bit. We’re talking, of course, about enthusiasts here, not investors or concours types. Serious riders should think about 12-volt electrics, halogen lights, Tony Maughn big-ends, possibly a Norton clutch. And careful assembly of everything! The worldwide Vincent Owners’ Club (VOC) is a priceless resource.

But before seeking out your own bit of history, sit down. The machine that originally out-cost a Triumph or a Norton by a factor of three is now worth at least six times as much. Beater Shadows fetch $12,000–$15,000, pristine resotrations $25,000–$45,000. But then, barely 3000 were sold in the U.S. They oozed quality, were over-engineered and certainly fulfilled the design brief: to last well over 100,000 miles and see 120 mph easily. Most parts, remarkably, are still available. A Black Shadow still impresses. It’ll yank you from 20 mph in top to 100 without shifting. Sitting upright. With your girlfriend. And luggage. A legend—a quirky, ridable legend—is what the Vincent is.

Want more retro rides? Click here for a retrospective of the 1981 Yamaha Seca 750.