Hi folks, thanks for all the kind words about my Vincent. Jon
graciously scanned it onto the Picture Post section of his
Landracing.com website because I don't have a scanner. There was not
enough space for the whole caption, however, and some have asked me for
more info about the bike, so herewith the whole enchilada:
Ardun Bill Hoddinott's 1000cc Vincent Black Lightning Replica
Perhaps three dozen genuine (F10AB/lC/---- crankcase number) factory
Black Lightning racers were built, mostly to special order, late '40s to
mid '50s. In that period, Black Shadow owners could have their bikes
converted at the "Works" at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, to full
Black Lightning specs for serious racing. This bike represents such a
conversion.
It was built in 1992 from a good sound Shadow crankcase and a lifetime
collection of rare original Vincent racing parts, plus a few of our own
reproductions, by Bill Hoddinott and Sid Biberman in Norfolk, VA. Help
was contributed by many Vincent friends. Factory racing practice was
followed throughout and the bike is fully operational. The patina is
period and many parts still have original factory baked enamel. The aim
was a bike about the same as would be delivered new from the factory,
not today's typical over-restoration.
The 21 x 3 and 20 x 3-1/2 rear alloy rims and tires were period original
wear and the airy grace of the entire machine reflects the taste of
designers P.C. Vincent and P.E. Irving.
In 1955, a privately-owned Black Lightning very similar to this bike,
with a home-made streamlined shell, took the official F.I.M. World's
Motorcycle Speed Record at 185 mph in New Zealand for Bob Burns and
Russell Wright.
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