Wait a minute. What’s a Vincent? Only the world’s fastest standard motorcycle from 1946 to 1955,
Back in 1993, I had this great idea: let’s invite some Vincent folks up to Whitehorse for a rally. I owned one at the time and had been to a couple of rallies outside, so I thought it would be fun to have one here. June 21st would be good: welcome to the Longest Day Rally!
Wait a minute. What’s a Vincent? Only the world’s fastest standard motorcycle from 1946 to 1955, that’s what. A Californian named Marty Dickerson was actually paid by the Vincent factory to challenge Harley riders to street races
Folks came from Alberta, Washington State, California, Vancouver, Vernon, England….
Half a dozen Vincents, an enormous Suzuki, a Gold Wing and a Honda 400-4 were ridden here, and a lone Panther single was trailered in.
I offered to buy the 400-4 on the spot, but the owner was determined that since she rode it here, dammit, she was going to ride it home. I bought it later and trailered it back from Calgary. S’matter Carl? No guts?
The “rally rebuild” is a tradition among Vincent owners. Not that this is desirable, it just seems to happen. I mean, we’re talking about motorcycles that are 65 to 70-plus years old. This time it was a Black Shadow ridden from California. I still have the burnt valve somewhere.
No problem. The Vancouver section of the Vincent Owners’ Club has a parts stash and I had the tools that the riders hadn’t carried with them. And there’s always tons of expertise at these meets.
We weren’t too adventurous: some local rides, and a trip to Kluane. But there were reports from one of the four-wheelers of an enormous Suzuki at a high rate of knots on the Top of the World highway…. Yup, one of ours.
In 1998 we did it again. I had a lot of help this time: the Gold Wing Road Riders Association, STM Recreation (the Yamaha dealer at the time), Dan Ryan’s Petrocan, Northwestel…. Tee-shirts were designed by Doug Urquhart in a departure from his regular gig as cartoonist. If I’ve forgotten anyone, I’m sorry. It was 26 years ago.
Believe it or not, there were two Vincents resident in Whitehorse at this time. So there were 19 of them at the Transportation Museum, and incidentally in front of the T&M for a bit
A lot of the same fine folk from Alberta, B.C. and California, and a bunch more of their friends came, riding and driving. A family from Washington State, with Dad riding a Rapide, and the family driving. A guy from Washington D.C. riding a Red Rapide. A guy from Michigan on a Black Shadow.
I think the couple from Texas trailered up a Black Shadow or two and brought their friends from Australia. Several couples from England, a second couple from Australia, another couple from the Netherlands, a guy from Austria, a guy from Wales, and the “Dangerous Brothers”, one from England, the other from New Zealand.
Sorry. No Black Lightnings. Those be record-breakers, suitable only for riding in yer bathing suit on the salt at Bonneville. Google Rollie Free and you’ll see what I mean.
And so it went truly international.
The first over the Arctic Circle was a guy from Vancouver, yes, on a Vincent.
The Dangerous Brothers went to Inuvik on their Vincents, but only after two tries. The “rally rebuild” this time was the Red Rapide from New Zealand. It broke somewhere before Eagle Plains so their first attempt was aborted. A guy who knew me put the bikes in his truck and dropped them off at my place. Both rebuilds, the one in ’93 and this one, were accomplished without fuss, with interest rather than frustration and with good humour.
Oh. And beer. And yes, they went north again to Inuvik.
The adventurous couple from the Netherlands, he on a Black Shadow, she on a vintage Triumph, did the Dalton Highway to the north slope.
So it’s 2024. Modern adventure touring bikes. What’s all the fuss about?
The enormous Suzuki had been replaced with a “big single” street bike of unremarkable marque, but the rider hadn’t changed one bit. Somehow he’d managed to fit Herschel Island into his itinerary.
He appeared at the rally site after a quick romp to Inuvik, muddied, with muskox horns tied to the pillion–the tips of which were pointed forward. We all cringed at the thought.
There’s a song by Richard Thompson, “The Vincent Black Lightning and Red Molly”. Kinda cool if yer a biker, or a guitarist for that matter. About the ending: it’s a minor inconsistency, but you don’t need a key to start a Vincent. You just need a ritual. The ritual being:
- Flood the carburettors if you’re running Amals.
- Chokes on if you’ve got Mikunis.
- Pull the de-compressor.
- Kick twice to get the innards spinning.
- Then stomp hard and drop the de-compressor about halfway through.
And off you go to wherever the urge takes ya, be it the corner store or the Arctic Circle. Although the corner store might turn into a 150-mile day trip.
