Brakes.

 

On the front is a Fontana 4 leading shoe racing front brake. Contrary to common belief, drum brakes can be effective.

Plus it looks really neat!

Not only that, with 10:1 pistons there will be a spot of engine braking too.

Collector

 

They are Beautiful bikes. I'm an honorary member of a local Vincent club but have never riden one .

 

Don't get me wrong, I love it; the looks and that it even exists. It is a work of art. Is there any rear brake at all, though? It looks like the shifter in on the right hand side and I couldn't make out a brake pedal on the left.

 

Well, you see, in the good old days British motorcycles had the gearshift on the right hand side and the brake pedal on the left.

There is a brake pedal on the left; the brake drum is on the other side (drive side) of the wheel and is cable operated. It's not easy to see in the pictures but it is there.

A cable rear brake was not uncommon - for example, some of the BSA big twins had them.

Collector

 

Well, you see, in the good old days British motorcycles had the gearshift on the right hand side and the brake pedal on the left.

Didn't all European bikes back in the day? I used to give myself whiplash trying to ride my brother's Bultaco...never could get my brain to direct my feet properly.

Which raises a question: does anyone make a right-foot-shift bike any more? I declined to rent a 500cc Enfield and chose a Yamaha instead while in India for this very reason but I'm told that the newer model years have changed over to the "correct" side for all markets, not just the US.

 

I had several bikes back in the 60s that had the shift on the right. A Bultaco 250 (which had a Rickman Metisses frame) and a 450cc Ducati come to mind. I never rode a bike that did not have the throttle and front brake on the right and clutch on the left but other than that I don’t think there was any standard layout for controls like we have today. Another thing was the gearshift pattern, which, as I recall, was often up for first gear and down for the rest on a lot of bikes. We didn’t know any better and you just had to learn each bike.You want awkward? Try an old Harley with a foot clutch and hand shift. Electric start was almost unheard of.
Drum brakes (dual leading shoe and quad leading shoe) can be very effective if you can keep them cool but the biggest drawback was maintenance. Changing pads is WAY easier than changing shoes and you had to keep adjusting them as they wore down.
As for Vincent, when I visited the Clinton Presidential Library a few years ago a bike called ******* Vincent was part of a motorcycle display. I’m not a big fan of bikes that are made for show rather than ride but I thought this was way cool.

 

Another thing was the gearshift pattern, which, as I recall, was often up for first gear and down for the rest on a lot of bikes. We didn’t know any better and you just had to learn each bike.You want awkward? Try an old Harley with a foot clutch and hand shift.

The Yamaha that I rented in India had an unusual (to me) shift pattern that put neutral at the bottom position instead of between 1st and 2nd. I guess that's how it's done there. Strange that there isn't a world-wide standard for this.

And yes, the old suicide clutch Harley was a handful. Because it was the first bike I ever rode I didn't find it particularly weird, just clumsy. I had a friend that committed the common mistake of leaning the bike to the left while sitting in gear idling -- the side of a house stopped his slow-speed but panicky progress. The problem was that the damn things had so much torque they wouldn't stall when the clutch was released like that. It was pretty funny.

 

The Yamaha that I rented in India had an unusual (to me) shift pattern that put neutral at the bottom position instead of between 1st and 2nd. I guess that's how it's done there. Strange that there isn't a world-wide standard for this.

I once rode a bike (wasn’t mine) that had neutral at the bottom but there was a catch; if you were in 4th gear and you shifted up one more notch you were back in neutral again and the pattern started all over. You could not push down from neutral to get to 4th but from 4th you could go back down through the gears to get back to neutral. I can’t swear to it but I think it was a Kawasaki Bushwhacker.

 

What a beautiful bike however I personally would spend less to own 1996 Dodge Viper GTS Coupe BLUE with WHITE STRIPES Only 2600 MILES

 

That is why older Sportys can uh, befuddle some folks.. as in WHY IS THE SHIFTER ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE??

 

Hey Graham, here ya go.. let me know if you want a Freddie too

 

Ouch, now I have seen one of the pictures you have that will send me screaming to my room and diving into the fetal position praying for sweet death to come and rescue me.

 

uh no.. now you have

 

Collector:
Get the Vincent. You will look good on it.

CD:
With all due respects, the bike has yet to be built that can make you look good.

Would gouge out our eyes, but we need them to ride.

We trudge on (stricken).

 

As Seger said.. I ain't good looking but you know I ain't shy

 

We can never us-see that

 

Please, Sweet Death...please.

Say, that would be good name for a motorcycle...

 

Please, Sweet Death...please.

Young fool. Only now at the end do you understand. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side. You have paid the price with your vision.

 

No Thanks. It's a nice bike if I was 20, my butt couldn't handle that seat for more than 5 minutes, and those brakes will lockup on you with the least amount of humidity, or cold temps. Nice style though, I like the looks of it.

 

Love the bike but I agree with all the above and at my age the position would kill me!! lol. Anyone remember manuel spark advance?? to add to all the other fun things from yesteryear.

 

mmm manual advance, kick only and no new fangled front brake thingie