Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• 'tio nalreco rds.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ .. ' Di ke sales were slo w. As a result of the Free's Black Lightning was differgeneral worsen ing of economic co n ent from the standard model in that it ditions towards th e end of th e tw enwas geared higher, running 2.06: I in ties, th e HRD company found itself first vs. th e stock 6.77: I, and winding in ever d eepening finan cial trouble. upwith 1.10:1 in fourth in co ntras t to Finally, in 1928, th e co m pany wa s th e normal 3.27 : I. As well as different so ld to a Cambridge engineeri ng gea rin g , th e factory' s engine builder , undergraduate named Phil ip Vincent. Denis Minett, polished the cra n kcases Vincent' s in terest in bik es began in a nd co n nectin g rods, welded th e f1yhi s high schoo l d ays. H e had become wheel a l m os t to the mainshaft and such a p est a t home th at he got hi s L ge nerally honed the e ngine's inter first bike as a Christm as presen t in -, nal s to th e m ost exac ting to lera nces . 1924. "(It was) a sh o p- soil ed new - n While th e Black Ligh tnings wer e 1923 350cc BSA, which inco rporated exc i ting pieces of en g ineeri ng they so m any horrible m istakes in its design } were by n o m eans an end unto themand manufacture that i t created in m e (Vincent) th e desir e to beco me a m o tor" selves . Rather th ey were th e final step t- in th e evo lu tion o f a m arque th at cycle manufacturer in o rder to make " p r ided itself with, d esigning m otora bett er quality m achine." ! Wh il e a t C ambridg e , Vi nce n t b cycles for th e puri st. became co n vi nced th at the n ext step nor T he m arque, which was o ri g inall y , ca lle d HRD, d a tes back to 1924. It forward in m ot orcycl e design must y was in that yea r that H oward R . be a d epa rture o f th e rigid rear end o f b Davies beg an to produce h is own line th e d a y. H e beg an wit h d esigns for Io f bik es u sin g JAP p ropri etary sp ringing th e rear wheel so th a t th e bike wo u ld not " lea p fro m pea k to engi nes . Davies was born in 1895 a nd began his co m pe tition ca ree r riding fo r th e British S u n bea m Co m pa n y. In 1914, during h is first ra ce a t th e Isle of n Man, he to ok seco n d place in th e Junior TT. I When racing res u med a t the Isle af ter World War I H ow ard was riding (fo r AJ S. Although h e di d not fin ish I in th e 1920 eve nts, due to m echanical problems, h e wa s h ir ed by AJ S to be co m petitio n m anager fo r the '2 1 season. In th at season 's Junior TT, Davies lo ok ed o u t o f th e running as a result o f spend i ng 12 m inutes in th e pits due to a p u nc tured tir e. Con fident in hi s d esig n for th e n ew racer, H oward roared rou n d the isla n d, setting a new la p record o f 55 .15 mph a nd finish ing second. In 1921 AJS had ye t to prod uce a 500cc engine, so HRD d ecided to run th e Se ni or TT with his 350cc m otor in a stronger frame. Although g ive n littl e chance for success at th e sta rt o f the race, Davies soon swe p t th ro ug h the fie ld a n d won with a n incre d ible lead of2 m inutes a n d 15 seconds! Not o n ly was he the o n ly man in h is to ry to wi n th e Sen ior TT wi t h a " J u n io r" engi ne, bu t h is co m ma nd ing win with the o ver head valve 350 marked the beginn in g of th e end of th e side valve la yout th e 500s had been runn ing. As a result of DN F s i n th e '22 a n d '23 seasons , HRD d ecided th a t h e wo u ld ha ve m ore succe ss o n m achines o f h is o w n d esign. At th e 1924 Motor Cycle Show HRD u nv eil ed h i s f irst thre e machi nes. T he to p o f th e line was the H owa rd Davi es 90, eq ui p ped with a n OHV 500cc JA P racing engi ne. Next was th e 80, a replica of th e 1923 Junpea k in th e m anner o f a ll inebriat ed io r TT winner with a J AP OHV 350 stag. 2 motor. R ounding o u t th e line wa s H is p ro totype fra m e co nsisted o f a the H o ward Da vies 70 sport ing a single d o wntube a nd backb o ne su rsideca r wi th a J A P side va lve 500. ro u nded by a triangul at ed eng ine co mAfter h is d isa p po in tm en ts at th e partment. A set o f sp ri ngs enclosed in Island riding other peop le's m achi nes, telesco p ic housings, co n n ected th e Da vies was d eterm in ed to succeed o n frame back bo ne to th e tr ia ngulat ed hi s ow n bikes. Aft er pl acing second swi ngarm. in the 1925 Junior TT, H oward preWh ile the o riginal tes t bikes p ero pa red for th e Sen io r even t. N ot o n ly formed well , the concep t o f a spru ng d id h is JAP 500 shoot him to the fram e was no t easily accepted . " Yo u front of the p ack but it ca rr ied him to were th ought to be a comple te man iac the win .wi th a record average speed if yo u rode a spri ng fra m e m ach ine. o f 66. 13 mph . T hat win m ade H o wPeo pl e to ld yo u th ey wer e waiting to ard Davies th e o n ly m an to wi n th e a tte nd yo ur funeral , w hi ch wasn' t Senior o n a bike of h is o w n design , Aft er sett ing suc h a m il estone in very enco u rag i ng. T he prej udice was the '25 races, D NFs in bo th classes in so grea t th a t we (Vincent HRD ) had to m a ke th e sp ri ng frame look as '26 a nd '27 must h a ve been extre mely much like th e rigid fra m e as possible disappo inting, 1927 was th e las t yea r so we tucked it away und er the th at H oward Davi es wou ld co m pete sadd le."! as a rider, a nd a lt hough h e finish ed Th e Vincent sp ri ng fram e was o rigon lv fi ve o f '13 starts a t th e Isl e, his ina lly offere d to the public a t the 1928 reccird o f tw o firsts a nd th ree seconds Mot or C ycle Show with a range o f speaks for itself. side valve a nd overhead va lve en gines Alt hough HRD m achines took fir st pl ace in the J un ior 'IT in 1927 as from 350 to 600cc. T he reaction was we ll as fir st a nd si x th i n th e Se nior, less th an ove rw hel mi ng a nd onl y 24 The onl y bikes of the day capable of regularly hitting the ton in street guise were highly tuned 500s. Even th e pre-eminent Brough Superior, running aJAP 1000, co uld n' t hit triple figures unless it was tuned spot on, Vincent 's next design goal, therefore, wa s to produce a touring bike ca p a ble o f d oin g 110 mph in a mild sta te of tune so as to provid e reliability as well as exce p tio n al p erformance. Using th ese p arameters, Vincent, again with the help o f Phil Irvin g, set a bo ut to m ate tw o Met eor cy lin der head s into a 4 7~ degree V-Twin la yout that was to become known as th e Series A R apid e. The or igi nal '36 R apid e used overhead valves with bore/ stroke d imens ions o f 84x90 mrn , producing 45 hp @ 5,5 00 rpm from th e 998cc tw in . The co m p a ny d ecided to u se dual br akes a t eac h wheel to avoid feeding un even braking loads into th e fram e. Ad di ng th ese features into a refined sp rung frame made th e Rapide A a true sport sman 's mount. bikes were sold the first yea r. Throughout the ea rly thirties the co m pa ny ref in ed th eir frames a nd ex perimented wi th different m akes o f en g ines , T he J AP engines we re no longer as reli able as they once h ad been a n d a lt hou g h th ey were sti ll the most requested motors, Vincent al so o ffered bik es wi th Rudge P ython and Vill ers Bantam en g ines, Philip Vincent was d ete rmined to race at th e Is le o f Ma n in 1934 a n d a lt ho ugh t hey we re unhappy wi th th e standard JA P eng ines, th e co m pan y was enticed into r unnin g th e new J AP raci ng models. P re-race testi n g at Brookl and racetrack turned up serious reliabil i ty probl em s with th e JAP s so the a tmosp here i n the Vince nt pits a t th e is la nd was a pprehen sive to say the least. U nfort u nately, th eir worst fea rs ca me to pass a n d n ot . o ne o f th e tea m 's entries fini sh ed , Disgusted wi th thi s turn o f eve n ts, Philip Vincent, with the h elp o f Au stral ian designer P hil Irv in g, began - -. immed ia tely [ 0 develo p a n e ngi ne. After m on th s of furious design wor k, an overhead va lve 500 was read y to be introduced at th e 1934 Motor Cycle Show. This en g ine, kn o wn ei ther as th e Come t or Meteor- dependi ng o n the state of the tu ne, proved a resou nding success a n d lift ed th e co mpan y's sales to 130 uni ts, m aki ng 1935 th e m ost su ccessfu l year ever. During th e d evelopment o f th e Come t and Meteo r engi nes, a great deal o f testi ng was done o n p u blic roads, m uch to the di sm a y o f th e local in habi tants. W hen 30 mph speed limi t, sig n s were erected arou n d the fac tory at St evenage, a co llective sign of rel ief m ust have been heard a ll ro und th e neig h borhood. Im ag in e th e d istress of th e local co ns table to wa ke up o ne morn ing a nd find a ll his shi n y new speed li mi t sig ns mysterio us ly pl ant ed i n his vege tab l e garden l" As a resu lt o f Vincent HRD 's growing reputation for h igh p erformance m ach in ery, they wer e recei vin g eve rincreasi ng demands for faster bikes. With a top en d o f 100-110 mph a nd a br akin g dis ta nce of 27 feet from 30 m p h, th e " Sna rl i ng Bea st " - th e fastest p roduct io n vehicle ever, u p to th a t ti me-began the p ro g ression that was to cu lmina te in the Black Lightn in g. With th e on set ofWorld WarII , th e factory sw itc hed ove r to handling m i li tary contracts. Manufacturin g parts fo r p la nes, p lus m ines a nd nav al shells, enabled Vincent HRD to ex pa nd its to ol in g w h ile a t th e same time keep its nucl eu s o f loyal craftsm en emplo yed. Towards theen dofthe wa r, Vince nt began to red esign the Ra pi de. T he cylinde r h eads were changed to alum inum with iron liners. T he "V" a ngle was i ncreased to 50 d eg rees. T he rear cylinder was displaced I\4"to the right to a id in cooling a n d to a llow id entica l co n necti ng rods to be m oun ted nex t to each o th er o n a co mmon crankpin. A new clu tch and a strengthened gea rbox were a lso added. P ro bably the most visible change was th e . ,. 27

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