Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128316
Doesn't fee l very sporty, though - just long, low-slung and quite light, which at a claimed 185kg (407 Ibs.) dry accor ding to Barney Li (sounds right, with all that carbon fiber), it certainly is. The Vincent is indeed fast, though, with a top speed of 160 mph-plus, says Li, and while quite maneuverable at slow speeds, it has lots of stability at higher velocities, thanks to the long wheelbase. It also stops very well, thanks to the effective Bre mbo bra ke package, wh ich has a progressive fee l from the nonradial four-pot calipers gripping the 320mm steel rotors. Nice. The Vincent's black-painted Parkerdes igned aluminum frame features a central backbone do ubling as the airbox, with the intake duct and filter forward of the steering head . The 19-1 r (5 U.S. ite gallon) plastic fuel ta nk is actually located be neat h and slightly be hind the seat o ne reason for that le ngthy whe e lbase so w hat ap pears to be the fuel tank, exqu islte ly crafted in car bon fiber with the wea ve clear-coated to catc h th e Californian sunshine, is in fact me re ly a shr ou d coveri ng the airbox frame spine. Equally decep tive is t he big, round head lamp, which rathe r tha n a Single bulb o ntains a multiple ar ray of four haloge n projecto r lamps that give phenomen al illum inatio n. he se mielliptical white faced instrument h behind the tinted screen of the minimalist Ileadlamp fairing (itself more '70s than '50s) contai he original Honda digital speedo and bar tacho atop a very legible lineup of warn ing lights. Very Smiths Instruments · not. Paying less faithful tribute to Vincent design cues of yesteryear are the twinstacked megaphone exhausts on the right side (Vincents always used straight pipes for racing or a 2-into-1 exhaust for the street), but I guess Barney has it pro grammed into himself to give people extra chrome to polish via the Cycle Care products availablefrom your friendly local dealer. They look nice and sound very rorty - especial- Iy wh en you work the Honda engine hard , eve n tho ugh t he PGM-FI ECU hasn't yet been re p rog ram med to take acc ou nt of their undou btedly freer-flow ing benefits. St ill, the Vincen t's light we ight means that acceleration is pre tty vivid all the way up to an indicated 125 mph in top and beyond, making you glad of the longer wheelbase to help keep the front whee l on the ground in spite of the 5 1/49 percent frontward bias. But come the time to showboat, the Black Lightning is an easy bike to wheel ie, thanks to the meaty lowdown grunt, sudden clutch action, and long first gear but with shorter gearing compared to the SP-I/RC51. Short-shift at 8000 revs rather than run it out to the ten grand re dline as the fre e-revving, responsive motor will easily do , and the power and torqu e kee p on coming. Honestly, after riding the Vince nt, it's even mo re incomprehensible why Hond a didn't make a bike like th is itself to duel with Ducati in the streetrod sector, as well as so successfully in the sportbike segment and out on the World Supe rbike gr id. But now, at last, Barney Li's done it for Ho nda. The little flyscreen works bette r than I expected in kee ping wind blast off the he lmet at higher spee ds, but with right riding stance this isn't really a bike to ou t on top speed , else you do de cidedly ou 're about to get blown off the bac . J s hold on tight, and think of Englan ... Will future Vincent customers do that whe n they fire up their Japanese-e ngined, U.S.-develope d and De t ro it-man ufactu red Black Lightning S? Well, without waving tha t Union Jack on my helmet too hard, I have to admit the bornagain Vincent indeed does not have a great deal to do with the 5te venage factory's products of half a century ago. Beyo nd the name on the airbox sh rou d and a clever piece of styling tha t succeeds in delivering a bike that is visually "in the spirit of in ent," it is. rather. an exact modern uivalent of the roa dburners of ye e ear, th e first true Superbikes of t p'ost war era - or even , begging the Broug Superior SS100's pardon - ever. However, that doesn't make the Li Vincent a bad bike, The nose fairing wraps around a unique headlight that houses multiple halogen projectors. Dual Brembo faur· piston brakes provide plenty of stopping power. CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 24, 2004 47