EHRET VINCENT SERIES C BLACK LIGHTNING
P104
Feature
a solo seat and aluminum mudguards.
This reduced the Black Lightning's dry
weight to just 360 pounds versus the Black
Shadow's 458 pounds, complete with
lights and a horn. The Lightning's 998cc
air-cooled, overhead valve 50° V-twin
engine was given higher-performance rac-
ing components including Mark II Vincent
cams with higher lift and more overlap,
stronger, highly polished Vibrac connecting
rods with a large-diameter caged roller-
bearing big end, polished flywheels and
Specialoid pistons delivering a 13:1 com-
pression ratio for methanol fuel.
The combustion chamber spheres were
polished, as were the valve rockers and
streamlined larger inlet ports, blended to
special adapters and fed by twin 1¼-inch
Amal 10TT9 carburetors. The Ferodo sin-
gle-plate clutch's cover featured center and
rear cooling holes, while the four-speed
gearbox was beefed up to transmit extra
power of at least 70 hp at 5600 rpm (versus the Black
Shadow's claimed 55 hp) and a top speed of 150 mph.
The Original Superbike
The Black Lightning's genesis is the stuff of legend for
Vincent enthusiasts, and essentially began with London
Vincent dealer Jack Surtees, the father of Vincent fac-
tory apprentice John Surtees, the only man to win both
the 500cc and Formula One World Championships. He'd
been racing a Norton sidecar with some success, and in
1947 ordered a V-twin Vincent Rapide with special tuning
parts. This engine was built at Vincent's Stevenage plant
alongside a second such engine, which was loaned to
(Left) Jack Ehret
poses for media
photos with the
Black Lightning
days before his
record attempt at
Gunnedah in New
South Wales in
1953. (Below) This
motor was good
for 140 mph in its
day and would
leave a Manx
Norton for dead.
