The Vincent Grey Flash is a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

made between 1949 and 1952 by

Vincent Motorcycles Vincent Motorcycles was a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1928 to 1955. The business was established by Philip Vincent who bought an existing manufacturing name HRD, initially renaming it as ''Vincent HRD'', producing his own motorcy ...

. Advertised as "By

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

out of

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

" this 500cc single racer is very rare as only 31 were produced.

Development

Vincents had a close association with motorcycle racing and the

Phil Irving Philip Edward Irving MBE, CEng., FIMechE., MSAE., (1903–1992) was an Australian engineer and author, most famous for the Repco-Brabham Formula One and Vincent motorcycle engines. He also worked at Velocette motorcycles, twice, and drew the en ...

designed

Vincent Comet The Vincent Comet was designed and built at the Vincent works in Great North Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. It was one of four 499 cc single models. As well as the ''sports'' Comet, Vincent produced a TT racing model, the Comet '' ...

provided the basis for the Series C 499cc Grey Flash racer. Tuned and stripped down to as a 500 cc version of the 1,000 cc

Vincent Black Lightning The Vincent Black Lightning was a Vincent-HRD motorcycle first built in September 1948 at the Vincent works in Great North Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK, and produced from 1948 to 1952. The bike was a purpose-built factory modified Blac ...

, the new 'Flash' was capable of 115 mph with a power output of 35 bhp 6,200 rpm. Prototypes were raced in late 1949 and the last model was produced in 1952. The small numbers produced mean that there was plenty of variation of the specification. Earlier models were finished with chrome on the fuel tank and lower fork link but towards the end of production in 1952 this was replaced by grey paint. As well as the

Burman Burman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anneli Burman (born 1963), Swedish curler *Barney Burman, American make-up artist * Barry Burman (1943–2001), English figurative artist * Ben Lucien Burman (1896–1984), American ...

BAR gearbox, Vincent also experimented with

AJS 7R The AJS 7R was a British 350 cc racing motorcycle built from 1948 to 1963 by Associated Motor Cycles. It was also commonly known as the ‘Boy Racer’, and won victories both for the factory and for privateers right from its introduction i ...

gearboxes but used Albion gearboxes for most of the machines produced.

Variants

The Grey Flash was produced in Racing, Dual Purpose and Road models, as well as Show models and a number of 'TT specials'.

Production

There is a debate about the number of Vincent Grey Flash motorcycles produced as although the official register lists thirty one, several are known to have been rebuilt. Many surviving Grey Flash motorcycles have been raced and modified to meet changing racing regulations or have been restored using the higher specification of the special show and TT machines for reference, so 'correct' examples are very rare.

Racing success

When he was 16 world champion racer John Surtees was an apprentice at the Vincent factory.''50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix'' (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. He made his first headlines in 1951 when he gave

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada *Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

star

Geoff Duke Geoffrey Ernest Duke (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015) was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. Born in St. Helens, Lancashire, after retirement from competition he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man. He r ...

a strong challenge in an ACU race at the

Thruxton Circuit The Thruxton Circuit is a motor-racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, about 30 miles north of Southampton. It has hosted motorsport events including the British Touring Car Championship, B ...

In 1952 John Surtees set a new lap record on his first outing of the season at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

and throughout the early 1950s was virtually unbeatable on his Vincent Grey Flash racer.

Museum exhibits

The

National Motorcycle Museum (UK) The National Motorcycle Museum occupies an site in Bickenhill, Solihull, England and holds the world's largest collection of British motorcycles. In addition to over 850 motorcycles, which cover a century of motorcycle manufacture, the museum ...

has a fully restored Vincent Grey Flash which features a special large-capacity fuel tank designed for the Isle of Man TT, which Vincent contested with four special Grey Flashes in 1950. The

Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum The Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum is a 'Collector's Collection' museum in Solvang, California, United States. The museum was founded in March 2000 by Virgil Elings, a local retiree and a collector of motorcycles. The museum's collection inclu ...

in Solvang,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

also has one of the four 1950 TT Racers which was owned by Ted Davis, Vincent's Chief Engineer. The exhibited bike has an experimental larger valve head and a large aluminium crank pin. Only one of the four Grey Flashes, (ridden by works racer Ken Bills), finished the race in 12th place. The Australian National Motor Museum of road transport history in Birdwood, South Australia has a 1950 Grey Flash.

References

External links

Owners club list of surviving Grey Flash motorcycles
* ttp://www.motosolvang.com/bike_pages/1950_Vincent_TT_Grey_Flash.htm 1950 Picture of 1950 Vincent TT Grey Flash * ttp://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/vincent/Vincent_1950_Grey_Flash_32.htm 1950 Grey Flash in Birdwood Museum {{Vincent motorcycles (1946–1955) Grey Flash Motorcycles introduced in the 1940s