Engine Punk

Virtually line perfect, Norvins look the part but probably don't offer much over the standard Vincent. Still, wooargh, though, eh? The green shoots of spring are bursting through and nowhere is this more noticeable than in my piles of old photos that not only grow but creep around the house. The date and location of this snap of a Norvin at some show or other have long been lost but the look of the bike was enough to stop me dead in my tracks. For many years, Norvins were my ultimate British bike until I discovered the Egli-Vincent and that's more European than British. The Norvin was a logical extension of the Triton - put the best engine you can find in the best frame you can find. While this worked well for the marriage between Triumph engines and Norton frames, the Norvin didn't make quite so much sense. The standard Vincent frame was more of a small box behind the headstock. The engine didn't really need cradling in tubes. What counted against the Vincent ...

It's probably nothing to do with this blog but Brian Verrall's A series Vinnie sold at Bonham's auction for £214,800. The estimate had been £125,000 to £150,000. I am ambivalent about this. I'm glad that such machinery is appreciated and this is a record for a British bike sold at auction. I'm sad that the original "snarling beast" is beyond the reach of most mortals. What a bike, though! This is the model that established the Vincent-HRD and Vincent reputations and a fine example such as this is undoubtedly of historical importance. It's a work of art and is priced as such. I'm just not sure how much use any machine will get if it's worth the price of a house. Around 50 are thought to still exist out of the 78 built, which is a pretty good survival rate but I think both these numbers are too low. They should have built more and how could anyone break one up? The Vincent Owner's Club has put together a register of the survivors and a ...