| Author | Message | ||
     Johnod |
https://eglivincent.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/5a .jpg If someone wants to open and repost , go ahead. | ||
| Ducley |
Ok, I will try.  | ||
| Johnod |
Thanks. I'll have one by the way | ||
| Steveford |
Nice work! Is there any more information on that? | ||
| Upthemaiden |
After staring at buells for so long, I really had to look at that one for a long time before I could make sense of it in my head. It looked like an optical illusion and I was just seeing things. They did an awesome job of making that look like it was built that way from the start. I don't know much about the Vincent engines, but it's impressive them made it work with the front engine mount and the swingarm still attached to the back of the motor. I'd love to have the welding skill to be able to jam any motor I wanted in other frames. | ||
| Blks1l |
I would be curious to see more as well, I can still see the HD starter in there, I would assume the Vincent had separate engine and transmission cases. | ||
| Johnod |
I have no info at all on it, and only the one pic. Vincents were a unit construction, engine and trans one piece. Also a stressed member originally. When making a special back in the day, the transmissions were often cut off to make engine easier to fit. I think that's what happened here, as I too see the HD starter. | ||
| 1313 |
Someone must know - or be able to find - more info than this! Admittedly, there isn't much - especially not as much as I had hoped there would be. That is SWEET!!! 1313 | ||
| Hootowl |
Lots of work there. Frame, shortened tail section, marrying the swing arm block to a different engine case...the list goes on. I would be interested in seeing the front engine mount. | ||
| Johnod |
Long before seeing this, I once described my S2 to a friend as the poor mans Vincent. Kinda funny when I saw this. | ||
| Ebutch |
I came up with this https://books.google.com/books?id=9l9lDQAAQBAJ&pg= PA340&lpg=PA340&dq=vincent+buell+lightning&source= bl&ots=8jvjZCbv0Y&sig=9l4uh3nuh0Y1-noU-RWwKSUEjXg& hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicrf-i2v7SAhXm7oMKHTjHDdQQ6A EIOzAI#v=onepage&q=vincent%20buell%20lightning&f=f alse | ||
| Ebutch |
More https://egli-vincent.net/2014/01/01/the-vincent-od dities/ | ||
| Kc_zombie |
But wait, there's more... http://www.jmcclassics.com/engine.htm http://www.jmcclassics.com/jmcegli.htm | ||
| Johnod |
Yes that's where I got it, the book. Lovely book if you're interested. If you like Vincent engine specials, google Patrick Godet, Egli Vincent. He is the ONLY person who is approved by Fritz Egli to use the Egli name. He also makes the most beautiful bike you've ever seen imo. When I win the lottery my order is going in. | ||
| Blks1l |
Looking at some of those LH side pics of the Vincent engine it does look similar to the Sportster/Buell engine, somebody with good fab and welding skills I supposed could do just about anything. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Whatever they did with the engine&tranny marriage had better be strong as the rear shock is still hooked to the front of the engine. | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
To me it looks there is some bending and welding done with the frame to ,because the side tube looks different as a stock x1 frame. And the vincent engine has some side plates bolt onto the engine&tranny location http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/britvtwinsnow.html | ||
| Drhach |
If he'd left the Buell (Sportster) engine in there, it would be faster and still cheaper than any Vincent. Hell, you could probably buy 5 Buells for the price of that motor alone. I can appreciate the skill involved, but I don't think either marque ultimately benefitted from the exercise. If nothing else, it speaks to what Phil Irving probably would have ended up with. | ||
| Johnod |
What would you do with a chopped up Vincent engine? It won't go back into a Vincent. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Maybe he had the engine first and found a cheap engineless x1 roller and figured he'd make it work. | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Here is a bit of info about this build. Got it from, http://www.vincentownersclub.co.uk The Vincent Buell was built by a good friend of mine, John Newman, who passed away 6 years ago (how time flies). John was a free thinking musician (saxophone), artist and motorcyclist. After purchasing an ex. speedway cut Vincent (HRD) engine he already had the plan to put it into a customised Buell. Chris Knibbs helped out with welding the Vincent engine to the Harley 5 speed gearbox and did a great job too. We used to meet every Sunday as a group of motorcyclists in 'Ian's Garage' for coffee and BBQ sausages (I'm a vegetarian so my then young son really enjoyed these gatherings) and during one of his updates I suggested the mad scheme of amalgamating the HD fuel injection and ignition into his wrecked Lucas magneto housing. Well John went off and did just that. To put this exercise in context, John had a small garage with a vice, some files and a really big hacksaw. No machine tools in sight. Viewing the first photo of his bike you can see the subtle custom modifications only an artist would do. I've included some more below. I rode this bike a few time and found it very clean running and responsive compared to my old bike. Better brakes too! I met John's two brothers, one who came over from Wales who has the bike now. I'm please it's remained in the family and want to extend my best wishes from New Zealand. This bike has since gone on to inspire other special builders here in NZ so there are a few Vincents with electronic fuel injection/engine management systems. | ||
| Johnod |
Thanks for that info, it's nice to learn a little about it. Were there more pictures on the Vincent site? The link just seems to take me to a blank page with a VOC logo at the top. (Message edited by johnod on May 07, 2017) | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Only a pic from the buell instruments with Vincent logo and another picture from a distance but the same side. | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Here are the other pictures,     | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
And some insight about the injection system, The air mass-flow sensor and throttle body is a single unit given the combined inlet manifold system used by HD. For the Vincent all of the engine air was channelled through this unit before being split off to the inlets of each cylinder. The HD originally used two fuel injectors so these were placed near each cylinder head. I've attached photos below showing these details. The crank position sensor was placed within an old magneto housing that had the end cut-off. John was worried about the crank phasing being 50 degree but I just joked this small detail off as old bikes have poor timing and mixture. It turns out it ran clean as a whistle with first push of the button. Fast idle cold then warming up perfectly with absolutely no tuning. I'm sure that you could do a more elegant or better performing custom system and a much higher cost but that wasn't the point here. I know that by putting this detail out there that there will always be a critic of this work but I need to stress that John started from other people's junk - a wrecked ex. speedway chopped engine and a fully functional HD. The complete fuel injection and ignition system was lifted directly from the (decapitated) 1200 Buell engine. There were two injectors on the original Harley manifold and these were I've attached an image of how the system was configured This bike wasn't built for performance, rather it was more of an engineering exercise. Of course we all could have done a better job but John achieved this using his very modest facilities. My motivation of sharing this story is not to brag about some marvellous achievement, rather I hoped it would be inspirational for those interested in doing something different with very little equipment but plenty of enthusiasm. We call this 'Kiwi ingenuity' as spoken about in my earlier posting. From what I've seen this is not isolated to us Kiwis, rather it occurs in anyone worldwide who is bold enough to try rather than critique. | ||
| Drhach |
I know I came off pretty critical. Given the circumstances, this as a cool thing. I've seen perfectly good Vincent engines in places they didn't belong, e.g. choppers. That wasn't the case here. As stated, it couldn't have gone back in a Vincent frame anyway. I have to ask, what's it like to ride it? | ||
| Johnod |
Thanks for posting the other pics, and the further info. I just wish there were lots more info. I find myself consistently impressed with the ingenuity that seems to come from the Ozzies, and Kiwis . I suspect much of it has to do with living so far away from everything , and having to figure it out on your own, with what's at hand. |
