Giving my good friend, Rick who has a long time case of Vincent lust, a first hand taste of how they work. It finally lights off for a trip around the block.
I had a ´49 Rapide. You need a feel for the bike. Starting is sooo easy. Just coincide the exhaust valve lifter lever drop with the downstroke of the kickstart and bingo, it starts. First time, every time. Miss that machine very much, (sigh).
Great video. Just like to say my farther had a Vincent black shadow he was only 8 and half stone but he could start it up. If didn't know how to start a Vincent up you never get it started up. You got to be showing how to start it. Thank you for this video mate nice Vincent you have here
The key is to use the compression release to turn the engine until you see the ammameter "tick," Then kick it through. And wish for a bit of luck. Works great on an Enfield.
I feel apprehensive that your friend may not be familiar with the one up 3 down shift pattern. you were very kind to allow him to take it out. Beautiful bike. My Venom is a fussy starter as well. It took me a while to learn exactly what it wanted. Proceedure .....is a LOT of fun with these old treasures.
Anyone who reckons the Honda 750 Four was the worlds first superbike is an idiot. This was a record holder whilst the designer of the Honda was still in short trousers!! The Black Shadow has to be one of the most beautiful machines of all time.
You're a bit off with you history. The Coventry Flying Eagle and Brough Superior 100SS were the first superbikes. Then came HRD/Vincent and the "Squariel".
I have this lovely coffee-table Paragon Books publication, Classic Super Bikes, by no less a luminary than Mac McDiarmid. He presents his selection of what he would consider the superbikes of their time from 1950-75. Here they are in chronological order: HD WL45 Nimbus 750-Four Scott Squirrel (2-stroke twins) Indian Chief Norton International Sunbeam S7/S8 Vincent 1000 Series C Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport Ariel Square Four Douglas Dragonfly Triumph 650 6T Thunderbird Gilera 500-4 racer BMW R69 HD Duo-Glide MZ: the racers BSA Goldstar Royal Enfield Constellation Triumph T120 Bonneville Velocette Venom Thruxton Norton 650SS Honda RC165 250-6 racer Suzuki T20 'Super Six' Honda CB450 'Black Bomber' Bridgestone 350GTR Suzuki RS67 racer BSA Spitfire Triumph Trident 750 Honda CB750 Rickman Interceptor Yamaha XS-1 Laverda 750SFC Kawasaki 750H2 Munch Mammoth Kawasaki Z1 Ducati 750SS Yamaha RD350 Norton Commando Laverda 1000-3C BMW R90S Moto Guzzi 750S Suzuki GT750 Kawasaki KR750 racer MV Agusta 750S America Benelli 750 Sei
I have a 52 Shadow and it can take numerous kicks. But once it starts ,from then on it starts first kick. It ticks over very slowly on two unlike this one. A new kick start spring is also required by the looks
And this is how to start the bike from an expert ua-cam.com/video/LYJc0FkaU2c/v-deo.html and a special modified shadow called a black Lightning ua-cam.com/video/Qoer0p00UiM/v-deo.html
Sounds great just needs to warm up like you said. Sweet bike, not sure if i would let him ride it . but you made it clear break it fix it. I admire that.
someone needs to work on finding the compression stroke and learning how to do a proper kick on a old V-twin. If he were starting a 1960's XLCH Sportster he would have a broken shin for sure, 11.1 compression is unforgiving!
+1 on the XLCH. My older brother had bought an old choppered Sportster from a guy. It had the magneto on it, w/manual retard and advance. :) I went to start it one day, and didn't retard it enough. It threw my ass over the handlebars. RESPECT.
Some years ago, I bought an old Royal Enfield with a magneto and manual advance. The seller warned me that the bike was nasty to start because it always kicked back. I got it home and discovered the advance mechanism was stuck full on. SMH
Those old brits are a bummer to start sometimes - I remember my uncle's Triumph launching him across the garage once when I was a kid - made a big impression on my young self!
Do you mean it had Girder Forks or the later Girdraulics? The later forks had a simple adjustment that altered the Trail for sidecar use. Very ingenious. The Girdraulics were made of forged RR-56 Aluminium made by the Bristol Aircraft Company, one of the reasons it went out of production because it was an excellent machine but the "working man" could not afford the asking prices. Twenty-seven years of riding joy on a machine that increased in value every year. Pds. 100 paid for it in 1962, sold for Pds. 8 000 in 1985.
Maybe they want to show that one needs to develop the knack, painfully, to start them. But yes I agree it is a waste of time watching that long struggle. :)
Johnnie Guitar because it’s fun watching rookies who clearly have no freaking idea what they’re doing even sitting on a bike like that. He belongs on a Honda 450 cc
It's fun watching people who don't know the bike try to start it. I used to let my friends have a go at my old Maico and laugh my ass off when it would kick back and scare the shit out of them! It amazes me how few people know to find top dead center to start something. I guess it's just this modern age and its easy starting bikes we live in. It does make for some great comedy though. BANG!! "What the hell was THAT!!??.....uh, ouch."
I can't say I suffer from nostalgia by not having to kick-start my Nortons. But it does take a knack! I had a 1969 Commando fastback (make sure your frame isn't cracked under the tank) and a 1971 Interstate and another 1969 Fastback. I got a "kick" out of your video!
"What about the key"? "You don't need no stinking key"! Makes sense, only a handfull can start a Vincent and the bloke with the advise knows them all!!! But with a guy so obviously not familiar with motorcycles i would strongly suggest some protective clothing and a helmet!
I owned an HRD 1949 model. You need to find compression first, pull up the valve lifter, then kickstart and near the bottom of the stroke release the valve lifter, BINGO, works every time, well nearly.
There are THREE schools of thought on starting a Vincent vee twin... When I first got one I used to start it as this guy is being instructed. Wasn't too successful. I found that the better way was to ease it over the SECOND of the two compression strokes with the decompressor (there are two fairly closely spaced because of the firing order), then just to give it a good lusty swing. Much better. BEST way is to get Patrick Godet to fit his new electric start system. Works every time! :-)
I am so happy that my Norton is a 1975 electric start. Yeah, I am a pussy, but I have owned non-electric start Commandos too. The 75 E-Start is the best.
who believes the Honda was a superbike,i had a 69 it wasn't a superbike.Tyres,brakes suspension,and frame were not good,i put the engine in a Rickman frame in 1973,that was a super bike and super uncomfortable too
my grandad and friends all in 70s to 80s can all at least get their vincents to fire on the first and second kicks. i mean come on. i can get my grandads rapide to start second/third kick
When I was sixteen in 1977, I was offered a track Vincent with a 1300 overbore and high comp pistons for two hundred and fifty quid. Apparently it would do 170 mph! I couldn't raise the money unfortunately. Doh. I also sold a 1960 Cadillac that had been owned by JC for six hundred pounds a few years later. That's just two items from a long list of stupid things I've done...
Oh Lord an iconic piece of British motorcycling folklore in the hands of an unknowing, unfeeling, uneducated in te ways of British iron, American! Both Howard Raymond Davis and Philip Vincent will be turning in their graves!!
Oh, brother! No helmet! No gloves? No, leathers, even? Try this in the UK and the insurance guys' would run a mile - away from you I might add! Is that, what is meant by 'Home of the brave, land of the free!' I ask myself?
this is NOT how to properly start a vincent. after a few priming kicks, you must position the engine just past the forward cylinder using the compression release, let go of the lever, then kick. always start a vincent on the rear cylinder.
briotone Apologies Mark, yesy Paul came along 1928, however my tank just said "HRD". I think they weaved the Pau Vincent into that, then changed to the better known "Vincent HRD".
you are very wrong my friend ,most of the people including me that have Vincent's have more then 5 bikes in there garage,and know more about engine inter working the most professional mechanics/tuners, and sure its a rider i am 32 years old and i worked very hard to get them ,besides posers its a riders bike and peace of art
Strange Twisting the throttle does nothing. No Accelerator pumps back then. Only a button that floods the carb, and a choke. I am guessing they are Amal carbs.
Also the clutch needs adjusting along with carb set up, it should not crunch. Why no standard inch &7/8 carbs? you only need the valve lifter to get it just over top centre on the long throw then a gentle prod (half way down the stroke) to fire it up. Vincents are very complicated inside the timing cover and de-compresser bits can break as there are only rollers on their ends. If mine worked like this Dad (Mr Bassett ) would have it back to fix as this is just not right.
Perhaps the most beautiful motorcycle/machine ever created. Do yourself a favour, learn the follow through kick start technique necessary on all Brit bikes, especially the Commando, BSA Hornet Scrambler ,Vincent, Velocette. do girly out.
Worst technique ever. I was always told to slowly crank until there was resistance from the piston going up to TDC, Pull the valve lifter to the use one kickstarter stroke to ease the piston to just after TDC then let go the lifter and heave down on the kickstarter. This allows the engine to perform a full rotation against no pressure before coming up on the compression stroke. For my own part, I wouldn't be astride the bike but be at one side as I can get a better jump up before all weight comes down. Mind you, if you do it wrong this way, the kickback could pitch you over the bike.
Hey Hey wait that's a very complicated vintage machine...watch up for the trick...watch the engine and understand the technology it's a period machine and then before you kick start the bike, just understand whether it's connected to all it's couplings. so do dummy kick once or twice...
Hard to start ? That's why I call it the beast, but you don't need the valve lifter. If you persist, you have to let it go as you start to kick down. My way is to firstly prime the carburetors, then slowly turn over twice (2 compressions) , then push carefully until just over compression. Open throttle a fraction and then swing it all the way down. Best done with the bike on the rear stand when cold. How do I know this ? Owned one for 50 years !
too much money and no idea! my dad was brought up on these, i was brought up on honda 750/4s, theres a knack to them and to this day i struggle with the hrd starting, annoys me people with enough money to own them haven't the 1st idea about bikes 9 times out of 10!
della k. When it comes to classic cars and motorcycles it has long been the way of it my friend. The people that truly understand them can rarely afford them and the people that can afford them haven't got a damned clue how to even start them. The times I've seen someone turn up at a vintage race rally with a classic race car accompanied by a couple of mechanics there to start the thing for him so that he can cruise it around the circuit for a few laps. You feel like saying, 'Look fellah.. You own it, You start the damned thing!'
what? vintage stuff takes skill to start, it takes time to learn the technique. Its not something that can be mastered the same as pressing the start button on a modern.
There is a way to kick these classics, you would damage the internal components, you gotta understand and kick when you know that it's holding the couplings, you feel it. Just don't kick without a reason. These are beauty they will not me manufactured anymore, so who has it he has it, a unique machine which defines period motorcycling when it was pure!
@jerrykap44 I had a Norton Commando (Gold Fastback) once you got the knack starting them was easy. Just a tickle of the Amals get it right on TDC and BINGO !!! Straight over the handlebars. Lol
Always best to start them on the stand you loose two much clout trying to hold them up at they same time then you use your weight as well . beautiful bike one of the lads at tech had a black shadow engine in a Norton frame beautiful looking bike that was in the seventies they didnt have the same value or rarety then
aNOTHER FILM OF A GREAT BIKE IN THE WRONG HANDS
arnold sewerby that nitwit has no business even sitting on that bike!
your a good bloke letting your mate do that to your bike!
This is where it's nice to live on a hill that goes down for about a quarter mile. Just put it in third and let out the clutch. : )
that guy has no idea what hes doing
Dan Theriault
Yup he's clueless.
Get it over both compressions then swing
The whole video made me nervous.
--Why bro?
ABC I why? That nitwit had absolutely no business sitting on that bike, much less his half S attempts on starting it. He clearly is a rookie!
MrJetstarblue no lie! I kept waiting for that nitwit to drop it!
For God's sake get him a Honda step thru !!!...Nancy.
-With a 49 cc.
I had a ´49 Rapide. You need a feel for the bike. Starting is sooo easy. Just coincide the exhaust valve lifter lever drop with the downstroke of the kickstart and bingo, it starts. First time, every time. Miss that machine very much, (sigh).
briotone You are one of the lucky few, sir, to have ridden the best bike ever made.
Great video. Just like to say my farther had a Vincent black shadow he was only 8 and half stone but he could start it up. If didn't know how to start a Vincent up you never get it started up. You got to be showing how to start it. Thank you for this video mate nice Vincent you have here
The key is to use the compression release to turn the engine until you see the ammameter "tick,"
Then kick it through.
And wish for a bit of luck.
Works great on an Enfield.
I feel apprehensive that your friend may not be familiar with the one up 3 down shift pattern. you were very kind to allow him to take it out. Beautiful bike. My Venom is a fussy starter as well. It took me a while to learn exactly what it wanted. Proceedure .....is a LOT of fun with these old treasures.
Ey .....en la última arranca el 💪
Anyone who reckons the Honda 750 Four was the worlds first superbike is an idiot. This was a record holder whilst the designer of the Honda was still in short trousers!! The Black Shadow has to be one of the most beautiful machines of all time.
Eric George Along with the Brough Superior brand .
You're a bit off with you history. The Coventry Flying Eagle and Brough Superior 100SS were the first superbikes. Then came HRD/Vincent and the "Squariel".
Superbikes is really referring to Japanese bikes of a certain period. Not Brit's or Americans or Italians.
I have this lovely coffee-table Paragon Books publication, Classic Super Bikes, by no less a luminary than Mac McDiarmid. He presents his selection of what he would consider the superbikes of their time from 1950-75. Here they are in chronological order:
HD WL45
Nimbus 750-Four
Scott Squirrel (2-stroke twins)
Indian Chief
Norton International
Sunbeam S7/S8
Vincent 1000 Series C
Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport
Ariel Square Four
Douglas Dragonfly
Triumph 650 6T Thunderbird
Gilera 500-4 racer
BMW R69
HD Duo-Glide
MZ: the racers
BSA Goldstar
Royal Enfield Constellation
Triumph T120 Bonneville
Velocette Venom Thruxton
Norton 650SS
Honda RC165 250-6 racer
Suzuki T20 'Super Six'
Honda CB450 'Black Bomber'
Bridgestone 350GTR
Suzuki RS67 racer
BSA Spitfire
Triumph Trident 750
Honda CB750
Rickman Interceptor
Yamaha XS-1
Laverda 750SFC
Kawasaki 750H2
Munch Mammoth
Kawasaki Z1
Ducati 750SS
Yamaha RD350
Norton Commando
Laverda 1000-3C
BMW R90S
Moto Guzzi 750S
Suzuki GT750
Kawasaki KR750 racer
MV Agusta 750S America
Benelli 750 Sei
tryarunm
HD WL45 a super bike ! great old bike but was never a super bike
Actually the guy starting the bike is quite an experienced Brit bike rider...I think he was just too excited to get it right.
I have a 52 Shadow and it can take numerous kicks.
But once it starts ,from then on it starts first kick.
It ticks over very slowly on two unlike this one.
A new kick start spring is also required by the looks
That's a sweet Norton Commando in the background... I feel so proud of myself for noticing that haha
And this is how to start the bike from an expert ua-cam.com/video/LYJc0FkaU2c/v-deo.html and a special modified shadow called a black Lightning ua-cam.com/video/Qoer0p00UiM/v-deo.html
Sounds great just needs to warm up like you said. Sweet bike, not sure if i would let him ride it . but you made it clear break it fix it. I admire that.
someone needs to work on finding the compression stroke and learning how to do a proper kick on a old V-twin. If he were starting a 1960's XLCH Sportster he would have a broken shin for sure, 11.1 compression is unforgiving!
+1 on the XLCH. My older brother had bought an old choppered Sportster from a guy. It had the magneto on it, w/manual retard and advance. :)
I went to start it one day, and didn't retard it enough. It threw my ass over the handlebars.
RESPECT.
Some years ago, I bought an old Royal Enfield with a magneto and manual advance. The seller warned me that the bike was nasty to start because it always kicked back.
I got it home and discovered the advance mechanism was stuck full on. SMH
That guy was a tool!
Those old brits are a bummer to start sometimes - I remember my uncle's Triumph launching him across the garage once when I was a kid - made a big impression on my young self!
LOL 😔😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂g
Yeah I can well remember those nights! So much easier now for old guys like me to have a button to press! :-)
I got to ride one once but it had spring front forks.
IT had to be older than this one and I was only 15
scary power for a lad that age.
Do you mean it had Girder Forks or the later Girdraulics? The later forks had a simple adjustment that altered the Trail for sidecar use. Very ingenious. The Girdraulics were made of forged RR-56 Aluminium made by the Bristol Aircraft Company, one of the reasons it went out of production because it was an excellent machine but the "working man" could not afford the asking prices. Twenty-seven years of riding joy on a machine that increased in value every year. Pds. 100 paid for it in 1962, sold for Pds. 8 000 in 1985.
Why not edit it, cutting most of the first part, to show HOW TO START IT, not how NOT to start it......... ?
Maybe they want to show that one needs to develop the knack, painfully, to start them. But yes I agree it is a waste of time watching that long struggle. :)
Johnnie Guitar because it’s fun watching rookies who clearly have no freaking idea what they’re doing even sitting on a bike like that. He belongs on a Honda 450 cc
tryarunm I rather liked it. Did you see the beads of sweat pouring down his forehead? ROFL
To my way of thinking the Vincent engine was the most beautiful ever built.
That Series A engine looked like it came off a starship.
It had two faults, one a crowded roller big-end, the other was it took 16 miles in an English Winter for the oil to reach working temperature.
It's fun watching people who don't know the bike try to start it. I used to let my friends have a go at my old Maico and laugh my ass off when it would kick back and scare the shit out of them! It amazes me how few people know to find top dead center to start something. I guess it's just this modern age and its easy starting bikes we live in. It does make for some great comedy though.
BANG!! "What the hell was THAT!!??.....uh, ouch."
get him out of the garage!!! sweep up or something else god!!!!!
I can't say I suffer from nostalgia by not having to kick-start my Nortons. But it does take a knack! I had a 1969 Commando fastback (make sure your frame isn't cracked under the tank) and a 1971 Interstate and another 1969 Fastback. I got a "kick" out of your video!
That Commando was perfect.
"What about the key"?
"You don't need no stinking key"!
Makes sense, only a handfull can start a Vincent and the bloke with the advise knows them all!!!
But with a guy so obviously not familiar with motorcycles i would strongly suggest some protective clothing and a helmet!
I owned an HRD 1949 model.
You need to find compression first, pull up the valve lifter, then kickstart and near the bottom of the stroke release the valve lifter, BINGO, works every time, well nearly.
There are THREE schools of thought on starting a Vincent vee twin... When I first got one I used to start it as this guy is being instructed. Wasn't too successful.
I found that the better way was to ease it over the SECOND of the two compression strokes with the decompressor (there are two fairly closely spaced because of the firing order), then just to give it a good lusty swing. Much better.
BEST way is to get Patrick Godet to fit his new electric start system. Works every time! :-)
LOL g
@@geoffreycarson2311 yes, well, when I wrote that it was whilst Patrick was still around…
gotta earn a shadows trust boy
I am so happy that my Norton is a 1975 electric start. Yeah, I am a pussy, but I have owned non-electric start Commandos too. The 75 E-Start is the best.
who believes the Honda was a superbike,i had a 69 it wasn't a superbike.Tyres,brakes suspension,and frame were not good,i put the engine in a Rickman frame in 1973,that was a super bike and super uncomfortable too
my grandad and friends all in 70s to 80s can all at least get their vincents to fire on the first and second kicks. i mean come on.
i can get my grandads rapide to start second/third kick
My late father had one.Brilliant British engineering.
OH TO HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY 😳😢😣STILL My 56 650cc TRIUMPH Trophybird As You yanks Call em GREAT BIKE Lads g
The trick to starting Vincents is to say "per-tang-yang-kipper-bang-ump" as you kick.
That's why I could never get it started. I couldn't remember the phrase.
So worth a 3 minute wait, sounds beautiful.
When I was sixteen in 1977, I was offered a track Vincent with a 1300 overbore and high comp pistons for two hundred and fifty quid. Apparently it would do 170 mph! I couldn't raise the money unfortunately. Doh.
I also sold a 1960 Cadillac that had been owned by JC for six hundred pounds a few years later.
That's just two items from a long list of stupid things I've done...
gareth5000 lol
Oh Lord an iconic piece of British motorcycling folklore in the hands of an unknowing, unfeeling, uneducated in te ways of British iron, American! Both Howard Raymond Davis and Philip Vincent will be turning in their graves!!
Oh, brother! No helmet! No gloves? No, leathers, even? Try this in the UK and the insurance guys' would run a mile - away from you I might add! Is that, what is meant by 'Home of the brave, land of the free!' I ask myself?
The trick is to get the compression just over the second cylinder, could start mine first or second kick even with a broken valve lifter.
1:48 the guy was like :do you want me to follow you? hauhauhauha i bet he was worried...the other guy is definitely not so familiar with motorcycles
fucks sake man................
Painful to watch this chap start her up. However the bike is most likely not a matching numbers original. So no great shakes.
This guy couldn't start a fucking lawnmower.
Agree with tripletrash ^ If you don't understand them, don't ride them.
he must be new at this
Price of these bikes lucky guy too even touch it.!
That's almost a million $
WHY SO MANY KICKS TO START. BIKE CARBURETOR FLOODING TAKING DOUBLE FIRING. IT SHOULD BE ONE KICK START OR HALF KICK START
My boss of 25 years ago was right. Anything that you need to kick or pull a string to start is a fuck up.
Sounds like a bag of nails.
2:58
I had an XT500 I know this routine
i got goosebumps when it started....
God Almighty...this is painful to watch.
Achei que ia terminar o vídeo e não ligaria a moto...
this is NOT how to properly start a vincent. after a few priming kicks, you must position the engine just past the forward cylinder using the compression release, let go of the lever, then kick. always start a vincent on the rear cylinder.
NOT a vincent!! It´s a Howard Raymond Davis motorcycle. Paul Vincent came later.
briotone Paul Vincent came along in 1928. The bike is a 1949.
Mark harrison What the f***!! Look at the tank HRD 1949, just like mine.
briotone Apologies Mark, yesy Paul came along 1928, however my tank just said "HRD". I think they weaved the Pau Vincent into that, then changed to the better known "Vincent HRD".
The rear cylinder is usually called No 1....
you are very wrong my friend ,most of the people including me that have Vincent's have more then 5 bikes in there garage,and know more about engine inter working the most professional mechanics/tuners, and sure its a rider i am 32 years old and i worked very hard to get them ,besides posers its a riders bike and peace of art
God I hate kick starters with a passion. 🤢
That was embarrassing....lame
awesome vincent
Check out David Fishel's posting of British Motorcycle Museum before it burned down.
Great bike..... Wrong guy.
he's no bike rider,can't even start a vinny!
Strange Twisting the throttle does nothing. No Accelerator pumps back then. Only a button that floods the carb, and a choke. I am guessing they are Amal carbs.
This guy is painful to watch.
the black shadow was the fastest & most powerful bike of its day 1952 '155 mph
Also the clutch needs adjusting along with carb set up, it should not crunch.
Why no standard inch &7/8 carbs? you only need the valve lifter to get it just over top centre on the long throw then a gentle prod (half way down the stroke) to fire it up.
Vincents are very complicated inside the timing cover and de-compresser bits can break as there are only rollers on their ends.
If mine worked like this Dad (Mr Bassett ) would have it back to fix as this is just not right.
Perhaps the most beautiful motorcycle/machine ever created. Do yourself a favour, learn the follow through kick start technique necessary on all Brit bikes, especially the Commando, BSA Hornet Scrambler ,Vincent, Velocette. do girly out.
Worst technique ever. I was always told to slowly crank until there was resistance from the piston going up to TDC, Pull the valve lifter to the use one kickstarter stroke to ease the piston to just after TDC then let go the lifter and heave down on the kickstarter.
This allows the engine to perform a full rotation against no pressure before coming up on the compression stroke.
For my own part, I wouldn't be astride the bike but be at one side as I can get a better jump up before all weight comes down.
Mind you, if you do it wrong this way, the kickback could pitch you over the bike.
Hey Hey wait that's a very complicated vintage machine...watch up for the trick...watch the engine and understand the technology it's a period machine and then before you kick start the bike, just understand whether it's connected to all it's couplings. so do dummy kick once or twice...
Hard to start ? That's why I call it the beast, but you don't need the valve lifter. If you persist, you have to let it go as you start to kick down. My way is to firstly prime the carburetors, then slowly turn over twice (2 compressions) , then push carefully until just over compression. Open throttle a fraction and then swing it all the way down. Best done with the bike on the rear stand when cold. How do I know this ? Owned one for 50 years !
too much money and no idea! my dad was brought up on these, i was brought up on honda 750/4s, theres a knack to them and to this day i struggle with the hrd starting, annoys me people with enough money to own them haven't the 1st idea about bikes 9 times out of 10!
della k. When it comes to classic cars and motorcycles it has long been the way of it my friend. The people that truly understand them can rarely afford them and the people that can afford them haven't got a damned clue how to even start them. The times I've seen someone turn up at a vintage race rally with a classic race car accompanied by a couple of mechanics there to start the thing for him so that he can cruise it around the circuit for a few laps. You feel like saying, 'Look fellah.. You own it, You start the damned thing!'
Stick to your moped.
....life's too short! :(
Dear Santa...
i would not let that dude touch shit in my shop
what? vintage stuff takes skill to start, it takes time to learn the technique. Its not something that can be mastered the same as pressing the start button on a modern.
You know how much money he's trying to start there? I would give my left nut for that bike. That bike was a true animal of its time!
Did he come back ...
rule is if you cant start it on your own you have no business riding it.
I feel your Pain!
Jesus he must be a top mate.
And that's why men back then were in such good shape.
I can't believe the bike wasn't flooded from here to Sunday.
There is a way to kick these classics, you would damage the internal components, you gotta understand and kick when you know that it's holding the couplings, you feel it. Just don't kick without a reason. These are beauty they will not me manufactured anymore, so who has it he has it, a unique machine which defines period motorcycling when it was pure!
Shoot....go over to that Norton and try that one! Tickle the carbs, choke it, and kick it like you mean it!
My shadow starts in the 1 or 2nd kick ,this guy needs some more training stating a vinny.
Lose 1 to 2 hp with the weight of that starter.
I have to tell my knee that after 30 years of kicking British.
@jerrykap44 I had a Norton Commando (Gold Fastback) once you got the knack starting them was easy. Just a tickle of the Amals get it right on TDC and BINGO !!! Straight over the handlebars. Lol
Always best to start them on the stand you loose two much clout trying to hold them up at they same time then you use your weight as well . beautiful bike one of the lads at tech had a black shadow engine in a Norton frame beautiful looking bike that was in the seventies they didnt have the same value or rarety then
Always start cold old bikes on rear stand. Better swing & follow through.
this was the uncoolest motorcycle vid I've seen for a while... but the bike's awesome!
back cylinder compression-get it just over.
LOVELY Vincent Black Shadow
watching him is kilking me . he does not deserve the machine . more money than sense clearly .
Hey Rick! I found you while searching for VBS videos. Hope you're enjoying retirement.
Step away from the bike, Nancy
let him start up an Ironhead... that would be entertaining!
You slap that kick starter, again we gonna have a problem