Vive Le Vincent!
Vive le Vincent!
1000cc Egli Vincent Cafe-Racer
MICK DUCKWORTH
SEEMS LIKE THIS IS THE BIGgest thing to happen 'round here for weeks. On the sidewalk people stare and nudge each other, while startled children peer quizzically over a playground wall. Even the slouching man, Gauloise in mouth-every French main street has one-drops his studied insouciance to sneak a glance.
The event shattering the mid-morning peace of Malaunay, France, is a motorcycle under my control-or just about. The throbbing black-and-silver object spits irregular explosions that threaten to rattle the glass from the horse-butcher's window. With so many eyes on us, conveying everything from mild approval to haughty distaste, now is a time to keep cool.
But that's not easy, for this is the king of uncompromising, barely feasible 1970s cafe-racers, a lOOOcc Egli Vincent.
More accurately, it's a present-day, $30,000 replica of the revered Swissmade Egli-framed V-Twin, built from mostly new components in France. Sampling a freshly made one from the atelier of constructor Patrick Godet, I'm still finding it quite a handful.
Only a few kilometers from Godet's base on the outskirts of the city of Rouen, we've already passed several tempting cafe-bars. But I don't yet have the control or confidence to pull up nonchalantly under the gaze of the clientele.
Clip-on handlebars and a racy halffairing force a front straightaway-style crouch, even at a stoplight by the boulangerie. And the right-footed, upfor-first gearshift seems reluctant to cooperate. A horror of stalling, induced by fear that I'm not fully
versed in kickstarting this beast, keeps me blipping the throttle. The single muffler is a BSA Gold Star-type that emits a pleasing "twitter" on the overrun, clearly not a feature to impress the matronly figure on the pedestrian crossing, judging by her disdain.
The blare is more decently dispersed as we clear the town limits and ascend an inviting road into leafy Normandy countryside. Torque sweeps us effortlessly upward through a series of snaking curves, individual slugs of noise smoothing into a consistent roar. Free from low-speed constraints, the gears are selecting better and the open highway offers relief from growing wrist ache. Twisting the grip through the gears results in steady and strong accel-
eration, blurring the gray asphalt ahead.
In a string of gentle bends, the chassis proves utterly stable and we hurtle into a more complex thread of treelined river-valley turns with confidence. Heeling left, right and left into dappling shadows, the Egli reveals surprising agility on its period Avon front and Dunlop rear treads.
Braking from the replica doublesided Fontana front drum is not so reassuring-as I discover when simultaneously digesting the meaning of a "Give Way to Oncoming Traffic" sign and zooming past an approaching car to plunge into the cool darkness of a narrow old railroad arch. Echoes Waiting off its brickwork scold me for getting carried away.
Back at base after the first foray, Godet, who speaks ample English, explains that my experiences are what he expected. "There are so many things that need to bed down on a new machine, especially a Vincent. But I promise you, your next ride will be better," he says, deftly making adjustments all over the mighty black-enamelled power unit.
Now 47, Godet has been sold on Vincent Twins since touring many thousands of kilometers on one in the 1970s. He built a feisty lOOOcc roadracer that mopped up in European Unlimited Class vintage events in the 1980s, spreading his reputation as a tuner and restorer. Before the French classic-car business slumped in 1992, Godet also specialized in Aston Martin and Ferrari restoration.
Raised to eye-level on a bench, the Egli replica can be admired in all its functional beauty. Original conversions by Fritz Egli took Vincent power units, not expensive to buy in the late 1960s, and added cycle parts to offer maximum rigidity with updated braking and
suspension. The Egli's crowning glory is its "banana" gas tank, with the curve along its lower edge harmonizing with the cylinders' 50-degree splay.
Disconnecting the twin gas taps and releasing rubber straps lets the tank lift clear to reveal the main spine of the frame, a length of 100mm tubing that contains engine oil. The steering stem is welded to its forward end, and a subframe of straight tubes attaches at the rear, forming a rigid structure that supports the outer ends of the swingarm spindle. As on a Vincent, the engine is a stressed chassis member. Godet's clone sticks close to the Egli pattern and duplicates its classy nickel-plated finish.
Following the Swiss-built originals, a Ceriani GP fork displaces Vincent Girdraulic front suspension. Sourced in Italy, it carries the 210mm twin-leading-shoe Fontana replicated in England. Vincent's cantilever rear suspension is abandoned in favor of an oval-section swingarm, although it pivots on a tapered roller-bearing assembly like that in the British chassis and at the same location. Two period Ceriani shocks offer five-position preload adjustment and a Vincent rear hub is installed with a Black Lightning racertype single drum brake and speedometer drive.
Original Vincents were almost frameless, relying on a bolted-up oil-
bearing backbone to link the headstock with the cylinder heads and rear suspension units. Vincent purists may question the necessity of the Egli framing exercise, but results gained in roadraces and hillclimbs by the designer and others campaigning his hardware were convincing. And the modernized profile has quintessential European cafe-racer style-presaging Ducati's first 900SS.
Customers can specify the many variables on Godet's replicas, but he is skeptical of the need for a highly tuned motor for street use. "It's not worth the trouble," he says, explaining that this motor is basically stock Black Shadow, albeit with myriad minor tweaks based on Godet Équipe racing experience.
The main cases are newly manufactured in England, but blueprinted and additionally machined before assembly. The crankshaft is Vincent with Alpha big-ends and Omega forged 8:1 pistons. A two-stage oil pump is installed, and Godet fits and bores his own extra-thick liners in period cylinder castings. Original Vincent heads are reconditioned with unleaded-compatible valve seats and modified to permit freer internal breathing around the unconventional Vincent ohv gear.
Patrick fashions his own Lightningtype inlet stubs for the Amal Concentric 930 carburetors. Correct for the
"EgVin" period, new instruments from the U.K. are fettled to function at their best. Ignition on this motor is by Lucas magneto, but Godet is perfecting an electronic system with a U.S.-made coil for smoother running and easier kickstarting. Not present on this bike, an aluminum cowling normally conceals the magneto or trigger unit. To power the lights and horn, a 12-volt generator of Chinese origin replaces Vincent's 6volt Miller dynamo. A modem battery hides inside the period-looking dummy plastic casing, a popular dodge with vintage restorers.
Godet is justifiably proud of his exhausts, large-bore serpents slithering elegantly over the timing cover to meet under the gearbox. Long hours are spent on them, bare metal being partially polished before fabrication. Very little stainless metal is used, as Godet doesn't consider it authentic.
Internals of the four-speed transmission are new from the Vincent Owners Club spares scheme and an Australian V2 Ducati clutch replaces Vincent's problematic single-plate device.
In some cases Godet has designed his own Vincent-based details, rather than faithfully copy Egli. Examples are the foot-control assemblies, closely based on Black Lightning practice. A fully adjustable Lightning brake pedal operates the rear drum via a crossover
cable and the Ducati-like footpegs are knurled billets of aluminum. Egli him self used Vincent footpeg arrange ments on his earliest frames for Honda CB750 engines.
The neat cockpit area contains a repro version of Vincent's celebrated 5-inch speedometer, this being cali brated up to 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph). Vincent cognoscenti tend
to avoid the big clock for its excessive weight and a tendency to fracture mountings, but customers find its visual grandeur irresistible. A Smiths Chronometrie 8000-rpm tachometer is supported by the bracket that holds the fairing, itself based on a British aftermarket mold.
When the wrenches are returned to their trays, we adjourn with Parisian
photographer Jean-Pierre Praderes to a Rouen brasserie. We decide that tomorrow's run should be northward to the English Channel coast. "1 think you will find the bike easier to ride now," Godet says.
He is right. Starting, with judicious use of the exhaust-lifter lever on the left bar, has become a possibility, if not a certainty. The special long kickstarter that would really help is still in manufacture. Reliable slow running has been achieved by replacing a faulty float in one of the brand-new Amals. Even better, the gears now shift painlessly thanks to adjustment of hex
nuts at the right-side swingarm-pivot support plate, which, as part of the gearbox structure, can place side-loading on the selector shaft. That's real Vincent quirkiness.
Thundering to the north under blue skies on the N28, a typically wellgroomed French highway shooting through green pastures and quiet villages, everything feels très bien. Lazily long-legged like all good Vincents, the Egli lopes decisively past thin traffic. The odd scare when a small car or truck behaves unpredictably, as seems inevitable in these parts, shows that the front brake is bedding-in and now has bite. Sections of the route that had appeared straight on my southward automobile journey two days before now reveal themselves as sweeping curves, a joy to speed through on this superbly stable chassis.
Assuming this motor puts out a tad
more than the 55 bhp of a stock 125mph Shadow, top speed should be in the region of 130 mph. Certainly, 170 kph ( 106 mph) was easily achieved stooging along with this low-mileage motor. Mind you, for the price you'd expect something hot as well as handsome.
By the time we hit built-up areas on the approach to the picturesque Normandy coast, I've changed my mind about this being an awkward, unmanageable beast. Given expert running-in attentions and rider acclimatization, an Egli Vincent can be a controllable, flexible, sharp-handling vintage sportster.
But it does take miles and some wrenching to build a happy relationship. Then, even those roadside cafe-bars start to look approachable, especially as a well-designed kickstand makes parking safe and easy. Time to pull in for a leisurely bière pression.
