Vincent Black Lightning 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 Black Shadow that was then named and produced as the Black Lightning. At the time the Black Lightning was the fastest production motorcycle in the world. Vincent-HRD began motorcycle production in 1928 and were well established after World War II when they launched the Black Lightning. This was a production version of the Black Lightning which held the motorcycle land-speed
Vincent Black Shadow use Ferodo's MR41 linings, which was new on the Shadows. The primary instrumentation on Series B and Series C Black Shadows is a Smiths chronometric speedometer that from 1949 on was a large unit mounted almost vertically. Speedometers on domestic models are calibrated up to 150 mph, while export models are fitted with a 240 kph equivalent. Series D Black Shadows do not use the 5 inch speedometer but rather a 150 mph version of the ordinary S576/L instrument. While the Series B Rapide was not designed to be a racer, PCV felt that steady improvement was necessary and drew