Vincent Black Prince The frame was also modified, re-siting the oil tank previously contained within the "Upper Frame Member" under the fuel tank, to underside of the new-design seat. A replacement single tubular strut bolted to the steering head and a single spring-damper unit replaced the twin rear shocks. The Black Prince was launched at the 1954 Earls Court motorcycle show, together with the 998 cc Vincent Black Knight and the 500 cc Vincent Victor (which never went into production as only the prototype was ever built). There was a lot of interest but much of it was critical, and the Black Prince
Vincent Black Shadow engine's ports. Early Black Shadows have a third inner valve spring not shared with the Rapide, but this feature was dropped from later bikes. Due to the low-octane 'Pool' petrol that was all that was available in the early post-war years, bikes of the period could have only low compression ratios. Although the prototype Black Shadow was built with a compression ratio lower than the Rapide's nominal 6.8:1, production Shadows have a ratio of 7.3:1 due to having different pistons from the Rapide, although still supplied by Specialloid. The Black Shadows have different carburettors than the Rapides, with Series B