Vincent Black Shadow high temperatures at the track that year. Big-end failures put an early end to the attempt but several records were achieved including the 6 Hours and 1000 Kilometres by a Black Shadow. One of the spare engines for the run at Montlhéry wound up in Vietnam. It was sold to an owner in the United States, who installed it in a Rapide frame. The bike changed hands several times before being bought by Herb Harris and restored to Black Shadow specifications. Vincent Black Shadow Motorcycles produced by Vincent H·R·D at their factory in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England were renowned for their
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