VINCENT HILLCLIMBER
This hard-hitting hillclimb special, on offer at Bonhams’ Las Vegas sale, must be one of the most extraordinary Vincent twins anywhere
Championship-winning Rapide for sale at Las Vegas auction
WE’VE SEEN PLENTY of concours Vincent twins go under the hammer at Bonhams sales over the years – and plenty of restoration projects, too. We’ve also seen a few race bikes and record breakers go up for sale in everything from ‘as raced’ to immaculate condition. But this heavily-modified 1947 Rapide being offered for sale at the actioneers’ Las Vegas sale on January 23 has to be one of the most unusual. It also has to be one of the most successful, with five national pro-class hillclimb championships – in two different countries – to its credit. Given the exalted status Vincent twins command now – and consequently sky-high prices –it’s hard to believe that this particular example of the marque was bought by hillclimber Glen Kyle for just $50 back in the late ’50s. Back then, Vincent’s big twins were still the fastest thing on two wheels and Kyle could obviously see the potential of the Rapide for the freakishly steep off-road hillclimbs so popular in America. But more than a little work was needed to turn the $50 junker into a multiple championship winner.
First, there was the little matter of the AMA’S maximum permitted displacement of 750cc for ohv engines. Kyle’s solution to that was a re-engineered, short-stroke crank, with an Alpha crankpin and a pair of BSA pistons running in sleeved-down bores. To maximise power, he used Black Lightning cams, 1¼in Dell’orto carburettors – and ran the bike on a 70% nitromethane fuel mix. With little time for shifting gear on the brutally rough hillclimb courses, Kyle also ran a single-speed transmission, using the redundant space in the gearbox case to hold engine oil. With an elongated frame, the machine proved highly effective, delivering Kyle to his first national title in 1963. It would prove to be the first of many.
AMA pro-class hillclimbing was (and still is) a tough sport. In essence, we’re talking a near-vertical off-road drag race, with ruts, jumps, rocks and loose dirt adding to the challenge of racing up an almost impossibly steep gradient. But Kyle – something of a perfectionist with his preparation and race-day routines – was a master
of his high-speed art. He won the title again in 1965 before Cycle magazine caught up with him to follow his fortunes at a race in Freemansburg, Pennsylvania in 1966. Despite his meticulous preparation of the dirt on the start line, Kyle’s first run was something of an anticlimax and the twice national champ was 1.5s off the leading time of 11.89s. But the champ rose to the occasion and fired the Vincent up the hill for his second run in just 11.24s – quick enough for yet another win at the end of the day.
Kyle wrapped up another national title that year, before selling his faithful Vincent to up and coming rider, Beese Wendt. Wendt had won the Class B Championship and was looking to move up to the pro class, so the Kyle Vincent looked the perfect tool for him. And so it proved. With Kyle acting as coach and mentor, Wendt secured the Canadian Class A title in 1968 and backed that up by winning the AMA Class A title in 1969.
A decade later, Wendt was still winning on the
Vincent. This time (again at Freemansburg) Wendt recorded one of his last wins on the bike – and this time Cycle News were there to observe: ‘The best ride of the day, by far, belonged to two-time national champ Beese Wendt. Beese rode his Vincent V-twin flawlessly over the 500ft three-breaker Freemansburg cliff for an 8.55sec 750cc Pro [class] winning climb.’
Bonhams are offering the bike in as-last-raced condition, with Ceriani forks, twin Kayaba gas rear shocks and a lengthened swingarm. The original BSA pistons have been replaced with Venolia race pistons, there are Chrysler Hemi valves, three Black Lightning primary clutch plates with a left-foot lever to engage the clutch for the start so Wendt could keep both hands firmly on the ’bars. It’s being sold with its AMA trophies and hand-written notes by Glen Kyle that form part of an extensive history file. The bike’s estimate is $50,000-60,000 (£38,000-46,000).