1950 Vincent Comet

Philip Vincent was advised to start production under an established name. He had built a motorcycle of his own in 1927 and in 1928 had registered a patent for a cantilever rear suspension of his own design. With the backing of his family wealth from cattle ranching in Argentina. Vincent acquired the trademark. goodwill and remaining components of HRD from Humphries for £450 in 1928.
The company was promptly renamed Vincent HRD Co. Ltd and production moved to Stevenage.
The new trademark had 'Vincent' in very small letters above 'HRD' written large. After World War II. Britain had an export drive to repay its war debts. and the USA was the largest market for motorcycles. in 1949 the HRD was dropped from the name to avoid any confusion with the 'HD' of Harley-Davidson. and the motorcycle became The Vincent. In 1948 the Series C Vincents were introduced these included the Series C Rapide. Black Shadow. Black Lightning and the 500cc single cylinder engined. Meteor and Comet along with the 500cc racer the Vincent Grey Flash.
This 1950 Vincent Comet has a continuous history from new. this can be seen by the original buff log book. two continuation books. a blue V5 and the current red V5C registration document showing that it passed through a number of keepers before being purchased. requiring attention. by the vendor 30 years ago from a classic motorcycle dealer in Berkshire. In the mid 1980's with the engine requiring attention he went to the well known Vincent exponent Chas Guy who replaced it with a tuned engine that he had just completed. Chas Guy was killed in 1993 at the inaugural meeting of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and since then motorcycles are not timed for their runs up the hill. The vendor. after buying the necessary parts from Conway Motors. had the Comet back on the road and used it regularly up to 2004. although not covering very many miles. Throughout his ownership. he has carried out a couple of modifications using Vincent parts; these include converting the front brakes with the finned type drums and cast aluminium back plates from a Black Shadow. converting the front brake cable to a twin cable system and replaced the rear light unit for a later. larger unit. This Vincent Comet is in very good original condition. not restored but maintained to the highest of standards.
This Vincent Comet comes with a V5 registration document. a collection of old MoT test certificates which indicate that the motorcycle has only covered 4. 65 miles since March 1989. parts list. two handbooks. a couple of invoices and some technical information regarding the rewire which was carried out in 1985.
This is a very rare opportunity to purchase what can only be described as a piece of Motorcycling art as well as a fantastic investment.