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Where's the
paperwork for the Vincent?
Sunday shed wrap
September 8, 2025, by Guy 'Guido' Allen
Having been involved in
both the classic car and bike worlds over recent
years, one thing you can't help noticing is the
increasing value attached to good paperwork. It's
effectively the same as for the antique and art
sphere, where provenance is important and often
critical.
This has crept into the
contemporary motorcycle world, particularly for
anything that's a medium to high-end leisure model
rather than a commuter.
Since it's raining
cattlegrids outside, today I decided to spend a bit of
time sorting out the paperwork for the
recently-acquired 1952 Vincent Touring Rapide – a
series C.
I bought it through Classic Avenue in the USA
and young Jon Munn at
Classic Style was kind enough to import it for
me with zero fuss at a very reasonable cost.
The machine was meant to
come with a box of spares and books, which somehow
didn't make it into the container. These things
happen. When I got in touch with Nick at Classic
Avenue, I suggested we ditch the spares – most if not
all of which were used – and simply post me the
books. I already had a folder of restoration receipts.
Our thinking was that
the bulky box of spares may well cost more to ship
than the contents were worth, plus I can readily get
new ones via the incredibly well-organised Vincent HRD Club in the UK
(VOC). In reality, the extra books were probably
the only things worth having, and Nick managed to slip
in a couple of flat period spanners for the bike,
which were welcome.
So this morning I
gathered the lot together and found a brief case that
was big enough to contain everything. That now holds a
huge amount of paperwork on the machine's 2022-23
restoration and engine rebuild, a wide selection of
spares and overhaul manuals plus a reprinted version
of the original owner manual. I don't think you need
every service receipt the thing ever generated, and I
keep electronic records for many of my bikes. But
paper evidence of things such as a major rebuild is
valuable.
The owner manual is an
eye-opening contrast for anyone who has scanned the
equivalent for a current motorcycle. Written at a time
when the liability landscape was very different
(virtually non-existent compared to now) and when many
owners expected to tackle much of the service work at
home, it covers a very broad range of topics, to the
point where a capable mechanic could just about do a
complete rebuild with it as the only source of
information.
I recently used it for a far more modest
task, which was to remove and replace the wheels
on the bike so Phil Pilgrim over at Union
Jack Motorcycles could fit new tyres. He
gave a verbal run-down and it was critical to have
the owner manual on hand, as the architecture is
very different to a modern bike and you can do the
task largely without tools. The exception is
detaching the speedo cable from the hub, though I
guess you could leave it finger-tight.
Another eye-opener is
the package of material I received when joining the
VOC. I was sent a little presentation box with a
welcome letter, a lapel pin, some discount codes to
use at the expansive
spares shop and merchandise web sites, plus a
recent copy of MPH, the club magazine, and a
few other bits and pieces. Impressive.
Perhaps more
importantly, from a collector point of view, I was
able to get the VOC to verify the machine and its
factory history as the club has the records. Once I
supplied photos and numbers for three key frame
components plus two for the engine, it was able to
confirm the machine's identity and that it was a 1952
build – not a 1953 as everyone thought up to then.
On top of the paperwork,
I keep pretty good digital records of photography,
servicing and of course the web site screen shots,
pics and text from when I bought it. That happens for
everything I buy.
The result is that, when
I eventually go to sell the thing (hopefully many
years down the track), it has a bit of provenance
behind it. Unfortunately any paperwork history before
1980 has disappeared in the wind – a common enough
situation.
Having sent several
motorcycles to auction over recent times, as part of a
major reformation of the home fleet, I can tell you
bidders are looking for paperwork. Almost anything is
a good start. A fat file with useful information will
often tip the balance for someone to be comfortable
enough to go for it.
Where possible, this
thinking has extended to the more current models in
the shed, two of which have been bought through
friends who were good enough to keep the critical
books and paraphernalia.
One is the 2006 MV
Agusta F4 1000 Nero, which Roger cared for.
And the other a 2016 Triumph
Thruxton 1200 R from John.
They are two machines I
hope to enjoy for a long time to come, and it doesn't
hurt to think ahead.
You know what? On a day
offering weather you wouldn't send your least
favourite idiot out in, there's no harm in hopping
into the paperwork and manuals and having a quick
read. You just might discover some little nugget...
On the road?
And before you ask, no
the Vincent still isn't registered. It runs just fine
and the issue has been finding a couple of clear days
– as in weather and diary – to drop it off for a
roadworthy check. We'll get there, hopefully soon. In
the meantime I'm quietly thinking that, since it's a
Touring Rapide, maybe we should take that seriously.
At least once...
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