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This Vincent Black Lightning Is The Most Expensive Motorcycle Ever Auctioned

A 1951 Vincent Black Lightning broke the record for the highest price paid for a motorcycle ever and it happened at a Bonhams auction in Las Vegas. Before this event, the 1915 Cyclone belonging to Steve McQueen was king of the hill being auctioned for $775,000 in 2015.
1951 Vincent Black Lightning 8 photos
Photo: Bonhams
1951 Vincent Black Lightning1951 Vincent Black Lightning1951 Vincent Black Lightning1951 Vincent Black Lightning1951 Vincent Black Lightning1951 Vincent Black Lightning1951 Vincent Black Lightning
But the Vincent Black Lightning here surpassed that by quite a lot, as someone paid $929,000 for it last weekend. Funny thing is, this isn’t the only record this bike shattered, as one of its five owners was racer Jack Ehret, who set Australia’s land speed record going 141.5 mph (227.7 km/h) back in the day.

However, in its 66 years of existence, the Vincent Black Lightning has clocked only 8,587 km (5,336 miles) according to its odometer that was fit from new in European specification. The bike is one of approximately 33 units ever made, and it’s considered one of only 19 matching-numbers examples still existing.

Debuting at London’s 1948 Earls Court show, the production Black Lightning caused a stir despite its price of over £500 with purchase tax. It’s 998-cc air-cooled, overhead valve 50-degree V-twin engine was given higher-performance racing components including Mark II Vincent cams with higher lift and overlap, stronger Vibrac connecting rods, polished flywheels and Specialoid pistons able to deliver a 13:1 compression ratio for methanol fuel.

Furthermore, the combustion chambers were polished, as were the valve rockers and the streamlined larger inlet ports fed by twin Amal 10TT9 carburetors. The Ferodo single-plate clutch cover had center and rear cooling holes, while the four-speed gearbox was reinforced to send over 70 horsepower to the rear wheel. The bike had a claimed top speed of 150 mph (241.4 km/h).

The auctioned bike is largely unrestored, and we say “largely” because its previous owner had to replace at least some internal parts to make it safe to ride. But even so, the replacements are said to be manufactured to the original spec using the original Black Lightning factory drawings.

Anyway, I'm going to leave you with some pictures to look at and the idea that this motorcycle now values a lot more than most motorcycle collections out there...
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