The Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club (VOC), founded in 1948, celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023 and every four years since 1977, the U.K.-based VOC has held an International Rally. The events are typically attended by hundreds of Vincent owners and have been held in various locations including Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, the U.S. and the U.K..
For 2023, the Southern California Chapter organized the event, and it was held in two stages between September 11th and 23rd. The first week of the rally was based in Ventura and the second week was held in Cambria which is north of Morro Bay and south of Big Sur on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).
The first week’s featured events included a visit to the Solvang Motorcycle Museum, a trip to the Daniel Schoenewald’s private collection of 150-200 motorcycles in Camarillo (Google it) and a tour of Jay Leno’s garage in Burbank, where Jay showed off his Vincents and other goodies. Rides included routes to Ojai one day and a foray up to the famous Rock Store on Mulholland Drive.
The Cambria phase offered great riding up the coast towards Monterey and inland through vineyards and olive groves. Thanks to a landslide that closed the PCH 50 miles north of Cambria, the rallyists enjoyed blissful traffic-free riding between Cambria and the road closure. It’s hard to imagine a more idyllic place to ride motorcycles than along the coast of California. Whether you stayed on the coast or ventured inland through the golden hills and vineyards, the scenery was fantastic, the roads were swervy and the weather was perfect.
Both stages of the rally offered screenings of the new documentary Speed is Expensive which tells the complex story of Philip C. Vincent (PCV) and his motorcycles. Narrated by Ewan MacGregor and featuring interviews with PCV’s family members, former Vincent employees, Jay Leno, John Surtees, Marty Dickerson and others, the film is a must-see for fans of the marque.
The bike show in Cambria featured about 70 machines. There were models from all four pre- and post-war production periods (Series A, B, C and D) as well as Egli-Vincents and other specials such as NorVin, Vincati and Vindian (a Vincent engine in a Norton, Ducati and Indian chassis, respectively).
The rally theme was “Iconic Vincents” and, boy howdy, there were some fast ones present! The John Edgar Black Lightning that Rollie Free famously rode to a land speed record at Bonneville in 1948 while wearing only bathing trunks was brought out. There was a blue tribute bike built to honor SoCal resident and legendary land speed racer, the late Marty Dickerson. Clem Johnson’s Vincent drag bike known as “Barn Job” was also on display. This was the first drag bike to reach speeds of 140, 150 and 160mph in a standing-start quarter-mile run. It ultimately reached 187mph with times in the low 8s.
Alp Sungurtekin continues to use Vincent power to chase land speed records with his nitro-burning “666” bike which achieved 193.95mph at Bonneville in 2021. Alp and his bike were present at the rally. Dave Matson built a Vincent-powered land speed racer which set a two-way average of 225mph at Bonneville in 1998. It remains the fastest Vincent ever and Dave’s bike was on display at the Ventura stage of the rally.
“Vincents Across America,” a related pre-rally event, was an 18-day ride from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, with the final leg down the Pacific Coast to Ventura. A fanatical group of Texan Vincent owners, most of whom were serial Motorcycle Cannonball run participants, organized this challenging ride. This small-but-hardy group of intrepid riders participated in the adventure and successfully completed the trip.
Most of the 158 attendees at this year’s International Rally were from North America. There was a strong contingent from Southern California, of course, as well as large groups from Vancouver, Texas and back East. Three VOC Executive Committee members attended as well as members from New Zealand, Germany and Holland. A total of 85 Vincents in total showed up during the two weeks of the rally.
The International Rally was an outstanding opportunity to meet people in person who you’ve only known via social media, to make new friends and to reconnect with old friends — the camaraderie and sense of community was strong. It was also a great source of collective knowledge and information about these legendary machines which went out of production almost 70 years ago.
Phil Mahood, rally coordinator, gave his perspective: “There was something for everyone. After the final trophy was awarded at the gala farewell dinner, and the rally officially closed, the audience simply stayed in their seats. No one wanted this fabulous rally to end.”
The location for the next International Rally has not been announced, but I think it will take some doing to top the 2023 event. MC
