Bonhams Lightning.

Simon Dinsdale

Simon Dinsdale

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VOC Member
VOC Forum Moderator
Cyborg said:
Simon, was that the same bike they used for 1949 Earls Court?
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The New Yorks Show Lightning was a different bike to the Earls Court Lightning.

I've just looked at a photo of the Earls Court bike taken at the show and that was fitted with a rear head and the records say TT10 1-5/32" size carbs which appear to be flange mounted.

The photo of the Vic Proctor Lightning when new and leaning against its packing crate also shows a rear head and that also had TT10 1-5/32" carbs. Cannot tell though if they are flange mounted or not.

So don't assume all Lightnings had two front heads.
 
C

Calle

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VOC Member
Was there a Black Lightning in Ceylon/Sri Lanka?
I have a tachometer and tachometer drive gear similar to the ones on the Polish Lightning for sale at Bonhams. The rumor I heard is that it came from a Black Lightning in Ceylon that was for sale in the 1980s. The same seller had a Shadow and a Lightning. The man I bought the tachometer from bought the Black Shadow (the machine is still in his possession) but wanted to wait to buy the Lightning until he had enough money. When he returned to buy, the bike was gone. I've never taken much notice of this story, it feels like a car dealer story, but picked it up when I saw the picture on the forum of the tachometer and it has the same face as the one on Cyborg's picture.

Could there be any substance behind this story?

Not all good stories have to be true.
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Simon Dinsdale

Simon Dinsdale

VOC Machine Registrar
VOC Member
VOC Forum Moderator
Calle said:
Was there a Black Lightning in Ceylon/Sri Lanka?
I have a tachometer and tachometer drive gear similar to the ones on the Polish Lightning for sale at Bonhams. The rumor I heard is that it came from a Black Lightning in Ceylon that was for sale in the 1980s. The same seller had a Shadow and a Lightning. The man I bought the tachometer from bought the Black Shadow (the machine is still in his possession) but wanted to wait to buy the Lightning until he had enough money. When he returned to buy, the bike was gone. I've never taken much notice of this story, it feels like a car dealer story, but picked it up when I saw the picture on the forum of the tachometer and it has the same face as the one on Cyborg's picture.

Could there be any substance behind this story?

Not all good stories have to be true.
Click to expand...
I don't know of any Lightnings ever been in Ceylon.
 
Cyborg

Cyborg

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VOC Member
Not all of them came with herringbone, but that’s a different discussion I suppose… when the factory tested that Lightning in the photo posited earlier, it was tested by the factory for approximately 100 miles using a petrol alcohol blend if that means anything to you.
 
Cyborg

Cyborg

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VOC Member
Bazlerker said:
Len told me that the generator was installed.
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I also had the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with Len, it was long ago and I don’t recall any discussion about this particular subject, in fact the only thing I do recall was when I met him his first words were: “I hear you are a Vincent man”. Obviously happy to find someone out in the colonies that could speak the language. My brother had far more conversations with Len and I recall my brother mentioning the generator, battery subject along with a discussion about a bit of a mystery surrounding the instruments. Obviously that info is second hand, but there is also documentation between Indian and Northwest Cycle that specifically mentions the generator which leads me to conclude that if the Lightning came with a generator, it came separately and likely from Indian along with spares for his Rapide. Either way, the definitive answer would be in the works order form and if I recollect correctly, that document is missing. I’m more interested in the story behind the instruments, but I reached a dead end in that one… no pun intended.
 
Cyborg

Cyborg

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Simon Dinsdale said:
The New Yorks Show Lightning was a different bike to the Earls Court Lightning.

I've just looked at a photo of the Earls Court bike taken at the show and that was fitted with a rear head and the records say TT10 1-5/32" size carbs which appear to be flange mounted.

The photo of the Vic Proctor Lightning when new and leaning against its packing crate also shows a rear head and that also had TT10 1-5/32" carbs. Cannot tell though if they are flange mounted or not.

So don't assume all Lightnings had two front heads.
Click to expand...
It wasn’t the heads I was interested in… I came across a couple of photos showing Lightnings with rear heads when I was gathering info for my project, so knew that was the case. Although… I wasn’t clear on what carburetors were used for the flanged variety. It was the instruments on that bike the got my attention. I have one of those tachometers and was told by several folks, including a fairly knowledgeable instrument rebuilder that it wasn’t a RC115 and it wasn’t intended for a Lightning. I find it interesting that the Earls Court and the New York bikes both came with those instruments. Somewhere in my pile, there is a reference to those faces/logos being prewar. Obviously not… either that or they had a few left over.
 
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