Vintage Thing No.8.2 - The Vincent-HRD A series TTR

Of all the Vintage Things so far, the A series Vinnie has aroused most interest and I recently heard about a most interesting and very rare variant the TTR. Just before World War II, the factory went racing and subsequently built 3 A series TTRs - or Tourist Trophy Replicas - for sale. Two survive, one in Japan and the other in the US, which is being restored by Stephen Pate at Restoration Werks in Illinois & Minnesota. He's sent me these pre-restoration pictures. That's right - pre-restoration. Market value is estimated at $800k! The price of a TTR has traditionally been reckoned to be twice that of a standard A series Vincent and following the sale recently of an outstanding example at $400,000, $800k could be possible if it ever came to market - not that this TTR is for sale, however.

As pictured it features the incorrect forks and front brake but incredibly the correct pattern girder forks were found on a wall in Japanese temple. Obviously really. All that was needed was for them to be recognised by the owner of the TTR in Japan and then negotiations could begin.

I asked him about "The Snarling Beast's" Achilles heel. The Burman gearbox was on the limit of what it could take with the A series powerplant and frequently gave trouble but although he agrees that it was really more suited to a 500cc machine, Stephen reckons the main problem was one of inadequate lubrication. In fact, he's working on the gearbox right now. "There's a number of simple things you can do," he says, "but mis-lubrication (people using heavy grease) or poor lubrication (people not staying on top of the oil) seems to be a very common cause of failure."

Here's what the Japanese had been worshipping - men and women of taste, obviously. Steve explains that the the owner of the temple is a notorious motorcycle collector.