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1950 Vincent Comet Racer

Sold 09/02/2013

1950 Vincent Comet racer. Bike has been run at Isle of Man and Bonneville.
Built by Al Mark, a friend of Rollie Free. Bike has been in a museum for the past 10 or so years. Photo shows it without its Manx style fairing. The fairing is included. We are going to service the bike and get her back up and running. Can be easily converted to street use. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Al Mark, discussing this Comet. Bike is offered at $42K.

"The "Red Rocket" 498cc single cylinder Vincent Comet seen here, sadly enough passed into Al's possession as a gift from a dying friend. In stock non-race Comet form, the bike had had been sitting outside at prey to the elements for 27 years, and Al was determined to revive it, spending two years and then some, brining the little Vincent back to speed. He added his own personal interpretation, including the red paint job and bolted on the Manx Norton replica Peel Dolphin Mark II fiberglass fairing which gave a 6 mph advantage of the standard stiletto fairing of the era. He also mounted a tachometer, rewired the entire bike, and modified the distributor using a small jeweler's lathe. "With that tinker toy lathe, it took me nine hours just to modify the 27-tooth countershaft sprocket."

With only 26,000 original miles, the original standard cylinder bores were found to be quite serviceable. Well-known Vincent expert Marty Dickerson supplied a brand new standard 11:1 piston while legendary restorer Mike Parti implanted an Alpha big end and lined the flywheels. The heads were ported to match the Amal GP carburetor that Al found at a swap meet where he also located the Norton 4-speed transmission now found on the Red Rocket in place of the standard Burman box.

As for the name of the bike, Al says he took creative license in assigning it the moniker of "Red Rocket" as the Vincent is technically a Comet streetbike that's been massaged into a Gray Flash replica, with a Manx fairing and a red paint job. "I painted it red because I wanted people to see me on the track and get out of my way or at least give me a wide berth."

"We sold the Vincent Comet that you listed for us in bikes for sale. Thanks very much!"