Possibly one of the last Egli-Vincent frames built in Switzerland.
Interesting bike that this Egli-Vincent whose history can be tracked back in 1978 when this frame was first reported to the Vincent HRD Owners Club (VOC). This frame was eventually acquired by Rip Tragle – a famous Vincent mechanic in New York, USA – who completed the bike in 1979. Interesting indeed as almost all of the late VIN issued by Egli’s workshop for Vincent engines were acquired by Roger Slater before 1970 when he switched to the Shadow 70 architecture, made in the UK, and coded with a different VIN sequence.
So, Swiss Egli frames for Vincent built after 1970 are quite rare, and complete bikes from Egli were rather built in the early days (1967-1969). The current owner provided me pictures that I submitted to Fritz W. who think that the frame construction looks like a Swiss-built frame but only a validation with the workshop books will enable to confirm this hypothesis with no doubt.
As for the engine, unlike what was written in the past, it is not a late assembly by Harper after the motorcycle production was stopped. Upon Vincent factory records, confirmed by the pictures of the VIN and CC mating, these crankcases were original to a May 1951 series C Rapide sold by Jack Surtees in London, UK. The bike was first registered as LYY 491 and no longer exist as such, per DVLA records. Note that it cannot be said that the complete engine comes from the same bike or if it is just the the crankcases that were reused to rebuild a complete engine. Recent modifications include a 180W alternator and a Norton clutch with matching primary case cover. The heads are equipped with twin-spark plugs and 1 ¼ in Dell’ Orto carburetors.
This bike is currently for sale for $80,000 in the New York, USA. You can contact me, and I will pass through your interest to the owner.
Philippe Guyony © 2024
The Egli-Vincent 