Vinnie
UTAH’S BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS WEREN’T CREATED FOR Vincent motorcycles, but no other brand is so closely tied to that prehistoric lakebed. Thank Rollie Free for that. In 1948, at risk of major epidermal trauma, Free stepped into his Speedo (and not much else) for a world-record run on his Vincent Black Lightning-150.313 mph in his beach togs!
So when the Discovery Channel came calling with the idea of a Bonneville grudge match for its “Biker Build-Off” series, Matt Hotch had Vincents on his mind and history on his side-besides, his grandfather once owned one of the legendary lOOOcc V-Twins.
Says Hotch, “I don’t remember seeing the bike when I was little, but I do remember the stories he told about how fast it was when he raced hillclimb and flat-track.”
Hotch, 32, was born in Minnesota but raised in Yorba Linda, California. With self-taught fabrication skills he’s won two “Build-Off” championships and can charge up to $250,000 for one of his two-wheeled creations, put together
in a converted 1930s citrus-packing plant in the town of Fullerton. Currently, the waiting list for a Hotch Design custom is four years long.
Hotch farmed out the motor build to marque expert Steve Hamel, proprietor of Sterling Cycle Works in Saint Paul, Minnesota. To make the show, though, Hamel would have to drop everything and condense his usual two-year turnaround to just six months.
“The parts are out there,” says Hamel, “but rarely available at one given time.” So $35,000 worth of components had to be chased down from the ends of the Earth. They were received in less-than-perfect condition and had to be reconditioned; most were then meticulously polished.
Before all the parts could be assembled, many modifications were made to the engine and tranny. To run the wide rear tire Hotch prefers, the countershaft sprocket had to be moved over 1 lA inch via an offset sprocket with outside bearing support. This mod eliminated the original kickstarter. To bring the now-1200cc engine to life, Hamel
VINNIE
To Bonneville on a Vincent
used a Compufire electric starter and custom reduction box to turn a gear he hid behind the clutch basket. That gear is also used to drive the new high-powered Denso alternator that replaces the original DC generator.
On the opposite side of the crank, a 58-tooth wheel was welded to the flywheel. Its teeth are pick-up points for the TEC3r Electromotive engine-management system. Yep, this Vinnie is a fuelie! A Ducati Monster’s 45mm throttle-bodies, fitted with 5-inch Weber intake horns, are fed by an electric fuel pump to hydrate the motor with an injected brew of air and fuel. The bill for Hamel’s handiwork, featuring a hefty expedite fee, was a staggering $85,000!
While the bucks-up motor was coming together, Hotch worked out the rest of the details. What looks like a rigid frame wrapped artfully around the engine actually conceals about 2 inches of rear-wheel travel. Stock fork tubes were lengthened 4 inches by Works Performance, which also made Hotch a one-off front shock. Odd-sized 26 x 4-inch front and 20 x 6-inch rear rims made by Metal Motorsports were laced to Black Bike hubs. Vee Rubber of Taiwan provided the prototype 200-series traction. Brodo came up with the stainless-steel perimeter rotors
that PM twopiston pinchers put the stop to.
In a nice nod to Vincent’s past, the oversized speedo wears
a stock face but is backed by modern internals.
The finished product is one of the most sparsely, strikingly beautiful customs of recent times, proof that you don’t need demonic paint schemes, automotive hood ornaments or marketing tie-ins to major motion pictures to create a memorable machine.
Of course, Bonneville doesn’t care about beauty. When it came time for the speed runs, Hotch’s high-dollar EFI system crapped out, allowing only half throttle. This distant relative of Rollie Free’s famous Black Lightning mustered just 99.7 mph
Cheer up, Matt, at least you weren’t in your skivvies.
Mark Cernicky
