The following pictures and info came to me originally from my friend Chris Richards in NZ. Chris and I met in the US where we share the sport of soaring/gliding. He rides an old Ariel and Royal Enfield at home. Chris lives near Blenheim on the NZ South Island. He has ridden the Vincent several times and offered to see what he could find out about it from his local area motorcycle enthusiasts. Through Chris’s efforts, I contacted the young lad in the pictures, Robert Montgomery, who still lives in the same area. He is the son of the local cycle shop owner who imported the Vincent for their customer. Robert gave permission to use his words and pictures. The Vincent was picked up by the dealers using their Harley sidecar transporter, assembled at their shop and sold locally.

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Here are a few quotes from his emails to me:Your Vincent Black Shadow was imported by partners Roy Lyford and Forrest “Monty” Montgomery (my father) in 1954 and sold to Eric Wallace of Okaramio, a rural locality north-west of Blenheim. Roy and Monty were partners in the Aero Cycle and Motorcycle Depot of Maxwell Road, Blenheim.  It was said that this was the equivalent of a small country garage importing, assembling and selling a Rolls Royce motorcar; it enhanced their credibility as businessmen and did wonders for the reputation of the business. 

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Here are a few quotes from his emails to me:Your Vincent Black Shadow was imported by partners Roy Lyford and Forrest “Monty” Montgomery (my father) in 1954 and sold to Eric Wallace of Okaramio, a rural locality north-west of Blenheim. Roy and Monty were partners in the Aero Cycle and Motorcycle Depot of Maxwell Road, Blenheim.  It was said that this was the equivalent of a small country garage importing, assembling and selling a Rolls Royce motorcar; it enhanced their credibility as businessmen and did wonders for the reputation of the business. 

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Also from Chris Richards:
Eric Wallace, bought the Vincent from Aero Cycle depot in Blenheim in 1954. Eric rode his Vincent for a flying Quarter Mile at 112mph and in a 5 lap Handicap Race at Hawkesbury in 1955. Eric sold it to Maurice Turner, a train engine driver in Picton, who then sold to Clarrie Olson, a marine engineer in Picton. Area residents must have been very familiar with Vincents and It obviously appealed to the engineers! I have an Alpha Bearings receipt from when Mr. Olson ordered a new big end in 1961 for the sum of £7/13/6 –a lot of money in those days.

 

Mr. Olson then sold around 1966 to Robert Trozzo, a US Air Force man stationed in the area who took it to the US. I have his original 1970 New York registration document and some other receipts from Harper Engines, who sent him a lot of parts to NZ and to Florida. Robert then then sold the Vincent to me in 2006 as a derelict project. At some point he stopped riding for mechanical reasons and parked the bike in his wood-shed, which eventually fell down. He burned the wood shed and the bike became a yard ornament for years until he decided to put it on eBay, which is when I bought from him. I grew up in N. Ireland and remember seeing a Black Shadow when I was a teenager, not imagining that someday I would actually have one

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I don’t believe that Robert became a VOC member as he implied that in those days he rode with slightly more “aggressive” crowd, but some of the members from the eastern US may recognize his name. After 2 years intensive restoration, 12159B was back on the road and I have managed 22,000+ miles on it since and have been able to attend 3 US rallies and 1 International, plus several great rallies with the N and S California VOC section members. After 62 years it now gives me the thrills that were first shared by the men in NZ and NY.

 

What a great machine!

 

FOLLOW UP in 2017
This is a short follow up to my letter published in MPH July 2016. A few weeks after, I received an email from NZ asking if I was the Sam Whiteside who owned a Vincent in the US. I replied, Yes. It was from Stuart Wallace, son of Eric, the first owner of my bike. A copy of MPH had been passed on to them and Stuart suggested that I call his dad for a chat. I believe Eric was about 83 at that time. I called Eric and he was able to tell me of his early days with the bike and his subsequent sale to another local rider. Unfortunately, at a bit of a loss!

 

Eric then called me mid 2017 to ask how the Vincent was running and was I still enjoying the ride– which of course, I am.

 

He and Stuart had sent me a couple of pictures, which I include here. I asked if it was OK to send them to MPH, which it was. So here is one with Eric’s little brother, Richard and the bike with sidecar in the yard of their home. I hope they are clear enough for print. Nice B&W s from the era.

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FOLLOW UP in 2022. I have now covered about 33,000 miles on 54VIN and it is still as good as it always was!