HRD was founded by Howard Raymond Davies, a British Royal Flying Corps pilot, who conceived the idea of building his own motorcycle while a prisoner of war in Germany during 1917. Davies entered into partnership with E J Massey in 1924, trading as HRD Motors. The company ran at a loss and went into voluntary liquidation in January 1928. Philip Vincent, having built his own motorcycle in 1927 and patented a cantilever rear suspension design, acquired the HRD trademark, goodwill, and remaining components from Ernest Humphries for £450 in 1928. He promptly renamed the company Vincent HRD Co., Ltd.
The first Vincent-HRD motorcycle used a J.A.P. single-cylinder engine in a Vincent-designed cantilever frame in 1928. Some early bikes used Rudge-Python engines. After a disastrous 1934 Isle of Man TT, with engine problems and all three entries failing to finish, Phil Vincent and Phil Irving decided to build their own engines. In 1936, the Vincent HRD Series A Rapide was introduced, featuring a V-twin engine and continuing the use of cantilever rear suspension.
The Series A Rapide produced 45 hp (34 kW) and was capable of 110 mph (180 km/h). The Series B Rapide, designed during the war and released after hostilities, featured internal oil lines and unit construction, combining the engine and gearbox into a single casing. Philip Vincent summarised his frame design philosophy, writing "What isn't present takes up no space, cannot bend, and weighs nothing — so eliminate the frame tubes!" This design allowed Vincent to install the engine as a stressed member, reducing the frame to a steel box-section backbone.
From 1948, Indian Motorcycles distributed Vincents in the United States. That same year, an Indian Chief was sent to Stevenage to be fitted with a Vincent Rapide engine, resulting in the Vindian hybrid, which did not enter production. The 1948 Series C Vincents introduced "Girdraulic" front forks – girder forks with hydraulic damping. By 1950, the Series C 998 cc V-twin produced between 45 and 55 hp (34 to 41 kW), available as either a Rapide or Black Shadow.
The Black Shadow, capable of 125 mph (201 km/h), was easily recognised by the black coating on its engine and gearbox, known as Pylumin, and its large 150 mph speedometer. The Black Lightning was a racing version of the Black Shadow, with steel parts remade in aluminium and unnecessary components removed, reducing its weight to 380 lb (170 kg). In 1948, Rollie Free broke the US motorcycle land speed record on a Vincent Black Lightning at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The photograph of Free, prone and wearing a bathing suit, has been described as the most famous picture in motorcycling. Russel Wright later won a World Land Speed Record at Swannanoa with a Vincent HRD motorcycle in 1955 at 185.15 mph (297.97 km/h).
In 1954, Vincent Motorcycles was in an increasingly difficult financial situation. Sales declined after the post-war boom, and the company imported and sold NSU mopeds in an attempt to improve its position. In December 1955, motorcycle production ceased, and the company went into receivership in 1959. Phil Vincent announced the cessation of production at the annual dinner of the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club in the summer of 1955.
After ceasing motorcycle production, the factory turned to general engineering and the manufacture of industrial engines, including the Amanda water scooter, though a Vincent engineer lost his life testing it. Vincent engines have been fitted to other frames, most notably the Norvin, using a Norton Featherbed frame. In the 1990s, RTV Motorcycles attempted to produce a modern-day Vincent motorcycle with a redesigned engine and Egli-style frame, but the company went into voluntary liquidation in 1998. More recently, Irving Vincent, produced in Australia by HRD Engineering, is a re-engineered version based on Phil Irving’s drawings, with engine capacities ranging from 1000 cc to 1600 cc. The Irving Vincent won the Daytona ‘Battle of the Twins’ in 2008.
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