**The Art of Suspension: A Conversation with Nigel**

You get a lot of good heavens, Nigel, look at this. People thinking you somehow desecrated it well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you, you can buy this two ways, you can bite a lot of people prefer the coil over mono shock because they think it's going to be a chick magnet or something right? Yeah, that'll be yeah, yeah, chicks love coil over shocks, they go crazy for them, oh yeah, yeah. That'll be a chick magnet, but I also make the same set up, that looks completely stopped. Yeah, yeah, I what I've done this is this is this is the original spring box and this was the spring, it's about 200 pounds of spring and there were two of these so it was about 400 pounds, and this is mine, whoops, mine is much longer, it's a softer spring, the spring box is longer itself to accommodate that, and you put it on the bike, and the bike stands a little taller, but you put this and shock absorber on the rear, and you can't really tell, dude, same? Yeah, right now, yeah, yeah.

**The Story Behind Nigel's Suspension Mod**

And then these are my springs for the front, which are much longer and softer, they're a little harder to put on because they got a lot more pre-pre-pre-load that you have to absorb, and so this is part of the kit that I make, so that you can put the spring box into a holder, and then you clamp it down, and then you install it with a preload into the rear. I say so, that's the story, and it rides great.

**The Bike: A Masterpiece of Engineering**

Obviously, you should put one on your bike, and I should put whatever I change your life, I've got this one over here that's the egg, yeah? Yeah, that thing - whoo. And did you put electric start in yours? I got electric start; I've got all I've got all the modifications there's a guy in Canada that makes an alternator for these, I've got the electric start which is made in France, there's a guy in Holland that makes a conversion for twin leading shoe, and there's a guy in Australia that makes a modern clutch for it, and you put all these mods on the bike, and it's just a phenomenal. Just like the UN you got every country represented, that's pretty neat.

**The Evolution of the Vincent**

Well, that's this is one of the best Vincennes I've seen modern lighting modern braking, Mulaney's down here has taken essentially a 60-year-old design and updated it to where it's as fast and as fun as a modern bike. So yeah, but it's still you know it still looks it still looks like a Vincent, it still has the Vincent charm. Aren't that many Vincennes out there? He's not like you're selling hundreds of them every month I sell one kid a month; the one kid who slaughters so I've sold hundreds over over the last 15 years no yeah yeah lady thank you very much.

**Phil Irving's Legacy**

It's a pleasure to talk about this bike, something to consider if you know if you're going to Vincent rides harder, you get that front end Wabo and tell them about the front womble in case anybody knows about that. Oh oh whoa this bike was designed by Phil Irving right, and I meant before he died at a Vincent rally and Holland. And I was fascinated about suspension and I asked him about the front suspension, you know cuz Vincents had a rap about speed speed wobbles and whatnot as you're going about 50 and then settling the bike the handlebars really start hitting the tank slam yeah.

**A Lesson from Nigel**

Yeah, it sounds silly to just take your hands off the bars and it goes away so 15 years later yeah I I had gone to a party maybe I'd had too much to drink sorry but I was coming home and I got into a speed wobble and it was one of those things the wheel just violently went back and forth, and I heard this little voicing just take your hand off the handlebar yeah you were drinking yeah yeah. And I took my hand off the handle bar and it's straightened up yeah and I put my hands back on the handlebar and rode back.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell another episode of Jay Leno's Garage I guess this could fall under the auspices of the restoration blog section you all know the Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle Vincent's are one of the most legendary motorcycles of all time but the great thing about the Vincent is people still ride them to this day there are a lot of motorcycles that wind up in museums or they just don't get used whereas Vincent owners tend to use them now you can get a stock Vincent like mine right over here that's just about the way it left the factory except for the air cleaners and then you got a guy like Laney over here who modifies it so it's more modern in traffic it's updated it's got a lot of cool stuff on it starting with the suspension the Vincent motorcycle was legendary and it had suspension front and back it was the first mono shock correct Mulaney is a suspension guy tell us about the suspension on the Vincent motorcycle well you know the Vincent engine is legendary in the power of the motorcycle and the way it looked really gave it a cachet but what a lot of people don't really appreciate and what I am obsessed about is that this was the most sophisticated suspension of its day by decades Vincent made a fully suspended motorcycle during the days when most every motorcycle company had had a none suspended rear end a rigid rear and with only suspension in the front I really wanted to to develop the suspension as if it were a modern motorcycle keeping the geometry that that it had and you know why don't we point out your motorcycle here since its standard you know there are a lot of vehicles any time anybody messes with them all the pews run down like oh my god you can't do that no that's not stock I didn't leave the factory that way but Vincent guys are a bit more open because Vincent's can be ridden and used just like a modern motorcycle so consequently you want to have those updated features be it more powerful lighting be it turn signals and of course suspension as you can see there are three shocks on a Vincent there are two springs and then the center one is hydraulic which worked quite well in his day didn't it yeah but it was a very primitive design yeah you know Vincent had to make its own shock absorbers because there weren't any on the market that would fit on a motorcycle and and as a result it just had a shock absorber with a single little hole in it and you couldn't tune it you know the thing about moving oil through a hole if you've got a strong force it backs up it doesn't go through the hole right and so modern let me show you let me show you this this is this is the piston of the of the works performance shock that I have and notice it doesn't have one hole that's one oh it has a jillion hole right and each of these holes were covered with with a little spring and a ball and they open up based on the amount of pressure and so you can tune it for the exact amount of Road force and the faster you go the more force that that that the bumps take and so you can tune it and get a really nice ride a soft ride that is still firm and and responsive cool and so well all I did was I I i took the Vincent shocks and I made I had works performance out here in the valley these are all made in the US and they are highly tuned shock absorbers I have a tuned rear one and a tuned front one Vincent in its day this front shock is the same as a rear shock yeah and now since was it back somebody made a shock for the facts and kony both made shocks the same shock front and rear and what they did was they was they copied the specifications of the Vincent shock in it and it was a lot more sophisticated but it wasn't a tuned shock all right and what's interesting is that if you look at this original this design was for suspension without a shock absorbers the Springboks is here and this is a friction bearing here and you tighten this up and that tightens the friction that the springs work against in Springs in those days were really stiff to eliminate excessive wheel travel and oscillation and modern modern Springs are a lot softer and the shock absorbers which are highly tuned or what does all the work so anyway you put modern suspension modern components on an ancient Vincente geometry and it just rides like a new bike it's absolutely amazing yeah absolutely your bike guys let's take a look at what this bike looks like as you can see it has the single shock it's a it's a coil over mono mono shock now do you get a lot of good heavens Nigel look at this people thinking you somehow desecrated it well I'll tell you I'll tell you you can buy this two ways you can bite a lot of people prefer the coil over mono shock because it they think it's they're going to be a chick magnet or something right yeah that'll be yeah yeah chicks love coil over shocks they go crazy for him oh yeah yeah that'll be a chick magnet but I also make the same set up that looks completely stopped' yeah yeah I what I've done this is this is this is the original spring box and this was the spring it's about a it's about a 200 pound spring and there were two of these so it was about 400 pounds and this is mine whoops mine is much longer it's a softer spring the spring box is longer itself to accommodate that and and you put it on the bike and the bike stands a little taller but you put the you put this and shock absorber on the rear and you can't really tell the dude same yeah right now yeah yeah and then these are my these are my Springs for the front which are which are much longer and softer they're a little harder to put on because they got a lot more pre pre pre load that you have to absorb and so this is a this is part of the kit that I make so that you can put the spring box into a holder and then you clamp it down and then you you install it with a preload into the rear I say so that's the story and it rides great Meaghan now obviously you should put one on your bike and I should put whatever I change your life I've got this one over here that's the egg Leah oh yeah yeah that's a lot of fun that thing - whoo and did you put electric stone in yours I got electric start I've got all I've got all the modifications there's a guy in Canada that makes an alternator for these I've got the electric start which is made in France there's a guy in Holland that makes a conversion for twin leading shoe there's a guy in Australia that makes a modern clutch for it and you put all these mods on the bike and it's just a phenomenal just like the UN you got every country represented that's pretty neat well that's this is one of the best Vincennes I've seen modern lighting modern braking mulaney's down here has taken essentially a 60 year old design and updated it to where it's as fast and as fun as a modern bike so yeah but it's still you know it still looks it still looks like a Vincent it still has the Vincent and this is really later along because aren't that many Vincent's out there he's not like you're selling hundreds of them every month I sell one kid a month the one kid who slaughters so I've sold hundreds over over the last 15 years no yeah yeah lady thank you very much it's a pleasure diction owner something to consider if you know if you if you're Vincent rides harder you get that front end Wabo and tell them about the front womble in case anybody knows about that oh oh whoa this bike was designed by phil irving right and i meant before he died at a Vincent rally and Holland and I was fascinated about suspension and I asked him about the front suspension you know cuz Vincent's had a rap about speed speed wobbles and whatnot as you're going about 50 and then settling the bike the handlebars really start hitting the tank slam yeah and he said oh no oh no it's it's a good desire to curse cuz he like he said you know what to do if you get into a speed wobble and I said what and he said you just take your hands off and take your hands off the handlebars it doesn't sound like it makes sense it's like that thing if a bear's attack you lie down and play dead yeah it's a bears coming at you it seems silly to just lie down and play dead but it works yes it's the same thing with the Vince it isn't just take your hand off the bars and it goes away so 15 years later yeah I I had gone to a party maybe I'd had too much to drink sorry but I was coming home and I got into a speed wobble and it was one of those things the wheel just violently went back and forth and I heard this little voicing just take your hand off the handlebar yeah you were drinking yeah yeah and I took my hand off the handle bar and it's straightened up yeah and I put my hands back on the handlebar and rode back and then I broke out into a sweat yeah yeah well there you go it doesn't make any sense but it works laney thank you very much Thank You Jaywell another episode of Jay Leno's Garage I guess this could fall under the auspices of the restoration blog section you all know the Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle Vincent's are one of the most legendary motorcycles of all time but the great thing about the Vincent is people still ride them to this day there are a lot of motorcycles that wind up in museums or they just don't get used whereas Vincent owners tend to use them now you can get a stock Vincent like mine right over here that's just about the way it left the factory except for the air cleaners and then you got a guy like Laney over here who modifies it so it's more modern in traffic it's updated it's got a lot of cool stuff on it starting with the suspension the Vincent motorcycle was legendary and it had suspension front and back it was the first mono shock correct Mulaney is a suspension guy tell us about the suspension on the Vincent motorcycle well you know the Vincent engine is legendary in the power of the motorcycle and the way it looked really gave it a cachet but what a lot of people don't really appreciate and what I am obsessed about is that this was the most sophisticated suspension of its day by decades Vincent made a fully suspended motorcycle during the days when most every motorcycle company had had a none suspended rear end a rigid rear and with only suspension in the front I really wanted to to develop the suspension as if it were a modern motorcycle keeping the geometry that that it had and you know why don't we point out your motorcycle here since its standard you know there are a lot of vehicles any time anybody messes with them all the pews run down like oh my god you can't do that no that's not stock I didn't leave the factory that way but Vincent guys are a bit more open because Vincent's can be ridden and used just like a modern motorcycle so consequently you want to have those updated features be it more powerful lighting be it turn signals and of course suspension as you can see there are three shocks on a Vincent there are two springs and then the center one is hydraulic which worked quite well in his day didn't it yeah but it was a very primitive design yeah you know Vincent had to make its own shock absorbers because there weren't any on the market that would fit on a motorcycle and and as a result it just had a shock absorber with a single little hole in it and you couldn't tune it you know the thing about moving oil through a hole if you've got a strong force it backs up it doesn't go through the hole right and so modern let me show you let me show you this this is this is the piston of the of the works performance shock that I have and notice it doesn't have one hole that's one oh it has a jillion hole right and each of these holes were covered with with a little spring and a ball and they open up based on the amount of pressure and so you can tune it for the exact amount of Road force and the faster you go the more force that that that the bumps take and so you can tune it and get a really nice ride a soft ride that is still firm and and responsive cool and so well all I did was I I i took the Vincent shocks and I made I had works performance out here in the valley these are all made in the US and they are highly tuned shock absorbers I have a tuned rear one and a tuned front one Vincent in its day this front shock is the same as a rear shock yeah and now since was it back somebody made a shock for the facts and kony both made shocks the same shock front and rear and what they did was they was they copied the specifications of the Vincent shock in it and it was a lot more sophisticated but it wasn't a tuned shock all right and what's interesting is that if you look at this original this design was for suspension without a shock absorbers the Springboks is here and this is a friction bearing here and you tighten this up and that tightens the friction that the springs work against in Springs in those days were really stiff to eliminate excessive wheel travel and oscillation and modern modern Springs are a lot softer and the shock absorbers which are highly tuned or what does all the work so anyway you put modern suspension modern components on an ancient Vincente geometry and it just rides like a new bike it's absolutely amazing yeah absolutely your bike guys let's take a look at what this bike looks like as you can see it has the single shock it's a it's a coil over mono mono shock now do you get a lot of good heavens Nigel look at this people thinking you somehow desecrated it well I'll tell you I'll tell you you can buy this two ways you can bite a lot of people prefer the coil over mono shock because it they think it's they're going to be a chick magnet or something right yeah that'll be yeah yeah chicks love coil over shocks they go crazy for him oh yeah yeah that'll be a chick magnet but I also make the same set up that looks completely stopped' yeah yeah I what I've done this is this is this is the original spring box and this was the spring it's about a it's about a 200 pound spring and there were two of these so it was about 400 pounds and this is mine whoops mine is much longer it's a softer spring the spring box is longer itself to accommodate that and and you put it on the bike and the bike stands a little taller but you put the you put this and shock absorber on the rear and you can't really tell the dude same yeah right now yeah yeah and then these are my these are my Springs for the front which are which are much longer and softer they're a little harder to put on because they got a lot more pre pre pre load that you have to absorb and so this is a this is part of the kit that I make so that you can put the spring box into a holder and then you clamp it down and then you you install it with a preload into the rear I say so that's the story and it rides great Meaghan now obviously you should put one on your bike and I should put whatever I change your life I've got this one over here that's the egg Leah oh yeah yeah that's a lot of fun that thing - whoo and did you put electric stone in yours I got electric start I've got all I've got all the modifications there's a guy in Canada that makes an alternator for these I've got the electric start which is made in France there's a guy in Holland that makes a conversion for twin leading shoe there's a guy in Australia that makes a modern clutch for it and you put all these mods on the bike and it's just a phenomenal just like the UN you got every country represented that's pretty neat well that's this is one of the best Vincennes I've seen modern lighting modern braking mulaney's down here has taken essentially a 60 year old design and updated it to where it's as fast and as fun as a modern bike so yeah but it's still you know it still looks it still looks like a Vincent it still has the Vincent and this is really later along because aren't that many Vincent's out there he's not like you're selling hundreds of them every month I sell one kid a month the one kid who slaughters so I've sold hundreds over over the last 15 years no yeah yeah lady thank you very much it's a pleasure diction owner something to consider if you know if you if you're Vincent rides harder you get that front end Wabo and tell them about the front womble in case anybody knows about that oh oh whoa this bike was designed by phil irving right and i meant before he died at a Vincent rally and Holland and I was fascinated about suspension and I asked him about the front suspension you know cuz Vincent's had a rap about speed speed wobbles and whatnot as you're going about 50 and then settling the bike the handlebars really start hitting the tank slam yeah and he said oh no oh no it's it's a good desire to curse cuz he like he said you know what to do if you get into a speed wobble and I said what and he said you just take your hands off and take your hands off the handlebars it doesn't sound like it makes sense it's like that thing if a bear's attack you lie down and play dead yeah it's a bears coming at you it seems silly to just lie down and play dead but it works yes it's the same thing with the Vince it isn't just take your hand off the bars and it goes away so 15 years later yeah I I had gone to a party maybe I'd had too much to drink sorry but I was coming home and I got into a speed wobble and it was one of those things the wheel just violently went back and forth and I heard this little voicing just take your hand off the handlebar yeah you were drinking yeah yeah and I took my hand off the handle bar and it's straightened up yeah and I put my hands back on the handlebar and rode back and then I broke out into a sweat yeah yeah well there you go it doesn't make any sense but it works laney thank you very much Thank You Jay\n"