Damn, Bandit was blamed for another custom. “It’s the truth,” Mike Marquart said during our interview. “Bandit put together an article in VQ Magazine about Vincent history and styling and it inflamed my memory of the first Vincent Black Shadow I saw in ’76. I had to find one.”

Mike has a long history in the industry, first with CCI, then another company and for five years with Redneck. “I love this place,” Mike said. “I get to work on motorcycles everyday.” In 1976 he first encountered a Vincent and almost traded his Merc for it. “It was worth $6,500 at the time and that was a lot of money for a motorcycle.”

Then ten years later he stumbled onto a magazine Bandit edited. It was called VQ and featured wild artistic versions of custom motorcycles created by talented artists. This particular issue David Mann, the god of the chopper, spilled his guts into the classic lines of a Vincent. Vincents were English built into the late ‘40s when the boss, Mr. Vincent came to America and tried to cut a deal with Indian to create the Vindian and use his engines in Chief chassis.

Phillip Vincent returned to England, but needed a chunk of change to pay for the increased production. Indian didn’t offer a deposit, Vincent couldn’t raise the cash and they both went out of business. End of two magnificent eras in motorcycling.

Mike read the article and decided to hunt down a Vincent, not for a restoration, but for a custom experiment. He saved coin in an old oilcan and started a research campaign. He met Steve Hamel who is a master Vincent engine builder and began a hunt for a kickstart Vincent engine. Three years past and Mike began to lose patience, when Big Sid, the author of a Vincent History book, called. “He told me a friend, who owned several Vincents was dying and his wife wanted to unload his bikes,” Mike said.

Big Sid told him about a pieced together bike that was part of the stash. “I bought it, sight unseen,” Mike said. At that point the Marquart Vincent Education began. “I learned that all Vincents were constructed with serial-numbered components.” There was a VIN case number, plus matching case digits that matched the figures stamped into the chassis components.

Mike reached out to the historic Vincent Owners Club (TheVincent.com) for confirmation. They keep all the numerals for every known Vincent on file and the whereabouts. He discovered through their archives that his makeshift Vincent was actually very whole, except for the right timing case. Because of their extensive records he was able to contact the owner of the right case and cut a deal. He sent him the frame and the left case so the gentleman restoring the Vincent Rapide would have all the proper elements and he would have a complete Black Shadow engine with one bad engine half case. That was cool, since he was building a complete ground up custom around this massive classical drivetrain.

The design flourished from the David Mann paintings in VQ magazine, the mind of Vince Doll’s, the owner of Redneck engineering, and Mike’s tribute-to-speed notions. The Series C Black Shadow was produced from ’49 to ’54. Like the original, the drivetrain was suspended from the frame, which contained the oil supply. “So I wanted the backbone to show between the tanks that Vince Doll created by hand,” Mike said. For racing charactistics they adapted a mono-shock, and raked the frame 50 degrees to match the 50-degree V-twin cylinders. Even in 1949 the Black Shadow was built with a 150 mph speedo and capable of 100 mph at just 4000 rpms.

All the frame tubing was elliptical and tapered for a sleek design. The man who rebuilt this engine, Steve Hamel, Built Matt Hotch’s engine for the Discovery Built off against Roger Goldammer at Bonneville in 2006.

Mike and the Redneck crew took one of their own designs to Bonneville this (2007) year and cut through the slippery salt at 132 mph, after riding it 2,400 miles to Wendover, Utah. They build their own balanced baggers with JIMS 120-inch H-D Twin Cam B engines. They roll with 300 tires on the rear and 21s up front around Softail chassis. Sleek bagger kits are available from Redneck in addition to Buell Mutant roller kits that will turn any Buell into a tight rigid custom. Fifty percent of their business revolves around building chassis kits, sheet metal and frames for baggers, Softails, Sportsters and Buells.

“We build the coolest bikes for the least amount of money,” Mike said of their ground up builds. This Vincent will visit most major events this coming year and the Redneck crew will always be close by.

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