Our features have become a Bikernet collection of favorite motorcycles for various reasons. Sometimes the owner or the motorcycle contains an amazing story. In this case, this bike represents so much, and it’s a classic build with historic significance and absolutely vintage lines. Matt Hotch stayed true to the Vincent code, including the all-black paint.
To my way of sordid thinking, there are a few customs, even choppers, standing the test of time. This bike, like a very few, will be considered a gem forever, no matter what is happening in the industry. Let’s take a look at what makes this custom a timeless classic.
Matt is one of the few builders who has an artistic and a mechanical eye for styling. He worked in many of the classic Vincent Motorcycle (1928-1955) elements while building a custom bike for a Discovery Build-off show, which added another element, maybe five, to this build, including competition, and time constraints. Matt had to cook to complete this world-class motorcycle, and then run it against harsh conditions on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
“When the event was over, I took the bike completely apart to clean every salty component,” Matt said.
Matt’s desire was to stick with many traditional Vincent aspects and early motorcycling notions. He used a re-pop Girdraulic Vincent front end, which he extended 4 inches, utilized the Vincent sidecar eccentric adjusters, and worked with Works Performance on the shocks. Early motorcycles used 23 and 26-inch wheels, so Ron Loynds was brought into the build team. Ron was involved in every Matt Hotch Discovery build competition. Ron is the mastermind behind MetalSport Wheels and a man who enjoys a manufacturing challenge.
“We took on building the first one-off modern aluminum, laser-cut 26-inch rims,” Ron said. Between Ron and Matt, they kicked off the big wheel craze. “We never expected them to become popular for the street.”
“The 23-inch rotors had to be Blanchard-ground, and diamond-lapped for two days,” Matt said, “to ensure the rotor surfaces were absolutely square, since the rotors were massive. If they didn’t run true, the results could be disastrous. Just the small two-piston La Vergne caliper will lock up the front wheel.”
Matt’s grandfather drove a tank in WWII and his team bagged a Vincent along the winding, bombed-out roads through Europe. The crew were members of Patton’s Tank Corp, but when they weren’t fighting, they rode the Vincent, so Matt has a serious affinity for these legendary classics.
Matt bought a complete Vincent engine, but only for mock-up. It cost over 100 grand to build this engine from the ground up. These v-twins are the essence of the Vincent motorcycle, even acting as an integral frame member. Every aspect of the engine was improved, yet kept traditionally Vincent. Even the cases were new castings designed to improve the life and performance of the engine while maintaining the classic appearance. The cases were cast in Germany with an electric starter boss added. There are no engine gaskets, base gaskets, or head gaskets. All the surfaces have been diamond- lapped for a pure fit.
Where the magneto formerly resided, Matt designed an enhanced breather system with umbrella valves to take its place. They also worked a hydraulic clutch system into the cases. Vincents had a problem with over-heating the valve springs and losing tension. Nigel Patrick worked with Matt to improve cooling to the heads.
The throttle bodies are Ducati, and the Electra-Moto fuel injection system runs off the flywheels. Matt carefully placed all the electronics, coils, battery, fuel pump, computer, and wiring inside half of the fuel tank.
The details are amazing, including the one-off classic Vincent tank badges. Matt couldn’t find any originals anywhere and called Mark Ashton, Ron’s right-hand man at MetalSport. Mark helped design the badges and programming to replicate the legendary logo. They were machined out of 15-pound bars of brass by the MetalSport team. Mark worked with Matt on several other components, including the front pegs, handle grips, and several front end components. He also assisted Matt with parts for his first two build-off winners. “Mark was instrumental in all three builds,” Ron said.
The gauges are all classic Smith but with new electronic guts, and Matt made the mounting cluster. He made the wing nuts for the axles, so the front and rear wheels could be serviced without tools. The risers are stock Vincent, along with the brass damping knob. He hard-lined the top end oiling system with polished stainless lines.
The frame retained the Vincent classic design element with the engine, basically a major frame member, hanging from the backbone.
“The undercarriage frame member is only there for looks and the kickstand,” Matt said.
The oil tank was incorporated into the neck of the frame. The downtubes are the feed and return lines. “We made sure to capture that classic Vincent curve,” Matt said.
This bike didn’t win the build-off (he won the first two) and was sold to an unnamed collector for over $300,000. The new owner made the Vinnie available to Matt for shows, but when he decided to sell it, all interest came from offshore. Matt called Ron and told him, “We may lose the Vinnie.”
Ron stepped up to keep the timeless classic available for domestic shows and within the family. This classic is now back in the fold at the MetalSport headquarters, but available to Matt for future shows.
This will never be an ordinary build in any circumstances. It represents Matt’s grandfather, the first of the modern big-inch wheels, Matt’s final build-off competitor on the Bonneville Salt Flats, and an all-time classic custom motorcycle wrapped around Vincent history. What could be better?
–Bandit
