I used to sit and tuck in on this bike and make wide open Vincent noises when this bike was on display at Century BSA in San Pedro, South Bay, Los Angeles. When things were very quiet and there was no one in the old Vincent packed showroom, I would throw a leg over and assume the top speed position. After getting under the paint, I would look around the tach and put myself, screaming down the Salt Flat with the big twin eating as hard as it could go. Marty went 150 mph one way and got the fastest Class record of 147mph with the return run. The record stood for 20 years.
Century BSA was founded and operated by Wild Bill Cottom, who was, as a young man a bare knuckles boxer in N.Y. City's 122 fight clubs. The Top boxer of the era , Toughie McGee was a mean SOB and unapproachable. Bill eventually befriended the guy and went to a Motorcycle race with his new friend who was racin' sickles on the boards. Bill too became a racer and loved bikes. He took his boxing winnings and moved to So Cal and started a BSA dealership in the Port District of Los Angeles. Cottoms showroom in the 70s and 80s was always packed with 6 or so Vincents. They supposedly came from racing other Vincent owners for Pinks. This bike got moved around the shop . It sat in the front window for a while and then was just there sitting on the floor where I ,with much respect, climbed on, crouched down and put a cheek on the side of the tank and transported myself back to one of it's flat out blast down the Salt.
