Re: Rollie Free
http://www.landracing.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=L&Product_Code=4007&Category_Code=SRPC
(Sold Out actually, so no personal interest in site or any sales)
And from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Black_Shadow
The bathing suit picture
The famous picture of a man stretched out in only a bathing suit on a
Vincent is in fact not a Black Shadow. It was in fact a Black Lightning.
The difference between the two bikes is essentially the difference
between a factory race tuned bike and a stock. The Black Lightning was a
custom order from the factory and was some 100 pounds lighter and 25hp
more powerful than the stock model. The Black Lightning is the finest
Vincent ever produced.
As for the famous "bathing suit bike" picture, it is of Rollie Free, an
American, riding at the Bonneville Salt Flats on 13 September 1948.
Free was determined to break the land speed record in the "Flying Mile."
His first pass hit 148 mph, which broke the record, but Free was
determined to break 150. Noticing that his riding leathers had started to come
apart at the seams from the force of the wind, Free borrowed a bathing
suit, cap, and a pair of tennis shoes and laid down on the bike. With
the decreased drag, Free broke 150 mph, topping out at 150.313 mph,
shattering his record of only a few moments before. That bike, also known
as the "John Edgar Lightning" after its sponsor, is currently in the
private collection of Herb Harris of Austin, Texas.
