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Vincent Tools

There was no one "standard" Vincent toolkit.  Substitutions were made in building Vincent motorcycles and most certainly in fitting toolkits to keep production moving along.  It is lunacy to believe that production was suspended due to the lack of a "standard" tommy bar of a certain length or that a screwdriver was unavailable from a Specific manufacturer.  I have talked with Vincent dealers and helpers who uncrated Vincent motorcycles from the factory... the toolkits were Not Always Identical.  The following information is only a general guide and not to be taken as gospel.  For daily use, you are actually  better off  buying a set of  boxend and openend Snap-On,  Stahwille or other modern Whitworth tools.. superior finish, construction and utility.  The tool trays also occasionally come loose and scatter your tools down the road.


If you have a nice photo or series of photos of original tools to help in their identification....please send it in to be posted.  Thanks !

The following is a list of Vincent tools and descriptions as obtained from several sources including several supposedly Original tool kits and the early Series "B" Spares List , Group XXI,  Page19, MO33 diagram.  (Note: The early Series "B" HRD Parts List is worth having as it details many Vincent parts not included on "C" and "D" lists and is broken out by "Group" rather than strict part number order.)
K1   Inspection cap / push rod tube gland nut spanner stamped "K1"  (original spanners were Hex and unpainted, later replacements 12 sided and may be painted red)
K2   Magneto center nut closed spanner with points nuts open spanner and 12 thou feeler gauge and "12" stamped on the body , 2  5/8" long
K3   Exhaust nut / column nut spanner stamped "K3"
K4A Terry's Spanners, tempered steel, made in England, open spanner 0BA x 1BA, approximately 2.42mm thick
K4B  Terry's Spanners, tempered steel,  made in England, open spanner 2BA x 3BA, approximately 2.42mm thick
K5   British Jenbro made, open jaw spanner 3/16"W x 1/4"W
K6   British Jenbro made, open jaw spanner 1/4"W x 5/16"W
K7   British Jenbro made, open jaw spanner 5/16"W x 3/8"W
K8   British Jenbro made, open jaw spanner 3/8"W x 7/16"W
K9   Jenbro British made, 5/8"W (1.100") Hex box spanner, length: 1 7/8" .
K9A  Jenbro British made, 3/4"W (1.300")  Hex box spanner, length: 1 7/8" (I have seen laters idenyical ones marked APO 3/4 WHIT)
K10  Jenbro British made, 7/16"W (.820")  Hex spark plug box spanner, length: 4" ( I have also seen these 2 3/8" long and unmarked)
K11  Tommy bar, 9.6mm dia, length: 6"
K12  Pennant 6" screwdriver  stamped "Pennant" inside a stamped flag or pennant. The center of the handle is hollow and apparently spot welded and crimped onto the shaft.  (Your thoughts are appreciated on this point.   It is undocumented that 2 screwdrivers that were substituted at various times were heavy gauge round steel (5.87mm) and stamped "Shelley" or "Terry's Made in England")
K12A  Screwdriver 6" long,  some were stamped "Toga", wooden handle. (There is a debate about ones with "Atkinson" marking and/or "Made in England" stamped on the shaft.)
K13   Two 7" Dunlop tyre levers marked "DUNLOP"   (some levers have "Made in England" or "Made in England  273" stamped on the reverse side,  some later levers are unmarked)
K14   6" Pliers stamped "Jenbro", flat sided jaws.  ( This stamping can be very light.  I drove about 100 miles away from a swap meet before it dawned that the perfect pliers stamped "ENBR" was actually a partially stamped JENBRO. )
K15  Tyre inflator with slanted nipple...probably metal-bodied Bluemels. (An Apex or Britten pump may fit the tank mounts, but probably are not Original.)
K16  Tecalemit Made in England, brass grease gun, 23mm diameter body. (common to many British sports cars of the period , motorcycle ones may be short-bodied )
K17  Shop cloth
K18  Jenbro British made  1/2"W Hex box spanner, 4" long.
K18A  Tommy bar,  9.60mm diameter,  length 7" .  (Added to the 1952 spare parts price list supplement at the price of 1 shilling)
K19    Small single ended spanner 1/8"W marked "Atco"  3.5" long  ( I have also seen Eagle Brand 1/8W  3/16 BSF CARBON  3  7/16" long wrenches)

K30  Lucas points tool  ("D" only)


I have also seen supposedly Original toolkits with Spearpoint and Shelly open spanners.  I believe Spearpoint was used by Norton, and the sides of the ends have not been machined.  Interesting to inventory the tools that have been added and come with your Vincent... you will find "Bluepoint", "King Dick" and many others.  JENBRO made many other tools that were never intended for the Vincent toolkit.  Just because the tool is stamped "JENBRO" does not necessarily mean it was a Vincent motorcycle tool.  Vincent motorcycle factory supplied tools, to my limited knowledge, were never stamped "VINCENT".    jim  3/18/08
The Series "D" toolkit includes the K30 Lucas points tool and the extra added tommy bar.  Also, the comment about the Blumels pump not working is incorrect. The seal is leather and does not wear out , it rather dries out. The retaining screw also falls out. A CO2 cartridge inflator thing is the noogie.  But.. if you are truly stuck you can rejuvenate the leather seal by simply taking the plunger out of the case and stick the seal end into the oil in the tank.  It works.  Years ago on the shoulder of US 395 , 10 miles south of  Desert Center, California, it had to work!  Mike Vedas   2/6/08
Have seen the Apex tyre pump, not as nice as the metal bodied Bluemels. However, the Bluemels has a plastic plunger handle which needs to be kept away from the hot head, indicating it's push bike heritage and unless you put a modern rubber cup in it it doesn't work.   Mike McCartney 6/20/07
Snap-On British Standard Tools (very expensive, Very nice)
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_det.asp?P65=yes&tool=all&item_ID=5335&group_ID=567&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog
Britton Tyre Air Pump K 15:   13 and 7/8" from the end of the boss to the end of the hose connector.  13" compressed. Distance between the holding points on the tank is 13 5/16".  2/15/07  jim

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