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10. Vincent Black Shadow
First built in 1948, the Vincent Black Shadow was an innovative motorcycle for its time and had several unique features that included a stressed engine and extensive use of aluminum. The Black Shadow was also superfast, and held the record for fastest production bike ever made for nearly 20 years. Every one of the motorcycles was hand built, making them even more unique and special. A popular racing motorcycle in its day, the Black Shadow had a 998cc engine that made it difficult for riders to control. An ardent fan of the bike was novelist and counterculture figure Hunter S. Thompson, who featured the motorcycle in his classic book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thompson once stated to Cycle World magazine that “if you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die.”
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