Recently, a gentleman by the name of Steve Hall has begun fabricating Vokes air filter replicas for use on Vincent singles and twins. Mr. Hall provided a set of these filters for use on my Shadow and asked that Sid and I test his product and give our honest evaluation. We agreed and promptly received in the mail two of Mr. Hall's handsome units. Mr. Hall is a trained Rolls Royce panel beater who now resides in Shelton CT, and his filters are indeed beautifully turned out, fully up to the highest standards of craftsmanship.

I fitted the filters in May of 2001, at the start of my Shadow's second riding season since its return to road-going form. Prior to Halls' Vokes units, I had not mounted filters; therefore, I am only able to comment on what I observed going from no filters to the Vokes. On the other hand, Sid and I had been closely observing the break in process of my Shadow, and Sid, in particular, had been keen to study my Shadow's motor carburetion and performance.

As to filtering efficiency, Mr. Hall's filters use K & N pleated elements, these very nicely fitted within the lovely powder coated gloss black enclosures. The outer shell is drilled liberally and with perfect precision over its entire surface so ensuring absolutely restriction-free flow to the inner element. And there is a partial rain cover hood over a portion of this outer shell one can position especially for this function, this hood being well above the drilled outer shell so as not to restrict air flow. The appearance throughout is that of top level craftsmanship allied with real beauty, fully in keeping with a Concours Winner or any well-cared-for Vincent.

The Vokes Filter on Lex, Ye Ol' Editor's White Shadow

After an initial hot run, we pulled the filters and found the plugs indicating a lean state. We decided to drop the carbs and raise the needles to compensate. I need mention that during the previous season we had found the Shadow to be running rich and had dropped the needles. Also, just prior to the arrival of the Vokes, we had replaced the stock muffler with a Burgess straight-through. Now with the pipe and filters we were returning to the standard setting (with one notch visible above the clip). No other significant changes were needed, though we did play with the idle a bit before I found it satisfactory. As for main jet size, there was no clear reading of need to alter that because the Shadow never needed much throttle to top the ton!

As for the response over the road: this proved eye opening as the Shadow clearly liked the filters! The improvement in snap acceleration is very noticeable from the initial throttle opening right on up to teeth clenching velocity. Sid attributes this result to a smooth directing of the air currents into the inlet throat of the carburetors. I found that my throttle management changed. I became more precise in feeding throttle at speeds above 70mph. At slower speeds, I found that I needed to get into the meat of the throttle for the Shadow to be responsive. At higher speeds I found that the Shadow responded best when I increased the throttle very precisely so as not to get ahead of the acceleration curve. So long as I fed the beast as needed, I found acceleration at speeds around the ton to be very impressive, smooth and confidence inspiring. With the needle adjustment all lean signs vanished, and the response was linear right through the range.

There appears to be no down side to their use, rather every aspect is improved from easy starting to a solid reliable idle to achieving a true Vincent gait. The motor's internals should certainly benefit from ingesting clean air, the normal dust inhaled doing it no good. Even the oil can be expected to stay cleaner with these fitted. Two caveats only: one, use great care when threading them on lest the threads suffer, and two, be sure to tuck aside any errant wires lest they be cut by the sharp edges of those rain shields. A final note: I found that one filter did not come to rest with the rain shield up. To facilitate this position I applied some duck tape to achieve satisfactory resistance, thus allowing me to position the unit as desired.

PRODUCT INFO:

$299 each / $595 for the pair

Available from

Steve Hall

61 Philip Dr.

Shelton, CT 06484

203 925 8255

hallsmetalworks@aol.com