from https://www.channelnewsasia.com Harley-Davidson has decided the best way to get younger customers to buy a new motorcycle is to sell them a used one first. The Milwaukee-based company plans to roll out a certified pre-owned bike program, known as H-D Certified, adapting a strategy carmakers have been following for years to position well-tended used vehicles as a substitute for low-margin, “entry-level” new models. Harley’s embrace of used bikes is part of a new five-year turnaround strategy under Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz, and is the latest effort to expand the brand’s appeal beyond middle-aged and affluent riders. The 118-year-old American brand has been steadily losing US market share amid declining retail sales for six years. But the demand for used Harleys, which are less expensive, has remained strong. Some dealers told Reuters that pre-owned bikes last year outsold new ones by three-to-one. Melissa Walters, owner of a Harley dealership in Fresno, California, says the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increased demand for outdoor recreational activity, but dealers are hard-pressed to find bikes to sell to customers. “People are tired of staying home,” she said. “They want to go out and do something.” That sentiment was echoed by over a dozen dealers in six states. Data from industry consultant JD Power shows Harley was the most sought-after brand in the used big bikes market last year, boosting bets the certified program will draw in new customers. For Harley, it offers a way to build brand loyalty and attract new customers without engineering and manufacturing new lower-cost bikes, which tend to have lower profit margins. “We believe this program will drive Harley-Davidson desirability, increase sales and margins, and enhance the overall customer experience while supporting growth,” Zeitz told Reuters. Under the pre-owned bike program, which was revealed last month, Harley will certify motorcycles up to five years old with up to 40,234km. Certified bikes will be inspected and backed by a 12-month limited warranty, and can be financed by Harley’s financial arm, distinguishing them from other used Harleys. While the heavyweight motorcycle maker has a similar program in the United Kingdom, this is the first time it is entering the used marketplace in the United States – its biggest market. The program will be launched in late April and over 300 dealers have expressed interest in participating so far, Harley told Reuters. “It’s going to draw new riders … and will give them entry into the Harley-Davidson world,” said Brad Conn, marketing coordinator at an Indiana-based dealership that plans to sign up for the program. A POTENTIAL REVENUE STREAM In the auto industry, according to JD Power, similar programs offer higher profit to dealers with faster inventory turnover. JD Power’s data also shows the programs are more effective in cultivating brand loyalty and tend to generate more business for the financial arms of automakers, which fund the vehicle purchases. James Hardiman, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the secondary motorcycle market has become a big business over the last decade and could be a “significant” revenue stream for Harley. In 2017, online retailer for pre-owned vehicles RumbleOn pegged the value of the used motorcycle market in the United States at US$7.5 billion a year, with Harley bikes accounting for more than half of sales. The study also showed customers aged 18-34 were buying three used Hogs for every new one. NEW VERSUS OLD A booming demand for pre-owned Harleys until now has been a drag on the company’s US retail sales, which have declined by nearly 40 per cent since 2014. As its motorcycles do not wear out or go out of fashion quickly, used Harleys tend to be more in demand vis-à-vis pricey new models. Zeitz has tried to address the problem in the past year by tightening the supplies of new bikes. Leaner new inventory together with the increased demand for outdoor sports have driven up the prices of pre-owned bikes. Still, the company estimates there are 3 million unsold used Harleys in the United States, far more than the approximately 80,000 new bikes it shipped last year. “The biggest competition for a new Harley-Davidson bike is not an Indian bike or a Honda, or a Suzuki bike, but is a used Harley-Davidson bike,” said Hardiman. Faced with a similar situation in the 1990s, automakers launched certified programs to resell thousands of returned leased vehicles to first-time and budget-minded buyers. The programs allowed them to scrap less-expensive entry-level models, which had razor-thin profit margins, freeing up resources for more profitable products. Harley is pursuing similar goals. It has done away with some of the cheaper entry-level models and will ramp up investment in touring, large cruiser and trike bike segments that drive company profit. It is also looking to increase sales of ancillary products such as accessories, general merchandise and financial services by leveraging the certified bike program. Michael Uhlarik, founder and lead consultant at Motorcycle Global, reckons the certified program is aimed at replacing lost motorcycle revenue from falling shipments. Harley’s bike shipments to dealers in the United States have dropped more than 60 per cent from the 206,000 units in 2008. “It will never be a 200,000 vehicle-a-year company,” said Uhlarik. “They have to replace that lost revenue somewhere.” Harley-Davidson to Begin Selling Used Motorcycles Next Month by Rich Duprey from https://www.fool.com Riders will be able to buy a used Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) motorcycle from dealers beginning in April under a program called H-D Certified as a means of introducing new riders to the Harley-Davidson brand and developing new revenue opportunities. CEO Jochen Zeitz announced the new initiative during last month’s earnings conference call as part of The Hardwire five-year strategic plan, telling analysts, “There are two distinct parts to this market: new bikes and used bikes, both of which present opportunities which we will pursue.” Amid declining industry sales, Harley-Davidson has been hit especially hard. U.S. sales fell 15% last quarter, hitting levels not seen in decades. One problem that has plagued Harley has been used-motorcycle prices; because used bikes have been substantially cheaper, it has made selling new ones more difficult. Gone are the days when demand for Harleys was so high that there were shortages of new bikes, and used bikes could be sold for close to what they cost new. Zeitz pointed out there are approximately 3 million used Harleys on the road, a million of which are seven years old or more. It wants to focus on those that are five years old or newer, with no more than 25,000 miles. He says that’s the sweet spot of the market, offering “the highest potential to also get them engaged in new motorcycles in the future.” While used-bike prices have been rising, Harley is looking to capitalize on the opportunity to bring new riders into dealerships by giving them an option on what they want to buy. It’s also a chance to get a customer in the door, since the program will be completely run at the dealer level. The used bikes will be professionally inspected, verified as mechanically sound, and backed by a 12-month limited warranty.

I’m in the process of moving to Sturgis, South Dakota from a 9,000 square foot building including a shop, 17 motorcycles and 17 years of history. It’s crazy, but brothers and sisters all over the country are moving to the Badlands. Jason Mook from Deadwood Custom Cycles made 13 trips pulling a trailer from North Carolina. At times I need to tell my dust-covered self that brothers all over the country have done this.

Click Here to read this Photo Feature on Bikernet.

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It could provide dealers with a new revenue stream and encourage riders to eventually step up to a new bike.

Riders will be able to buy a used Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) motorcycle from dealers beginning in April under a program called H-D Certified as a means of introducing new riders to the Harley-Davidson brand and developing new revenue opportunities.

CEO Jochen Zeitz announced the new initiative during last month’s earnings conference call as part of The Hardwire five-year strategic plan, telling analysts, “There are two distinct parts to this market: new bikes and used bikes, both of which present opportunities which we will pursue.”

Zeitz pointed out there are approximately 3 million used Harleys on the road, a million of which are seven years old or more. It wants to focus on those that are five years old or newer, with no more than 25,000 miles.

He says that’s the sweet spot of the market, offering “the highest potential to also get them engaged in new motorcycles in the future.”

While used-bike prices have been rising, Harley is looking to capitalize on the opportunity to bring new riders into dealerships by giving them an option on what they want to buy. It’s also a chance to get a customer in the door, since the program will be completely run at the dealer level.

The used bikes will be professionally inspected, verified as mechanically sound, and backed by a 12-month limited warranty.

—Rich Duprey, Motley Fool

Bartels’ Harley matched their sales from 2019 with their used bike sales in 2020. The Motley Fool folks did not recommend buying H-D stock right now. But hang on. The Bikernet staff is working on several suggestions for future Harley growth. Each one will make the factory sing again. –Bandit

Started Bike Week in Daytona with a day trip up with friends for the first Sunday for some R&D at the Broken Spoke.
As always it was a fun place to be and there will be stuff going on all week
Kids bike is from Cycle Source.

See posters for Cycle Source and Perewitz show.
I will definitely cover the Tropical Tattoo Show on Thursday.

–Rogue

Senior Editor

Bikernet.com

“Walter: The Missing Link – Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle” Documentary – Coming Soon

Slinger, Wisconsin – March 8, 2021 – The Edge Ltd., producer of “Hogslayer: The Unapproachable Legend,” announces the release of “Walter: The Missing Link – Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle” documentary.

Walter is a feature-length narrative documentary featuring Walter, a 1913 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck, and his former caretaker Michael W. Schuster. A meticulous restoration by Ally Schuster and his grandson Michael, Walter ultimately became an acknowledged motorcycle artifact recognized as the last-known Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck in existence.

In 1913 an unusual motorcycle negotiates through the mud-rutted streets of old Milwaukee. This is one of the first Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck forecars and represents a unique early venture in commercial service delivery motorcycles for the Motor Company. Fast-forward to the present-day as that very same motorcycle truck negotiates through the world of motorcycle collectible artifacts. This is the last-known Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Truck in existence, a remarkable motorcycle affectionately known as Walter.

This documentary chronicles the life and times of Walter the forecar from its early days of service, through many decades of desolation stored in a horse barn, and then many years of restoration to eventually become the most valuable service motorcycle in the world. Along the way, the producer explores the history of three-wheeled vehicles; the Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s development of commercial service motorcycles, and most importantly documents one man’s adventure in restoring a motorcycle that has been in his family for a century. Independent producer James Cutting considers the discovery of Walter to be the most extraordinary barn-find of our times. In the end, Walter delivers a lesson to embrace our past and forge relationships for our future.

“Walter: The Missing Link – Discovery of a Centennial Motorcycle” documentary will be released in 2021. A late-summer premiere is planned in Milwaukee. For more information please contact executive producer James Cutting.

For more “Walter” documentary content visit www.walterdoc.com

Friend Walter on Facebook @Walterthemissinglinkmotorcycledocumentary

“Walter” documentary trailer –

https://youtu.be/sHHvOfoRrZc

 

Following years of frustration felt throughout the automotive community, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to deny the very foundation of motorsports. According to the EPA, current law does not allow street vehicles—cars, trucks, and motorcycles—to be converted into racecars.

A recent lawsuit between the EPA and an aftermarket manufacturer is the agency’s latest action against racing. In the lawsuit, the EPA again maintains that once a vehicle has been certified as a street vehicle, it cannot be converted into a racing vehicle even if that vehicle is trailered to the track and is never driven on public roads.

The EPA’s position left the SEMA Action Network (SAN) with no choice but to strike back. The SAN filed a brief in court arguing that the Clean Air Act does not apply to certified vehicles used exclusively on the track.

As racers and fans know well, members of Congress introduced SAN-sponsored legislation to confirm what had already been understood for the previous 45 years: that the CAA did not apply to vehicles modified for racing use only. Hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts have since contacted Congress urging passage of the “Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act” (RPM Act). Enactment of this important critical bill into law would remove any doubt that it is legal to modify a motor vehicle for exclusive use on the track. It also would confirm that it is legal to produce, market and install racing equipment. The SAN continues to work tirelessly to pass this important legislation to counter EPA overreach.

–SEMA

We should watch this case closely. This will ultimately also apply to motorcycles. Also, there needs to be open dialog regarding climate change and fossil fuels. –Bandit

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

Ducati planned to break the mold with the unveiling of the new Monster motorcycle back in December last year. At least on paper, it succeeded, as the specs for the “lightest, most compact” bike of its family are impressive. All we have to do is see if the real-world numbers match.

And there’s no reason to suspect they won’t. Ducati gave birth to the sports naked Monster range all the way back in 1993. Since then, the moniker has grown into a monstrous force, selling no less than 350,000 units, each generation becoming its own market hit.

The new one is getting ready to do the same from next month when the first examples are expected to reach dealerships across the world. And there’s no going back now, as the Italian bike maker announced on Thursday, March 4, that production lines for the Monster have begun rolling over in Italy.

Weighing in at 166 kg (366 pounds) dry, the new Monster is powered by the new Testastretta 937cc twin-cylinder L-shaped engine, which replaces the 821cc used on the previous incarnation. 2.4 kg (5.2 pounds) lighter than before, the powerplant is rated from the factory at 111 hp at 9,250 rpm.

The new Monster was designed in such a way as to be reminiscent of the first one from three decades ago, and it sports elements like the bison-back fuel tank and the circular headlight, among others.

Unlike the 1993 version, though, this one is packed with advanced technology, including ABS Cornering, Traction Control, and Wheelie Control. Three riding modes are available for the new Monster, namely Sport, Urban, and Touring, each of them selectable through the handlebar controls and the 4.3-inch TFT screen.

For the American market, the Monster sells from $11,895, but that, of course, can go higher depending on options and colors. The slightly more pretentious Monster Plus kicks off at $12,195.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, fresh from the White
House and into the Bandit’s Cantina and Shopworn
Showgirls’ Fandango here in the Trump Tower in Las Vegas…….Donald
Trump!! Let’s hear it for ‘im!!

“Thank you. Thank you. You’re all terrific. Biden? Not so
much. But he’s not here. He’s in the 300 year old
extremely smelly White House… and I’m going to one or
the other….or maybe all of them!….don’t really
know!…..Maybe all of them!…… I’m going into one of my
skyscrapers. That smell nice.

Speakin’ o’ smells, how about that election, uh? A guy
whose whole political platform was “Wear a mask” beats a guy who made America great for 4 years. Who the hell would want to wear a mask instead of making America
great. Apparently a majority of Americans would……… if
you believe the first mandatory-mail-in vote in American
history.

Two days after the Senate tore up the first
impeachment load a mandatory mail-in Presidential
election is concocted.

Speakin’ o’ cocks, how about that Ted Cruz, uh? I mean
the guy’s so clueless he’s actually almost worth the price
of admission to watch him work. Which price, of course, is your liberty. Small price to pay, we don’t have much left.

Am I right? You right there, nodding your head, you know
I’m right, right?

So Texas gets hit with the Global Warming deep-freeze of the century….I mean, even people pulling down the statues of the Confederacy are at this point feeling sorry
for Texans….and their fucking SENATOR goes to Cancun.

I mean he fled faster than Congress did when guys in
Apache paint entered the Capitol building. Apparently
Senators can flee even faster than Congressmen! But
then they ARE at a higher rate of pay. So it makes sense.

So it makes sense, right? You agree, right? Thank you.

So he’s in fucking goddamn Mexico with his belly sticking
out over his Speedos, hoping to get lucky with that frustrated wife o’ his and staring at all the skimpy-bikinied hotties that swarm to the place hoping to score some coke, and that’s with a small c.

Meanwhile people in his home State are literally
freezing to death in their homes. Why? Because Cruz’s
State power supply is run by people who can’t plug in a
toaster ANNNNDDD who won’t let anyone compete with
them. Because as you know competition in the utilities
industry will lead to shortages and chicanery and price-gouging.

Meanwhile no one in Texas has any utilities and
they are getting bills for 20,000 dollars for using the
electric toothbrush. Meanwhile Cruz is in the serene Mexican sunshine, hacking his nuts and jizzing in his hand while gawking at all the chick-eetas.

It gets worse: he then blames his kids for him being in
Mexico. Ya know what’s unfair?….that any penis can
create a kid. It don’t fucking MATTER who the penis
BELONGS to. It can belong to Ted Cruz!!! The penis don’t care. It has a job to do and it does it. Let the kids it makes worry about how to handle the penis’s owner
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So, he blames his kids, which they now have to contend
with from all their classmates forever, them sayin’ “Your dad must really hate you, uh?” They gotta put up with that now. I mean even kids can see Ted’s a piece of work. Not the voters though. They’ll put him right back in there.

Fucking reets.

So he blames his kids because as you know ALL
American kids aged 12-and-under routinely go to Cancun
during pandemics and Arctic snowstorms and when they
do they want Daddy there with them most of all! So, what
could he do? And I think he actually said that: he put on a
sombrero and said to one of the news cameras in a faux
Mexican accent while shrugging, “What can I do? Du Ju
no whut I’ne sane?” I think one reporter laughed. The
other reporters wrote scathing stories about Cruz. And
also about the reporter who laughed.

But Cruz ain’t done yet! No!!! No sooner does this shitload of shit hits the fan but what does Cruz do for damage control? He hurries back home to arrange a photo-shoot where he’s handing out water and probably memorabilia from Cancun to people who may or may not be interns for him and who may or may not be his
fuckhead colleagues.

“I can fix this, I’ll give this hobo a fucking Fossil wristwatch and that will make everything cool. Maybe my ol’ lady will give me a reach-around. Hey, there, freezing starving fellow Texan, whew, some tough times here for ya this week, ey, my friend? Bet you wish you were in Cancun right now, uh? I know I do. What’s Cancun?

Here, I gut some pictures here on my phone, check this out, lookit the tits on that consuelo cutie right there. She’s wondering where the hell I went! Turns out I’m here with you, my fellow American, handing out small bottles of water you actually paid for with your tax dollars because you have no water or power or heat or food because you actually elected me to run your life. How’m I doin’?????”

Fuckin’ Cruz. Even Oralcasio-Cortez is on his case. I
mean if she’s comin’ after ya that means you are a total
fucking douche. You don’t see her comin’ after Trey
Gowdy, do ya. Fuck no. But she’s comin’ after Cruz. Because she knows he’s stupid. And he’s not just Ordinary stupid. I mean he’s, like, AGGRESSIVELY stupid.

He actually works at it. He puts his back into it. He’ll
compound the first stupidity with an immediate Gattling
gun back-up of brand-new stupidities to make the first
stupidity look relatively minor by comparison. That’s how
he does damage-control on his fuck-ups: by compounding them to such a degree you forget about the first stupidity altogether. That’s, like, Reverse Genius.

Fuckin’ wife o’ his has to lay awake at night staring at the
ceiling and wondering “Is a life of Free Money From
Taxpayers really worth living with this idiot?” That’s gotta
be a pussy ripe for fuckin’. Imagine having to have grointo-groin sex with Ted Cruz. His dick and her eggs actually created more people. That just shows ya that Nature is more interested in quantity than quality. Let the quality work itself out later after we get some head-count goin’ is Nature’s way. First the quantity….then let the idiots and the geniuses fight it out on the battlefield.

Well, ya know we didn’t come here tonight to hear me talk natural philosophy regarding the Ted Cruz family tree of fucked-up DNA. We came here for the jokes.
Are ya all havin’ fun here in Vegas tonight?

Hey, relax, I’m kidding, there’s no fun with Sisolako’backbone as governor, uh? Ya like that name? Sisolako’backbone?

Better than the name on his drivers license – “Sisolak” –
ain’t it? I should be the Official Namer of People. I
shouldn’t be too hard on the guy for having no backbone, I mean he didn’t elect himself, did ‘e. Ya get what ya deserve. He single-handed turned the greatest most exciting city on earth, Las Vegas, into a fucking ghost town. By threatening to de-license anyone who disobeyed his genius medical expertise on how to keep people from
getting the fucking flu. Like not getting the flu was worth all this.

I mean, look at me, I’m outside of my own goddamn
skyscraper here in Las Vegas in this adjacent empty lot,
standing on a shitty plywood stage, doing standup to an
audience of 5 people in goddamn fucking Chinese surgical masks that are growing more bacteria with every breath than five Wuhan biological warfare labs in overdrive creating fake pandemics. Fuck me running.

Speakin’ o’ Steve Wynn: I had this dream about him.
Naa!…..not a gay dream, I wan’t suckin’ his dick or
anything. Not that I would. I mean, I’m vain but I’m ugly
enough just on my own. I don’t need to pay to be made
uglier. I mean, whose doin’ the facework on him and
Wayne Newton and Kim Novak, Edward Scissorhands?
Jesus.

So anyway, I have this dream about Steve Wynn: he gets kicked off his own empire in Las Vegas – which actually happened …..and suddenly no one gets to gamble in Las Vegas? Because of the flu?

So, in the dream I’m talkin’ to Steve and I say “So what’s
the deal, you behind this flu hoax? You can tell me.” He
says “Go fuck yourself, Don.” Rude man. Very rude man.
But what the hell, I went and fucked myself. I’ve had
worse.

Hey, you’ve been great, if you get a chance if you walk on over to the west side of the Trump building here you’ll notice there’s a long line o’ strip clubs running north and
south along Industrial Avenue, literally a fucking stone’s
throw by Greta-The-Geek Thunberg away from my
building. It’s not an accident. There’s a reason my building is still filling up with rich executives while every other hotel on the Strip is boarded up. That’s right, pussy, baby.

Pussy. Go on over there and have some fun, THANKS

by Ben Walker from https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/31686/

The Summer Sale
The International Classic MotorCycle Show (The Postponed Spring Sale)
3 – 4 Jul 2021
Stafford, Staffordshire County Showground
The Gentleman’s Collection

A selection of wonderfully restored Vincent-HRD’s consigned to the Spring Sale

Following a successful year of sales at its Bicester Heritage base – with a 93 per cent sale rate – Bonhams Motorcycles is returning to Stafford for the first auction of 2021. The Summer Stafford Sale will take place on 3 and 4 July, in line with the rescheduled International Classic MotorCycle Show.

Consignments are now invited to the auction to join early confirmed lots including two important collections, one of Italian sports bikes and the other a selection of classic Vincent-HRDs, the world’s fastest motorcycles of their time.

THE RON CODY COLLECTION

A selection of motorcycles offered from the Ron Cody Collection

Well-known in MV Agusta club circles, the late Ron Cody, a former sports car racer and engineer, turned to his passion for building up and restoring his collection of Italian machines as a retirement hobby. This collection offers 48 motorcycles, with many examples of MV Agustas as well as other Italian marques. Highlights include:

1964 MV AGUSTA 150CC RAPIDO SPORT, £3,000 – 4,000
Like their larger siblings, the small MVs were very expensive, costing as much as a British 500, which explains why so few of these exquisitely engineered little motorcycles were sold in the UK. This 150 Rapido Sport displays a total of only 125 kilometres on the odometer since restoration.

1953 MV AGUSTA 125CC TEL ‘SPORT COMPETIZIONE’, £4,000 – 6,000
With superb engineering compared with any British contemporary, the MV Agusta’s 125cc TEL ‘stroker’ of 1949 was powered by a neat unitary construction single-cylinder engine which, somewhat unusually for a post-war design, featured detachable transfer ports. The 125 MV offered here is presented in Competizione specification, intended for Italy’s popular long-distance races such as the Milan-Taranto and the Moto Giro d’Italia.

C.1958 GILERA 175CC ROSSA EXTRA RACING MOTORCYCLE, £2,400 – 2,800
Throughout the early 1950s, Gilera’s racers made the headlines, taking six individual World Championships and five manufacturers’ titles. Its road bikes paid the bills, with the 175cc being a top seller, although its high price abroad made it a relatively rare sight outside Italy.

Introduced for 1957, the Rossa Extra was essentially a deluxe version of the 175 Sport. Apparently cosmetically restored and very nicely presented, this Rossa Extra racer features a Scitsu tachometer, Dell’Orto UBF24BS carburettor, Ceriani forks, and ventilated brakes.

1958 PARILLA 175CC SPORT, £4,000 – 7.000
One of the first Italian motorcycle manufacturers that went into production after the Second World War, Parilla introduced the ‘high cam’ (camme rialzata) model, for which it is best remembered, at the 1952 Milan Show. This 175cc single-cylinder motorcycle featured a chain-driven camshaft mounted on the side of the cylinder head, the valves being operated via short pushrods. Stunningly beautiful, Parilla’s production racer was also exceedingly quick.

AN IMPORTANT VINCENT-HRD COLLECTION
A stalwart of the golden age of British motorcycles, the Vincent marque is synonymous with design innovation, engineering excellence but mostly record-breaking high performance.

1951 Vincent-HRD 998cc Black Shadow, estimate £60,000 – 75,000

Leading this important collection of Vincent-HRDs is a matching numbers 1951 Series C 998cc Black Shadow, an example of the marque’s most famous model and the first genuine two-miles-per-minute production bike, with a reputed top speed of around 125 mph.

Off the road for 40 years, the motorcycle was completely restored by the vendor over a four-year period, with the result being judged ‘Best in Show’ at Stafford in 2010. Having since been displayed at the Lakeland Motor Museum, the Shadow is offered with a continuation RF60 buff logbook dating from April 1963 and the original registration number ‘LOV 579’. Estimate: £60,000 – 75,000.

Lining up with the Shadow is a loving recreation of its racing sibling, a Vincent HRD 998cc Black Lightning Evocation Special. Only 31 Black Lightnings were produced between 1948 and 1952 and their value reflects their rarity – Bonhams set a world record for the model in 2018 when the ex-Tony McAlpine, Jack Ehret, Australian Land Speed Record Breaking example sold for $929,000 (£656,630).

The vendor decided to create this Evocation for parades and track days. Buying a quantity of engine parts and main frame components in 2003, he embarked on a three-year project, restoring the rolling chassis himself, while entrusting the engine rebuild, to Black Shadow-plus specification, to well-known Vincent exponent Mick Ruocco.

Completed in 2006, it was commissioned by John Renwick, who made adjustments to the carburetion and started and ran the bike on his dynamometer. The Lightning was voted Best Classic Racer at the TT 2006 Lap of Honour and judged Best Classic Racer at the 2006 Stafford Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show.

It has since completed many closed-road parades at the TT and Classic TT and was used the machine regularly until 2014, when it was put on display at the Lakeland Motor Museum. Estimate: £30,000 – 40,000.

1937 Vincent HRD 498cc Comet Series A, estimate: £35,000 – 45,000
The rare Series A was the first model to use the Philip Vincent-designed engine, with high-camshaft layout. This example also underwent a complete restoration, from rebuilding the engine and gearbox to refurbishing the petrol tank.

The restored Comet was awarded Best Post-Vintage machine at the 2009 Stafford Spring Classic Motorcycle Show. Covering a mere 100 ‘shake down’ miles since restoration the bike has, for the past decade, been displayed at the Lakeland Motor Museum.

Ben Walker, International Department Director for Bonhams Collectors’ Motorcycles, said: “We are looking forward to coming home to Stafford and hosting the UK’s longest established dedicated motorcycling auction in a live format again, subject to the local restrictions relating to Covid-19.”

“Entries are coming in thick and fast and with two important collections already in place, we are sure there will be much interest. As we’ll be heading into summer, the auction will provide the perfect opportunity to buy a classic motorcycle and enjoy post-lockdown freedom of the road.”

Further early highlights of the sale include:

c.1950 Peugeot 125cc TD55, estimate £5,000 – 7,000 (pictured back row)

c.1947 Norton ‘Manx’ Sprint Special, estimate £10,000 – 15,000 (left middle)

Norton Sprint Special, estimate £6,000 – 8,000 (right middle)

1925 Sunbeam 347cc Model 2, estimate £5,000 – 7,000 (front left)

1916 Levis 2.5hp, estimate £4,000 – 6,000 (front right)

Further entries are invited to join the motorcycles already consigned.

Visit www.bonhams.com/motorcycles to submit a complimentary auction appraisal request or contact the Bicester Motorcycle Office +44 (0) 20 8963 2817 ukmotorcycles@bonhams.com to discuss the sale of your important motorcycle(s).