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Bonhams Motorcycles Kick Start 2021 with Return to Stafford

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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 […]

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Final-Year 1947 Harley-Davidson FL Knucklehead on auction

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com How do you prefer you vintage Harley motorcycle? Do you like them restored to their former shine, or would you rather go for some modifications to make them unique, but somehow spoil them in the process? Well, if you’re a collector, there’s only one possible answer to that. At the end of April, auction house Mecum will be holding its massive, annual motorcycle auction in Las Vegas. This year, a prominent presence on the auction block is that of an impressive Harley-Davidson collection belonging to a single, Tacoma, Washington resident museum owner by the name of J.C. Burgin. The incredibly well preserved 1947 Harley-Davidson FL Knucklehead we have here is part of the collection. It entered Burgin’s possession all the way in 1983, and then underwent a careful restoration process that left the two-wheeler looking like it does now. Wrapped in blue on the body parts that support paint, the two-wheeler retains the chrome shine the bike maker envisioned it for the Knucklehead engine. Most of the FL’s original hardware was preserved, from the front fender lamp to the horn cover. There’s even a red ball tank emblem in there for effect. The motorcycle is powered by the same powertrain back when it was made, meaning a 74ci unit running a four-speed transmission. The fact that this bike comes from 1947 might boost its price a bit in the upcoming auction. That was the last year of production for the Knucklehead, as starting 1948, the era of the Panhead began. For reference, back in its day, a motorcycle such as this sold new for around $600 – that would be roughly $7,000 adjusted for inflation. Now, of course, they sell for a hell of a lot more on the collector’s market. For this particular 1947

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1938 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead Runs Like New

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Harley-Davidson has had a rough patch these past few years, and 2020 was the coronation of its problems, a time when it lost its CEO, a factory overseas, and gave up on its direct involvement in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle series. Earlier this week, the Milwaukee-based company announced a plan for the next five years to turn things around, taking baby steps to make some profit, expand some segments, and reward its workforce. There’s even talk of getting back the public love, although given how not that many new models are planned for the next five years, it’s hard to tell how it could happen. And that’s a shame because, after all, it was public love that kept the company afloat during the Depression years, right alongside Indian. Public love and the technological gambles the bike maker was not afraid of making. Like taking the Flathead-engined VL motorcycle off the market in 1936, before the economic hardship was even over, and replacing it with what came to be known as the Knucklehead. It stayed in production for a little over a decade, right through the war years, and then the Panhead came along and kicked it away. But that decade was enough for the Knucklehead to impress Americans and give birth to an army of followers that are still devoted to it to this day. Followers who keep restoring and then selling them to others who are alike. One particularly fancy Knucklehead is going under the hammer in April, during the Mecum motorcycle auction in Las Vegas. The pre-war model, made in 1938, was the subject of restoration work that got it back in shape, so much so that the 61ci (1.0-liter) engine that gives it its name still spins the wheels. It has

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1931 Harley-Davidson V

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Back in the years before the Second World War, Harley-Davidson was, like all other companies, fighting for its survival. Little did it know that the changes and decisions it made during those times would make it the only other bike maker, alongside Indian, to survive The Great Depression. But it was not a smooth ride. In the first years of the period, Harley’s sales dropped by about seven times, and as a result so did production. That means finding motorcycles made from 1930 to after the war is not an easy task today. On the other hand, those who own such a two-wheeler often find themselves sitting on a real treasure. A large pack of such motorcycles was scheduled to go under the hammer this month, but due to the ongoing health crisis, it will do so in April. The pack is called the Legends Motorcycles Museum collection and comprises a total of 36 bikes, many of them coming from the time of the Great Depression. The 1931 V series model we have here is one of them. Wearing an olive and orange color scheme on a body that looks refreshingly vintage, it is part of the side-valve engined family of bikes that replaced the J series produced up until the start of the 1930s. The new series comprised the standard V line, of which this here motorcycle is part of, the VL and the VS. They were all powered by the new Harley powerplant that, coupled with a host of other improvements, made the V series a very fun to ride family of bikes. A number of them survive to this day, and according to Hagerty, a concours condition one can go for as much as $28,000. The one here seems to fit the

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10 Massively Collectible Motorcycles to Watch

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Check out these Beauties and the Price Tags Just like cars, motorcycles are treasured collectibles. Despite their desirability, however, they trade hands on average at far lower values than cars. The car auction record, too, is nearly 50 times that of the motorcycle auction record. Generally, the lower end of the bike market is full of nostalgia-driven purchases; the top is littered with historical significance and racing pedigree. Based on digital views of our newly-released Hagerty Motorcycle Price Guide, here are the 10 bikes in which Hagerty is seeing the most interest, arranged by price from low to high. Click Here to read this Photo Feature on Bikernet. Join the Cantina – Subscribe Today. https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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New Auction World Records Set at Successful Bonhams Motorcycles Winter Sale

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from https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/31428/ The Winter Sale including The National Motorcycle Museum Reserve Collection – Bicester Heritage 11 – 12 Dec 2020 Bicester, Bicester Heritage Offered from the National Motorcycle Museum Collection,1936 Brough Superior 982cc SS100 Registration no. VD 6582 Frame no. M1/1661 Engine no. BS/X 1001 £3 MILLION TOTAL REALISED WITH 92 PER CENT SELL-THROUGH RATE 1936 Brough Superior 982C SS100 from the National Motorcycle Museum Reserve Collection, SOLD for £276,000 Two world auction records for a Sunbeam and Norton F1 motorcycle were set over the weekend at the successful Bonhams Motorcycles Winter Sale at Bicester Heritage, which realised more than £3 million and had an impressive sell-through rate of 92 per cent. A 1928 Sunbeam 493cc TT Model 90 Racing Motorcycle, which had raced at Pendine Sands, powered through its top estimate of £24,000 selling for £41,400, while a 21,188-mile 1990 Norton F1, the roadster inspired by the sporting partnership with John Player Special, made £40,250, both setting new world auction records. However, the name dominating the sale was Brough Superior, with no fewer than five examples featuring in the sale’s top ten, led by a highly original 1936 Brough Superior 982cc SS100, bearing the earliest engine number in a production model, which sold for £276,000. All three machines were offered direct from the National Motorcycle Museum’s Reserve Collection, an exclusive selection of 52 British motorcycles – and motorcycle-related cars – presented on the first day of the two-day sale. A brace of 1937 Brough Superiors offered from The Connoisseur Collection – comprising blue-chip examples from the estate of a late motorcycle enthusiast – also featured in the sale’s top ten, a 982cc SS80 and a 1,096cc 11-50hp which both exceeded their top pre-sale estimates selling for £73,600 and £71,300 respectively. The Connoisseur Collection also offered an example of one

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1948 Harley-Davidson Chopper

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Fans of old, customized or other types of motorcycles have a major event coming their way in the first month of next year. At the end of January, many of them will flock to Las Vegas, where a Mecum motorcycle auction of massive proportions will be held. The auction house has been hosting this event for years, and for 2021 we are promised to see 1,750 two- or three-wheelers crossing the auction block in the hopes of earning big bucks for their current owners. Many makes are on the list, but one of the most important is, of course, Harley-Davidson. Milwaukee-made motorcycles are coming to Vegas either individually or as part of some collection. One of the biggest such packs is that of the Legends Motorcycles Museum in Springville, Utah, with 36 motorcycles owned by the museum’s Rick Salisbury going under the hammer. From Tri Glides to vintage choppers, very few Harley types are missing from the bunch. The 1948 model featured here is one of the two-wheelers in this special pack. Despite being based on an older model, it is meant to be reminiscent of the choppers made in the 1960s and 1970s, with a raked and molded frame, king and queen seat, and a sissy bar behind it, among other things. What catches the eye, though, is the fuel tank, which seems to come with a photo of an aircraft carrier. And we do literally mean a photo: not spray- or hand-painted, nor airbrushed on it, but apparently glued to the upper side of the fuel tank, and presently peeling off at the corners. Try as we might, we were unable to identify the aircraft carrier and get a sense of why it was chosen as an adornment for the bike. This particular

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Elvis’ Harley expected to fetch $300k at auction

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by Chris Best from https://www.wkrg.com Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42, was also a motorcycle fan. A 1975 FLH 1200 Harley-Davidson that he liked to ride around his Graceland estate in Memphis carries a pre-sale estimate of $300,000 – $350,000 at a memorabilia auction in Los Angeles. Another of Presley’s bikes was sold for $800,000 in September 2019. But that’s just part of the auction. A gold and diamond “TCB” ring worn by Elvis Presley is expected to fetch more than $500,000. The ranges from rock guitars to a set of master tapes from the Woodstock festival. The Elvis Presley ring is described as the first in a series of rings with the TCB (Taking Care of Business) letters and lightning bolt motif that the singer adopted as his mantra in 1969 when he returned to performing concerts after focusing on movies. “It’s the quintessential Elvis jewelry piece,” said Brigitte Kruse, founder of GWS Auctions. Kruse said she thought the ring could fetch anything between $500,000 and $1 million at the 300-item auction on Nov. 28. Presley gave the ring, which has a total 2.25 carats of diamonds and which he designed himself, to his opening band singer J.D. Sumner in 1975. The most expensive lot could be a collection of master tapes from the 1969 Woodstock festival that sat in a producer’s storage locker for more than 10 years and have never been available for sale before. The 700 plus hours of tapes, independently valued at $1.6 million, include performances by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and dozens more artists who took part in what is seen as a cornerstone of hippie culture. Kruse said it was difficult to estimate how much the Woodstock tapes might sell for. “There’s just nothing to compare it to,”

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Unrestored 109-year-old motorcycle sets auction record at $225,000

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by Mike Hanlon from https://newatlas.com An extraordinary 109-year-old motorcycle that looks new but has never been restored, has sold at auction for US$225,500, setting a new world record price for a Pierce Arrow Four-cylinder motorcycle. The new record once more shows a marked trend towards complete authenticity by the motorcycle collector market, with unrestored motorcycles now fetching higher prices than bikes returned to showroom condition. The Pierce was America’s first four-cylinder motorcycle, built to unfeasibly high standards that ultimately made it too expensive and led to its demise. Less than 500 were built between 1909 and 1914, they rarely reach auction and when they do, they invariably command high prices. Recent Pierce Fours to sell at auction have fetched $99,000, $104,500, $115,500, $161,000 (the same bike also sold for $137,000 and $143,354) and the record for the model until a few days ago was $192,500, paid for a 1913 model that had been restored to Concours standards over 40 years and had spent most of its life in the world-renowned MC Collection of Sweden. This latest Pierce to reach auction has a remarkable level of originality and authenticity that is almost without peer – the paint still shines like it is near new, but it is the original 109-year-old paint, testimony to the extreme quality of the Pierce marque, also known for producing some of America’s finest pioneer automobiles. This price further confirms the trend in motorcycle collector circles towards exceptionally original motorcycles. In recent years the highest prices fetched at auction have tended to be unrestored, totally original motorcycles with their original paint. Some perfect examples of this include: The most valuable Crocker The most valuable Crocker ever to sell at auction: an unrestored, totally-original 1935 61ci (1000cc) Crocker V-twin. The most valuable vintage Harley-Davidson The most valuable vintage

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Auction Item from Bandit and Howard Knight

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The Master Leather Worker Supports KidsRide by Bandit with photos by Howard Knight The 6th annual Flying Piston Benefit Breakfast, is set to kick off the 80th Anniversary Sturgis Rally. This celebrity-strewn Meet & Greet held Sunday, August 9, brings together custom builders and industry influencers to support veterans and new rider initiatives through Motorcycle Missions and AllKidsBike. It also features the unveiling of the 2020 Tiny Strider Customs. I was in the process of moving to Deadwood and didn’t have time for a major metal sculpture, but I was inspired by my Howard Knight handmade belt with its intricate leather details. I could make a belt buckle and perhaps he could make a leather engraved belt to match. I could hope. I reached out to Howard and he agreed. CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE ON BIKERNET Join the Cantina – Subscribe Today https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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