History under the hammer

 

 

It looks like a Harley-Davidson, but it is indeed a Japanese version of the Harley-Davidson, produced under license. Rarer than rare, only a handful have ever reached auction in the West, and this unit set an auction record price.

The first American V-twin motorcycle, the holder of the World Land Speed Record for motorcycles, the subject of a stunning restoration by Steve Huntzinger.

 

Two decades ago it was one of the rarest and most valuable motorcycles in the world, selling for $126,500 in 2001.

When it comes to investing in collectible motorcycles, the provenance of a name like Steve McQueen is "Blue Chip." Indeed, if this bike hadn't been owned by McQueen, it would be worth MUCH less.

Few motorcycles can claim to be this beautiful and this functional at the same time. The Brough Superior Pendine was introduced to the range in 1927 with a guaranteed top speed of 110mph. It looks that fast just standing still.

One of just 308 Brough Superior 11/50s made prior to WW2, the 11/50 was most frequently paired with a sidecar due to its muscular 1096cc J.A.P. flat-head V-Twin engine.

 

This 1955 Vincent Black Prince has just 5,136 miles on the odometer from new. At that time, it was one of just 132 fully-enclosed versions of the Black Shadow produced. Despite being a low, original miles, museum quality specimen, it fetched just $110,000, well below the model record of $164,500, and many other Black Princes that have sold for more than $110,000 in recent times.

The National Motorcycle Museum replicas of the iconic motorcycles from the 1969 film "Easy Rider" sold for $60,500 and $24,200 respectively.

National Motorcycle Museum Collection sells. The sale of the John Parham Motorcycle Collection a couple of weeks ago didn’t receive much coverage in the motorcycle media, perhaps because it wasn't widely recognized that Parham was essentially the National Motorcycle Museum. When a museum collection goes to auction there are always historically significant artifacts on offer, and in this case the sheer volume of high quality lots combined with a non-mainstream location meant that some serious bargains were snaffled. John Parham was the driving force behind the National Motorcycle Museum in Iowa. Following his death, his 300-plus motorcycle collection which formed the core of the museum display, was sold off by Mecum Auctions “in situ” and it contained so many of history’s most important motorcycles that it offered something for everyone, regardless of their two-wheeled interests.

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