Man, Kansas City is having a great year for motorcycle auctions. We’ll get back to KC in a minute – this post actually starts in Vegas at the Mecum auction this January. I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Harper for just a moment – I’m sure he doesn’t remember the conversation – and I was immediately struck with what a kind and knowledgeable motorcycling enthusiast he was. When he handed me his business card, I noticed that he’s had Harper’s Moto Guzzi since 1970, and I can’t imagine how many riders he’s helped since then. During that time he’s accumulated a collection of hundreds of motorcycles. It seems that Mr. Harper is considering retirement, and 325 of his bikes are now going to be up for auction with no reserve.
There’s a whole lot of variety here, with bikes between 50cc and 1,100cc. Most are Italian and British and most were built between the 30s and 70s. It looks like Mike’s son Curtis has created a Facebook page which displays photos of the bikes that will be on the block.
Here’s a partial list of the inventory, or just click here to go to the J Wood & Company page with more information on the auction. Good luck…bid often and tell me what you snap up!
And for a little-known side of Mike, here’s a profile by Motorcycle-USA on his time as a factory racer in Japan before he became the Moto Guzzi expert we know now.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Gordon R!