On April 26th, Bonhams is going to auction off 50 sweet motorcycles. Click this link to check out the full list, or scroll down to see five of my favorites.
1982 Yamaha TZ500J – estimated to sell between $30,000 and $37,000.
Last year of the TZ500 production racer – these weren’t particularly competitive by the time the 80s had rolled around, but this bike apparently has an extensive race history from back in the day.
1930 Brough Superior Black Alpine – estimated to sell between $100,000 and $150,000.
Look at those wheel covers! The ‘cheap’ Brough Superior, it was called the Miniature SS100 when it was introduced as the Overhead 680. Fast forward to 1929 and Brough turned into a higher-spec bike which was then called the Black Alpine – a reference to the black paint job and the incredible Alpine Grand Sports.
1977 Silk 700S – estimated to sell between $8,200 and $11,000.
Let Rider Magazine explain to you what Silk (a British company) was all about. This example was used in sprints and hillclimbs so often that the owner started communicating with George Silk himself on tuning – leading apparently to the installation of one of just two 500cc special short-stroke motors. One owner bike though this bike has spent some time in storage since the owner passed away and will need a ‘re-commissioning’.
1939 Vincent Rapide Series A – estimated to sell between $330,000 and $390,000.
An extremely rare bike (estimated production of 78), this bike has been with the same family since 1959. In 1968 the bike was dismantled for a rebuild, but it then spent years in pieces in a garage. Incredibly, when a new renter took over the garage in 1980 the bike was almost thrown out! It just went through a 7 year long restoration to a claimed concourse condition.
1930 Scott Sprint Special – estimated to sell between $15,000 and $21,000.
Look at that fuel tank. Hell, look at the whole bike – I love these things. In his book The Scott Motorcycle, Jeff Clew sums the Sprint Special as this: “To many, it was the absolute epitomy of everything that was good in the Scott design, even if the high cost put it out of reach and on a pedestal.”
I wanted to keep this to 5 bikes, but I couldn’t omit these two:
1979 Ducati NCR Racer – estiamted to sell between $120,000 and $180,000.
Two owners, never raced – just used in parades and hill climbers. Rare chance to get one of these that hasn’t been flogged.
1926 Coventry-Eagle Flying 8 – estimated to sell between $120,000 and $180,000.
No, it’s not an 8 cylinder. Named for the 8 horsepower produced out of the 976cc JAP V-twin, this bike competed against the legendary Brough Superior. The bike was capable of 80 miles per hour, and this is a beautiful example of a hard to find machine.
Again, if you want to see the whole list, head on over to the Bonhams site.