On April 23-24, Bonhams will be having their spring sale at the Staffordshire County Showground in the UK. 439 lots are up for sale, about half of which are complete motorcycles in varying condition. This auction made the media rounds a few months ago because it features the rare “Broughs of Bodmin Moor” that was discovered in a village after 50 years. Some people thought these bikes had been destroyed, others thought they had been hidden away, but no one publicly knew where they were. They’ll all need to be restored but it’s going to be very interesting to see what the final sale prices are.
For more on the Broughs, check out this press release from Bonhams back in December.
Per usual, here’s a list of all the bikes. Or, read on for 10 of my favorites (but it was way too hard to pick).
It’s a little obvious to list off the Broughs, but one of them is just so special that I can’t help it. So I’ll just list this one and move on to other bikes:
1. 1932 Brough Superior 800cc Model BS4 Project – estimated to sell between $110,000-$170,000.
The BS4 went by a few names: Straight Four, Brought Superior Austin Four, or even the ‘3-wheeled Brough.’ Either way, George Brough had built two prototype 4 cylinder bikes in 1927 and 1928, but he ended up going with an existing motor – the 747cc sidevalve from an Austin 7. Brough made some changes to increase horsepower but this was designed to be more of a luxury model that you could attach a sidecar to, not a sports bike. Just 10 were built, and this is one of the more notable ones. It is believe that this bike was ridden by Brough’s friend Hubert Chantrey in the 1932 Land’s End Trial. Unfortunately, while he did complete the course he finished after a time limit at one of the checkpoints. Out of the 10 built, 7 still survive. Of those, just 3 have the original engine, and this example is one of them.
2. 1983 Heron Suzuki RGB500 – estimated to sell between $110,000-$140,000.
One of the last Suzuki’s campaigned by Barry Sheene, this was campaigned in the 500cc World Championship by both Sheene and Mick Grant. Initially run by Heron, Suzuki’s UK importer, this was never going to be as competitive as the factory machines, but it’s still a bike that competed for years at the top level of road racing. In the last few years the engine has been rebuilt twice and it’s now ready for race or show.
3. 1971 Moto Guzzi V7 Sport Telaio Rosso – estimated to sell between $25,000-$30,000.
When Guzzi introduced the instant-classic V7 Sport, and they made the first 150 models extra special with green bodywork and a red frame, the latter of which translates to “Telaio Rosso”. Some consider these bikes to be the most collectible production Guzzis out there due to the history, otherwise find the colors ugly and jarring. Either way, it’s definitely special, and this example has a Certificate of Origin confirming it’s one of the initial run.
4. 1959 Norton-JAP 998cc Sprinter – estimated to sell between $57,000-$71,000.
Named “Thor”, this was one of four sprint bikes built by Francis Williams, three of which had 1,000cc motors and one with a 500cc powerplant. This is the second of the three big boys, and it used a Norton Featherbed frame paired with an engine comprising of Alfin barrels and JAP heads. It was claimed to produced 100 horsepower running on methanol. If that wasn’t cool enough, the sale also includes an alloy dustbin fairing like this:
5. 1966 Rickman Triumph Street Metisse – estimated to sell between $8,500-$14,000.
You’ve seen plenty of Rickman bikes on this site, but here’s a special one: it’s the first Rickman road bike, which coincidentally makes it the first production street bike with a front disc brake. Apparently, Motor Cycle News bought this prototype and gave it away in a competition to a student who kept the bike until he passed away in 2013. By 1995 the engine needed a rebuild but illness got in the way of the project so Classic Bike got involved, trying to keep the bike as original as possible. So cool.
6. 1984 Moto Guzzi Le Mans III Cafe Racer – estimated to sell between $5,700-$7,100.
Acquired in 2011 by the current seller to compete in BEARS, this lovely cafe racer doesn’t just look good – it’s spent track time at Aintree, Darley Moor, and Cadwell Park. For those of you not too familiar with British race tracks, Cadwell Park has one of the coolest turns in motorsports: The Mountain.
Watch through the end of this for a replay:
Or if you want a slow motion look:
7. Alright, back to the auction. Here’s a 1987 Mondial 125cc GP Racer – estimated to sell between $9,000-$14,000.
When the Villa brothers brought back Mondial in the late 80s, the first bike was this 125cc GP racer. The price was hefty and barely any were sold, making this a rare find nowadays. This bike competed in the 1988 World Championship’s Italian round at Imola but it unfortunately did not qualify.
8. 1981/82 Villa Seebring 125 – estimated to sell between $1,100 – $1,700.
Back to the work of the Villa brothers, this time with their own brand of bikes. Villa made motorcycles from the mid 60s until the late 80s, including the “Seebring” road bike. Bonhams notes a few differences between this and the standard Sebring, so they guess this is ‘probably a pre-production machine built for a trade show.’ The engine is a Villa-designed unit and it utilized Motoplat ignition, a 6-speed transmission, and reed-valve induction.
9. 1978 MV Agusta Monza 832 – estimated to sell between $57,000-$71,000.
One of the last of MV’s classic fours, the Monza evolved from the 750S America. The engine was bored out to 832cc, and it got features like triple Brembos, the fairing, and cast wheels as standard, though they were options on the America. When it was released, it was both the most expensive and the fastest production bike in the world with a top speed of 144 miles per hour. This example is original with just 10,825 miles though it will need a look through before it hits the road again.
10. 1968 Greeves Challenger/Watsonian Sidecar – estimated to sell between $5,700-$8,500.
The Challenger was Greeves’ first model with their own engine. This example was owned by none other than Bert Greeves himself, and because Greeves didn’t have any model designed for a sidecar, they sent this bike to Watsonian to have a custom made rig built. This bike got upgrades from later Greeves models like the twin leading shoe front brake and the 380cc revised two-stroke motor.
11. I couldn’t hold myself to just 10. 1956 Ferrari 125cc Super Sport – estimated to sell between $7,800-$9,200.
No, not THAT Ferrari. Built instead by Fratelli Ferrari, these motorcycles did not stand out from the usual small Italians at the time, but the name means they’re still collectible to this day, particularly by owners of Ferrari automobiles. This example has not been used since it was ‘comprehensively restored’ – in fact it was on display in the owner’s collection next to his Ferrari car.
If I shared every bike that I thought was cool from this auction, this post would have taken me three days to complete. So for a complete listing of the lots, I HIGHLY recommend that you head on over to Bonhams. What are your favorites?