Over 50 British Motorcycles Going, Going, Gone, Under The Hammer
The National Motorcycle Museum Collection, Sold At Bonhams Winter Sale At The Weekend, Set World Auction Records!
Motorcycles are really on the up at the moment, and not just practical machines to help you get to work in a pandemic, but vintage classics are also flying off the shelves, as proved by the Bonhams weekend sale at Bicester.
The sale set two world auction records, when a 1928 Sunbeam 493cc TT Model 90 Racing Motorcycle sold for a blinding 41,400 instead of its estimate of 24,000. Its auction mate, a 1990 Norton F1 roadster, which had a partnership with John Player Special, went for a massive £40,250. All in all more than 3 million came in from the whole sale – blimey!
But, as you might expect that perennial favourite, the Brough Superior dominated the sale with five motorcycles in the sale's top ten. The earliest production model was a 1936 Brough Superior 982cc SS100 which went for a mere £276,000.
Amongst other motorcycles was a 1924 Henderson DeLuxe Four which topped its pre sale estimate again, going for £48,300.
Three MV Agustas were snapped up by enthusiasts, including a 1973 500cc Grand Prix Replica Racer coming in at £ 82,800.
Memory Lane
There were equally good results from the motorcycle memorabilia section, with collections from Barry Sheene MBE, including a leather team holdall with Sheene motifs, and Percy Tait's race leathers flew off the shelf for £5,737.
It's good how popular motorcycles are at the moment – obviously we always knew they were the best thing since sliced bread – but they have really proved to be a winner in these troubled times. Now it seems maybe people have renewed interest in buying the classics as investments or just to own a piece of motorcycle history.
Ben Walker from Bonhams was clearly delighted with the results of the sale and said:
“We are more than pleased with the sale which has been the subject of much interest from collectors around the world and competitive bidding.
"We were also honoured to have been entrusted with the premium collection from the National Motorcycle Museum, one of the most prestigious names in the motorcycling world, and well as the collections from the families of two of motorcycling's national treasures, Barry Sheene and Percy Tait."
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