Posted on 02/04/2022 11:57:29 AM PST by Red Badger
The top two sales were British, but after that, American motorcycles dominated more than at any time in the last decade. It appears that the pandemic has catalyzed a rise in prices in general, but for American bikes in particular.Mecum VIEW 74 IMAGES
Upon reading last year’s report on this auction (due to Covid-19 the traditional Mecum Las Vegas auction was run in April/May instead of January) in 2021, it would have been easy to take the text, change a few dates and republish, at least for the topline information. Dig a bit deeper though, and there are all sorts of sub-plots, all worth exploring.
Last year the big story was that the Harley-Davidson Knucklehead went from zero to hero in three days. The Knucklehead had actually been on the rise for some time, but prior to Mecum's Las Vegas auction in 2020, the most that had been paid for a Knucklehead was $181,500 at the Mecum Las Vegas sale in 2014; $159,000 at Bonhams in 2014; and $132,000 at Mecum Las Vegas in 2019.
At the Mecum Las Vegas auction in 2020, a 1940 Harley-Davidson EL Knucklehead sold for $220,000, becoming the most expensive Knucklehead ever sold at auction. As it was the same bike that had sold for $159,000 in 2014, those three bikes were the only Knuckleheads to have ever sold for more than $100,000 at auction prior to Mecum Las Vegas in 2021.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
ANTIQUE MOTORCYCLE PING!...............
Love ‘em or hate ‘em you’ll never see Japanese motorcycles get prices like this. Maybe the very first Honda Cub or some other extremely rare bike might get a good bid.
I’ll bet a whole passel of chopped Knucklehead owners are kicking themselves right now.
1936 stock Knucklehead - $150,000
1936 goose-necked chopped Knucklehead - $10,000.
Lol.
74 -77 Kawasaki KZ two strokers might..............
Add in that Yamaha V-4 two stroke never sold in the US.
One FReeper owns one.
You mean the triples? Not $150,000. I’ve ridden them. I’d never get on one again. I’m more nostalgic for an RD350 since they didn’t spit you off regularly. Still, wouldn’t pay much for one, though.
Same here. Have come close to buying an RZ or air-cooled RD (or TZ!) but the prices seemed a bit high even before free money times.
I broke my back after my RD350 grounded the pipes and slid into a tree.
Forgot I had the stock pipes back on rather than the expansion chambers. Was hoping to get it ready for amateur road racing.
A friend of mine had one of those back in the 90s. A real screamer, fast and nimble, but a lot of trouble. Definitely a weekend play bike, not a daily rider.
Ouch! Loved to watch the TZs race at Seattle International Raceway back in the day.
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Just looking at the picture, I d say about $25k...............
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