1908 Harley-Davidson sells for a record $935,000

UPI ^ | FEB. 13, 2023 / 4:29 PM | By Ben Hooper

[Red Badger]

Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A Harley-Davidson motorcycle dating from 1908 sold for $935,000, making it the most expensive bike ever sold at an auction.

Mecum Auction in Las Vegas said the motorcycle, known as the Strap Tank due to the nickel-plated steel bands that suspend the fuel and oil tanks from its frame, sold for $935,000 after fees in a late-January auction.

Vintagent, a website that tracks auctions of vintage motorcycles, said the sale represented the highest price ever paid for a motorcycle at an auction.

"We marketed the bike well, and Harley is by far the most famous American motorcycle brand, so we had a feeling it would do well in auction, but obviously you are surprised anytime you sell the most expensive bike ever," Greg Arnold, motorcycle division manager at Mecum Auctions, told the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel.

Arnold said surviving Strap Tank bikes are rare, and the bike sold by Mecum was an especially unique find.

"This bike has many of its original parts, which makes it that much more rare," he said.

Mecum said the bike was found intact in a Wisconsin barn by David Uihlein in 1941, and he kept it in his possession for the ensuing 66 years. The bike was most recently restored by Paul Freehill of Fort Wayne, Ind., the auction house said.

[Rinnwald]

My wife and I got into Mecum auctions last year. We bought a motorcycle at Monterrey and two cars in Vegas. Our purchases were pretty low beans, but we had a lot of fun.

I expected prices to start leveling out due to the economy, but they are still climbing. I think people with money are putting it into substantive “things”, instead of investments.

[Red Badger]

Yes, art, real estate, antiques, rare coins/stamps, collectibles, beanies babies.........................

[subterfuge]

Lol!

[Waverunner]

We’ll know if the purchaser is just a rich collector, or is really a biker by one action. Will he ride it to Sturgis?

[ChildOfThe60s]

My Zuk was the S40 (Savage) 650 single. A little tweaking made it very peppy. In a lot of ways it was what a basic motorcycle should be. Stupid easy to maintain.

The Scout Sixty has been very reliable. 44K on it now. Love it.

If I had real money I’d have a separate garage full of bikes. A two wheeled harem in a manner of speaking.

[Red Badger]

I’m looking to find a Kawasaki Vulcan 2000..............

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Back around 1970, there was a guy at my high school who rode a 1920-something Indian. It had a left-foot clutch and a stick shift, as I recall.

[Boogieman]

That’s one expensive moped.

[ABN 505]

That is a fact and when I tell people that the war was the downfall of Indian the don't believe it “Harley made a better bike” is the usual retort. Worst trade I never made was my Neighbor wanted to trade his Indian Chief for my BSA Royal Star because he liked riding it “it fits me good”! he told me. I still kick myself when I think about it. Whats worse is I traded the Beeza for a Harley 45 trike 6 months later..I worked right down the road in Springfield from the Indian factory if you get a chance there is a museum devoted to Indians right by the old factory.