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For the previous 33 years, Las Vegas has turn out to be residence to motorbike’s excessive rollers, collectors, and fanatics who swarm the town for Mecum Auctions’ annual January sale. This 12 months’s occasion had a reported 2,000 bikes up for grabs, from turn-of-the-century machines to modern-day racers. By the point the final motorbike rolled throughout the stage of the four-day occasion, these 5 rose to the highest for highest costs paid. Since there was a tie between fourth and fifth place, we included the sixth-place finisher as nicely, this 1994 Harley-Davidson VR1000 and its $129,250 promoting worth worthy of an honorable point out.
1. 1928 Indian Ace | $220,000
Each OEM has a marquee mannequin that exemplifies the corporate’s perfect. Whereas Indian Motorcycle has manufactured heralded Scouts and Chiefs, the elegant Indian Four deserves a spot among the many best machines ever produced by Hendee and Hedstrom.
This restored magnificence comes from Wayne Kruty’s non-public assortment. Kruty did a complete restoration in 2014, together with having the engine and transmission rebuilt by Davies Vintage Motors. The 1,265cc inline four-cylinder engine has overhead inlet valves and facet exhaust valves and places out about 30 hp. This one incorporates a leading-link fork and body, one thing solely discovered on the first-year Indian Ace fashions. Draped in basic crimson paint highlighted by crisp gold script, the motorbike exudes energy and style.
One of many motorbike’s strongest promoting factors, the gorgeous inline-four, is a descendant of the 1911 Henderson. The Henderson brothers, Thomas and William, have been well-known for the American four-cylinder motorbike engine they engineered. They offered their firm to Schwinn bicycles, who additionally produced Excelsior bikes, in 1917. William Henderson then launched into a brand new enterprise, founding the Ace Motor Firm in 1919, which was subsequently bought by Indian in 1927. Manufacturing was moved to Indian’s manufacturing unit in Springfield, Massachusetts, the place it rolled out the primary 1927 Indian Ace. The subsequent 12 months it dropped the title Ace however continued to provide inline-four bikes. This Indian was the Ace within the gap at Mecum’s 2024 Las Vegas public sale, successful the jackpot for highest promoting motorbike at $220,000.
2. 1957 Mondial 250 Bialbero Grand Prix Racer | $165,000
Mondial was a boutique motorbike producer from Bologna, Italy, that specialised in squeezing the very best efficiency potential out of bikes with comparatively small engines. Produced between 1948 and 1979, the model minimize its enamel in Grand Prix racing and gained 5 world championships in its heyday. Throughout that tenure, solely roughly seven Mondial 250 Bialbero Grand Prix racers have been constructed by the manufacturing unit. This survivor is the results of a 10-year labor of affection for proprietor John Goldman, who lovingly restored it to its former glory.
The engine’s historical past provides to its provenance. The 250cc DOHC single-cylinder engine makes use of a shaft-and-bevel drive for its cams as a substitute of a tower of gears driving the camshafts. For that cause, it’s believed it was raced by Tarquinio Provini in 1957, giving it a GP pedigree.
The gorgeous dustbin fairing provides to its attract as nicely. The aluminum was hand-fabricated by Giancarlo Morbidelli, the famed Italian engineer, motorbike builder, and race group proprietor additionally answerable for the mechanical restoration. Paint, beauty work, and closing meeting was carried out by Roberto Totti. A gem of a motorbike, Goldman’s Mondial gained Better of Present on the 2017 Quail Motorcycle Gathering, a prestigious annual motorbike concourse. It’s uncommon, it’s immaculate, and it raced away with the second-place prize, promoting for a stately $165,000.
3. 1914 Henderson 4 | $148,500
We talked about the Henderson brothers earlier when speaking concerning the Indian Ace, so it’s no shock {that a} 1914 Henderson 4 made its means into the highest 5. The brothers made large waves within the business after they supplied a high-powered motorbike with a 57ci inline-four engine mounted inside its body tubes.
The restoration on this immaculate Henderson was carried out by Chris Matthews. An emphasis was positioned on staying interval right, from the nickel-plated fork, magneto cowl, and handlebars to the blue and silver paint scheme. Its period-correct speedometer hyperlinks on to the entrance wheel, and the motorbike’s headlamp and taillamp are fed by an onboard acetylene tank, extra old-world fare with aptitude. Outfitted with Henderson Detroit aluminum working boards, a pair of sprung seats, and a further set of handlebars, this magnificence was able to take two-up for a grand turn-of-the-century journey. With its mixture of energy and styling, it’s simple to see why many name the Henderson 4 the “Duesenberg of bikes.” Nonetheless gorgeous at over 100 years outdated, this 1914 mannequin offered for $148,500, to earn a stable third place within the high 5.
4. 2018 Indian Scout Racer–Jared Mees’ AFT Twins Championship Winner | $137,500
Anyone who might need been searching for a turn-key championship-winning flat-track racer had a chief alternative at Mecum’s 2024 Vegas public sale as this 2018 Indian Scout racer gained the 2018 AFT Twins championship with rider Jared Mees onboard. A nine-time nationwide champion, Mees gained the primary race of the 2018 season in Daytona and by no means regarded again, successful 10 races that 12 months on his approach to the title. Mees was readily available in Vegas to witness his outdated workhorse promote for a good $137,500.
For his or her cash the brand new homeowners acquired a fire-breathing 53-degree V-twin with sand-cast aluminum engine instances. The engine has twin overhead cams with 4 valves per cylinder, every valve set at a 23-degree angle. It’s counterbalanced to chop down vibrations, the system’s counterrotating balancer pushed by a gear coming off the crank. Little doubt there are remnants of Mees’ chief mechanic Kenny Tolbert’s wizardry someplace within the powertrain too. The FTR750 has a proprietary S&S exhaust, a 43mm Öhlins fork, and a completely adjustable rear Öhlins monoshock. The bike’s chassis incorporates a light-weight tubular metal body and swingarm together with carbon fiber bodywork. A single Brembo disc brake resides on the rear, the lone binder tasked with scrubbing velocity off a motorbike that hits 140 mph down dusty straights. Hopefully this piece of American flat-track historical past discovered a fantastic new residence.
5. 1912 Pierce 4 | $137,500
Additionally banging the gavel for $137,500 was this pristine 1912 Pierce 4. This one likewise got here from Wayne Kruty’s non-public assortment, the restoration being accomplished in 2011.
Whereas Pierce first made its title within the automotive business in 1901, it resulted within the formation of a brand new bicycle division as nicely. This led to the corporate producing bikes too. The Pierce 4, the primary of America’s mighty “Fours,” made its debut in 1909. It featured many carryovers from early automotive developments similar to a T-head-design inline-four engine, cam-driven consumption, exterior flywheel, and an enclosed shaft drive. This meticulously restored relic incorporates a 43ci 696cc engine and a two-speed transmission, each of which have been rebuilt. Energy to the rear is transferred by way of an enclosed shaft drive. The pedal was used for beginning and served double obligation as a coaster brake. The motorbike’s outsized 3.5-inch body tubing, which homes each gasoline and oil, was additionally impressed by Pierce cars. Its flashy maroon paint and nickel-plated accents likewise replicate a little bit Pierce panache. The corporate sadly went stomach up in 1914, however happily there are a number of stellar survivors nonetheless round.
Honorable Point out: 1994 Harley-Davidson VR1000 | $129,250
Since fourth and fifth place tied at $137,500, we figured we’d throw the sixth-place finisher into the combo. This 1994 Harley-Davidson VR1000 offered for $129,500. The track bike incorporates a factory-built liquid-cooled 60-degree V-twin with twin overhead cams and Weber-USA digital gasoline injection, an enormous departure from Harley’s conventional air-cooled, carb-fed, pushrod-driven engine. The powerplant is slung in an aluminum twin-spar body with absolutely adjustable suspension. It was the primary pure racing motorbike Harley-Davidson ever constructed, and made its Daytona Superbike debut in 1994. The VR1000′s racing profession was short-lived, although, and in all solely about 50 of those homologation bikes have been constructed—25 racebikes, 25 road. This one is a race mannequin as a result of it has no headlight, taillight, or flip alerts, and is a extremely collectible time capsule from a daring enterprise The Motor Firm as soon as launched into.
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