In our last issue, Paul d’Orléans brought us a great review of the huge Mecum motorcycle auction in Las Vegas in late January. Mecum Auctions’ job, we must understand, is to sell bikes for consignors and secure the highest price possible for a given motorcycle, while also maximizing the auction house sellers’ and buyers’ commissions. But it is not their job to do condition reports on 2,000 bikes and authenticate them. And that’s OK.
As a 50-year veteran of auctions, I can confirm you’re on your own as to condition of any collectible object. Are the components correct for that 1967 TT Special? Are the serial numbers correct on those ’46 Harley FL cases, and do they jive with the belly numbers? When was the last time that Ducati 916SPS ran and how old are the cam belts? Will the bike you’re hot for even run and shift? Typically, none of these answers are on the Mecum website, and that’s also OK.
Yet, these semi-visible circumstances can cause up to 50% swings in value, or, as Paul mentioned on some involved Crockers, make them not at all interesting to collectors. On top of empirical information is simply the condition of surfaces that are plated or painted, rubber components, upholstery, and paint. Given the difficulty and expense of restoration, even slight issues with correctness or condition can significantly reduce a bike’s value — as they should. So given minimal detail in auction listings, we have a lot of investigating to do ourselves. When we determine outwardly what a bike is made of, we can estimate its monetary value and bid comfortably.
But, when Paul mentions, to paraphrase, Vincents and many British bike sale prices have slipped and lost 50% of their value in the past 5 to 10 years, are the similar bikes in the 2025 sale as good as those that sold back then? Watching trends in collecting, if I had a few Kawasaki H2s lying about, I might quickly restore them and consign them. And I might do a “pretty good” job, but maybe substandard compared to that $35,000 example that sold last January, so mine should sell for considerably less. Quite a few H2s sold for around $20,000, 43% less, but it must have been about condition. It wasn’t related to value trends.
Though it’s what’s screamed in post-auction headlines, seeing sale prices, when they are rarely coupled with a bike’s condition, let alone its provenance and available service/condition record, why all the focus on monetary value?
Have you acquired your old motorcycles because, like analysts who help us buy bonds or stocks, you expect them to increase in monetary value? If you read Motorcycle Classics features and note the feelings, thoughts, sometimes passions of the owners, rarely is the initial price or cost of restoration top of mind. The owner likely acquired a particular bike due to a fascination with it, an appreciation for its design and engineering, maybe its competition reputation or a personal history with it decades ago. Maybe I’m into the weeds, but really, though it does take money to take something home from this monster Las Vegas event, now that it’s in your garage, isn’t it about the bike’s intrinsic value and your attachment to it, not the monetary value?
