Project 1970 Honda CB350 Sells for $5,500 at Bonhams’ Vegas Auction

The Motorcycle Classics 1970 Honda CB350 sold for $5,500 at Bonhams. Photo by the Motorcycle Classics staff

As it usually does, the annual Las Vegas classic motorcycle auctions yielded more than a few surprises. The biggest sale of the January event was over at Mecum, where, underscoring increasing interest in original condition machines, a 1912 Henderson Four sold for a stunning $490,000, a price that climbs to well over $500,000 once the buyer’s fee, typically 5-10 percent, is added. Bonham’s top sale of the event was a 1914 Feilbach 10 horsepower Limited that sold for $195,000. Assembled from leftover parts following the factory’s 1914 closure, it was owned by the Feilbach family until the 1980s, giving it a very unique history.

Mecum reported a 92 percent sell-through, while Bonhams reported 70 percent. And while Mecum was clearly the big winner in terms of total dollars — a reported $13.7 million versus an estimated $4 million at Bonhams — those numbers don’t tell the full story, as Mecum’s four-day event rolled some 1,000 bikes across the block versus some 240 at Bonhams. Mecum’s top 10 sellers achieved a combined $1,466,000, while Bonhams’ top 10 achieved a combined $1,151,000, punctuating the impact of the Henderson sale at Mecum, where the next highest sale was $150,000 — for another Henderson, this time a restored 1913 Four. The next highest sale at Bonhams — also at $150,000 — was a 1955 Vincent Series D Black Knight. On the other end of the spectrum, at Mecum somebody got a very nice 1973 Suzuki Titan T500 for $1,700, while at Bonhams somebody paid similar money for a fantastic 1974 Honda CR125 Elsinore equipped with quality performance modifications you couldn’t possibly duplicate for the selling price.