Vintage Motorcycle Auction Fever in Las Vegas

Reader Contribution by Mc Staff
Published on November 28, 2011
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Auction fever in Las Vegas 

For 19 years, auction house MidAmerica stood alone on the Strip with its annual January vintage motorcycle auction. Things changed last year when Bonhams, gambling it could attract some of MidAmerica’s audience, decided to get in on the action, hosting its own classic bike auction just down the road from MidAmerica — and on the same weekend. Pundits worried Bonham’s move into MidAmerica’s territory would weaken overall auction activity, diluting the crowd of auction regulars. But reality didn’t support prognostication, and the 2011 Las Vegas auction scene — aided by a steady immigration of buyers from the vintage car scene — was one of the hottest ever; Bonhams sold $2.5 million worth of vintage bikes and MidAmerica a whopping $4.7 million-plus, an almost 10 percent increase over its 2010 performance of $4.3 million.

Now a third vintage motorcycle auction joins the party. The Auctions America by RM Las Vegas Premier Motorcycle Auction Jan. 12-14, 2012 will be hosted at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Headlining the auction is a steam-powered motorcycle built by Sylvester Roper (a direct relation of racer David Roper) in 1894. Sylvester Roper built two bikes, famously expiring while testing the very bike slated for auction. Auctions America predicts the Roper will break the record $520,000 a 1915 Cyclone OHC board track racer drew at MidAmerica’s 2008 Monterey auction. Other features in the 400-plus offering include a 1911 Wagner and a 1917 Henderson Four board track racer.

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