Mecum put on a pretty good show at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas this past January 25-28 and my only complaint about the broadcast was that it was a little short and didn’t cover enough. Don’t they understand that people like me out there will watch every single bike go across the block or at the very least want the option. Even the commentators were very good this time around with expert vintage analyst, Paul d’Orélans, politely keeping it real anytime someone went off-track. I really appreciated his comments and look forward to more of him in future broadcasts.
Here’s a big surprise for you, there was some huge money dropped this time around and I’ll give you a quick rundown of the top ten sellers. For more detailed info, click on the hyperlink of each bike mentioned for all the Mecum details and additional photos of each bike. The top ten sellers were heavy on vintage four-cylinder bikes with six out of ten. Four of them were Henderson Fours with a 1912 Four at numero uno at a whopping $490,000, two 1913s at $150K and 127.5K at number two and three spots with a 1931 hitting $95K in a not too shabby eighth spot. At number four was an original paint 1928 Excelsior Big Bertha hill climber at a hefty $117.5K while number five was a stunning 1949 Vincent Black Shadow at $110K.
Coming in sixth was a 1923 Indian Chief with a Princess side car that’s an ex-Steve McQueen bike that hit $100K while a 1914 Flanders (no relation to Ned) V-twin racked up $95K at seventh. The last two spots were a 1929 Cleveland Tornado Four at $91K and last, but not least, a lovely 1940 Indian Four at $90K. Man, that’s a lot of paddle waving to win one of these bikes.
For what it’s worth, the total sales of these top ten bikes was an incredible $1,466,000 and if that doesn’t show motorcycles as being valuable investments for collectors, nothing does. Hopefully it’s motorcycle freaks buying these and not just speculators who don’t give a crap about motorcycles and are just looking for a quick buck. When the money comes in, the heart goes out and absolutely lovely classic bikes become static displays. Just like expensive cars, they could become garage queens “too valuable to ride” which I think is horrendous. Give them some exercise man and give us a chance of maybe seeing something on the street we’d never ever expect.
The Mecum Las Vegas auction isn’t all about over-the-top collectible art motorcycles, though. Tomorrow in part two I’ll cover some of the more interesting, potentially usable, and what I think are cool deals on motorcycles that probably will interest you more than a Henderson Four even if it sold for a almost a half-million dollars or should I say especially since it sold for almost a half-million dollars. As you might’ve noticed, Harley-Davidson didn’t crack the top ten, but I think you’ll like what’s coming so check out part two and make your own opinion. Here’s a sneak preview, it’s all Harleys.
For more info on Mecum Auctions and especially the upcoming Mecum motorcycle auction hitting Las Vegas again on June 1-3 with 750 bikes (so far) on the docket, visit https://www.mecum.com/motorcycles/.