‘There’s growing interest in more modern classics’

We had another successful sale at the MCN London Motorcycle Show. The total sale of £960,000 compares well with the £767,000 recorded at the first London sale. Nearly 50% of bidders were in the sale room too, with the remainder online or on the phone.

Part of the reason for the success of the sale has to be the continuing rise in interest in more recent classic and collectable machines, of which we had a good selection on offer. And, of that selection, three machines ended the weekend setting new auction records for their model. A 1994 Ducati 888 Corse set a new UK auction record, and both a 1995 Ducati 916 Senna 1 and a 1982 Kawasaki Z1000J2 achieved new world record auction prices.

The sale was further confirmation of the growing interest in more modern classic and collectible motorcycles - though, of course, even the newest of those three record breakers is well over a quarter of a century old. But it’s interesting to compare the prices realised at the sale with the machines’ cost when they were new.

I recall that a Senna cost around £14,000 in 1995. The bike we sold at Excel made £38,750 – about 2.6 times its original sale price. Back in 1997, a really nice 1969 Triumph T120 Bonneville would have cost around £4500 against a 1969 sale price of £369 – an increase in value of around 12 times the original cost. Maybe the modern classics have still got a bit of catching up to do when it comes to appreciating values.

On a more serious note, the sale proved that buyers are still out there. We certainly had more registered bidders this year than last and I was buoyed up by the experience of being at the show. The show definitely brings more footfall to our sale – and I’m sure it encourages some spur of the moment buys. People come over for a look and see something they really fancy and just go for it.

Our next sale is at the MCN Festival of Motorcycling in Peterborough in May. If you’re thinking of buying, but want something with a good chance of appreciating over the next few years, I’d go for something low mileage and original from the ’80s/’90s. Homologation specials like Yamaha OW-01S and Suzuki GSXR750RR models are good examples. But, most important of all, be sure to buy something that stirs your soul. silverstoneauctions.com