Auctions and big nakeds.
Every month we take a look at the classic motorcycle market with a range of industry experts. This month, Ben Walker from Bonhams auctioneers and our very own Scott Redmond look at the high and low ends of the marketplace.
The key advantage of auction sales as a barometer of changing values is the fact that they are public. Private sales are, of course, private, and the ‘how much?’ prices quoted in dealer advertisements are in many cases no guide to the actual selling price. So what did we learn from Bonhams’ October sale at Stafford? That provenance, originality, and condition remain as important as ever, and that interest in certain models and market sectors is growing faster than in others. The latter point is of particular interest to CMM readers, as it is bikes of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s that are showing some of the biggest price increases. And with the cycle of nostalgia getting ever shorter, there have been some significant movements in bikes from the 2000s too. The driving force behind this is demographics: motorcyclists who grew up riding (or lusting after) Japanese and Italian exotica in their youth are now in a position to buy their dream bike. Landmark models have always been of special interest to enthusiasts and collectors: all the more so if they are in unused condition, so it was no surprise to see the ‘two miles from new’ 1990 Suzuki RG500 Gamma achieve an aboveestimate £31,050. Talking of landmarks, there are none more significant than Honda’s trend-setting CB750: a 1971 ‘K0’ model, the two-owner, 6900-miles-from-new example on offer had lost its original four-into-four exhaust but still made an above-estimate £7820 despite being a restoration project. Another Honda landmark, the VFR750R RC30 has been steadily increasing in value of late, and the 1991 Uk-market low-mileage model in the sale – despite showing evidence of repairs and being cosmetically less than perfect – sold for £21,275, a sum that would have purchased a mint example only a few years ago. No marque is more charismatic than MV Agusta and although it lacked documents and required re-commissioning, the circa 1972 750S on offer went for an eye-watering £84,380, or roughly double what you would have paid for it back in 2007. At the opposite end of the Italian size/ complexity/price scale, the circa 1975 Ducati 450 Desmo (an older restoration) was knocked down for an on-estimate £9200, which made it seem something of a bargain by comparison. Other notable results among the throng of Ducatis present were the 750 F1 Montjuich (number 2 of only 200 made) which sold for £16,100; the 1997 916 Senna II which fetched £18,975; and the 1996 750SS, whose purchaser paid £4370 for the two-owner, 7000-mile example in the sale. Another landmark model, Yamaha’s TT500 was the competition version of the XT500, Japan’s first successful large-capacity four-stroke dirt bike. Forming part of an extensive collection of off-roaders offered towards the end of the sale, the original and unrestored example comfortably exceeded its top estimate of £2800, selling for £3565 to a Uk-based bidder. And whereas home-based buyers predominated at British auctions 20 years ago, in 2017 at Stafford there were registered bidders from more than two dozen nations, helping to drive the sale to a best-ever total of more than 96% of lots sold, and reflecting the strength of the market.