Vincents lead the pacl< at H&H's online auction
The H&H motorcycle sale, which took place behind closed doors on April 7, 2020, as an online live auction, dispatched 129 lots for a total of £900,000 - a 67% sell rate. Five ofthe top seven bikes sold were Vincents.
Mark Bryan, head of motorcycle sales for H&H, said: "Given the context - a global pandemic - this is a remarkable result which speaks so clearly of the passion collectors have for motorcycles and the trust they have in H&H. People were buying bikes they had not seen and without knowing precisely when they could take delivery:'
Fifth (behind four Vincents) in the 'top price' list was a 1930 Norton CSl, which fetched £27,600, all of the funds from the sale of which will go towards the purchase of the
Old URC Church in Stokesub- Hamdan, Somerset, built by a distant relation of the bike's owner, former RAFpilot Bill Southcombe.
The whole community is doing its bit to seal the deal on saving the church which plays host to a number of community projects.
Bill explains why his overhead cam 'cricket bat' Norton had come to be sold: "If we fail to buy the church, it will be auctioned by the synod, to developers probably, or left to decay:' As a trustee of the charity set up to save the ecclesiastical building, he has already donated the value of two more of his bikes.
"It's a Congregational
Church built by my ancestor, Richard Southcombe, for the community in 1866. It is
Grade II listed and in very good condition and was given to the URC Synod in 2016 by the Elders. If we are to save it we must pay the synod this year, 2020: