Las Vegas Motorcycle Auctions show strong results, easy access

Results are in for Bonhams fourth annual Las Vegas motorcycle auction, and the ancient British firm sold a whopping $3.3 million worth of motorcycles at its Thursday night event at Bally's on The Strip, with some fairly high-dollar bikes setting records.

One of the Ducatis from the Silverman Museum Racing Collection lead the field, as it no doubt had on the track back in its day -- with a record $175,500 hammer price after what Bonhams called “spirited bidding.” The 1978 Ducati 900 NCR was in great shape after its spirited competition life.

Next-highest seller was a 1940 Harley-Davidson EL from the Pierce Family Museum Collection that sold for $159,000.

Another Silverman Ducati was third at $137,000 for a 1973 750 Super Sport Green Frame.

Two Steve McQueen bikes followed. A 1923 Indian Big Chief with Princess Sidecar restored for McQueen by Von Dutch sold to an American collector for $126,000 while an ex-McQueen 1935 Indian Chief gaveled for $80,500.

“We are very pleased to have been able to offer a superb and diverse selection of the highest quality motorcycles from around the world,” said Nick Smith, Bonhams US Head of Motorcycles. “The results confirm our team's capabilities and the strength of the collectors' motorcycle market, and we're looking forward to a great 2014.”

“Once again the season opening and highly anticipated sale in Las Vegas proved to be the place to sell investment-worthy motorcycles,” added Ben Walker, Bonhams International Head of Motorcycles.

While many of the Ducatis sold for 40 grand or so, there were far more accessibly-sold motorcycles at Bonhams, too. You could have ridden off on a perfectly serviceable Triumph Bonneville 650 for $6325, for instance, or a 1970 BMW R75/5 for $3680. A 1972 Kawasaki 500cc two-stroke Triple went for $5980.

For a greater selection of affordable classics, the place to be was down the street at South Point at the MidAmerica 2014 Las Vegas Antique Motorcycle Auction. Complete results of the three-day-long sale were still not completely in as of press time Sunday night but there were many, many affordable classics on the block, including a lot of Triumphs, BSAs, and Nortons, as well as several neat old flat track racers. There were even Bultacos. But again, results weren't up by Sunday night. Here are a few we did find listed, likely from early in the three-day auction, presented in no particular order:

1956 BSA Gold Star TT Flat Tracker $8,000

1975 Norton Commando John Player Special $9,500

Vectrix VX1 electric scooter $2750 (about ten grand below its original on-sale price)

1958 BSA A10 Spitfire Scrambler $15,500

1972 Norton Commando $11,000

1958 Ariel Square Four Mk II $33,000

1967 Royal Enfield MkI Interceptor $15,000

1979 Bimota SB2 $25,000

1974 Norton Commando 850 $7,500

MidAmerica auctioned several of the great Harleys of the George Pardos collection of early Harley-Davidsons, and several of those looked to have sold handsomely. A 1909 Harley Davidson 5C Single sold with a high bid of $95,000. A 1913 Harley Davidson 9B Single sold with a high bid of $31,000.

Ultimately, it looks like you could get into classic motorcycle collecting a lot easier than you could get into classic car collecting, especially if you have a friend with a pickup truck who wants to go with you to an auction or two.

By Mark Vaughn