Mecum – The ExhaustNotes Blog

By Joe Berk

This just in:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mecum’s Monterey Auction to Feature Exceptional Classic Motorcycles
Estimated 100 Classic, Collector and Racing Motorcycles to be Offered August 15-17.

Walworth, Wis. – July 30, 2024 – Bikers, history buffs and lovers of two-wheeled machines will want to make the trip to Monterey, California, for Mecum’s annual auction in the famed peninsula region during this year’s celebrated Car Week. In addition to the high-end selection of 600 classic and collector vehicles set to cross the Mecum auction block at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course Aug. 15-17, Mecum will also present a wide-ranging assemblage of approximately 100 historically significant motorcycles led by a very rare and unique 1957 Triumph Model Twenty-One.

As the nation’s leading seller of vintage, antique and collectible motorcycles and the host of the world’s largest vintage and antique motorcycle auction held annually in Las Vegas each January, Mecum presents motorcycle selections at every one of its many annual auctions held at locations around the country and is proud to bring the best selection of bikes to the Monterey region during Car Week year after year. Notably for motorcycle enthusiasts and collectors, the 2024 auction will boast one of the most impressive Monterey motorcycle lineups to date.

The 1957 Triumph Model Twenty-One (Lot T45), which leads this year’s motorcycle selection, boasts status as the very first unit-construction Triumph twin ever delivered and wears serial identifier H1. It was unveiled to the public in Amsterdam at the 1957 RAI exhibition—an event that dates back to 1893 when it was started as an association for the bicycle industry—as the first motorcycle to wear the “bathtub” rear body covering, meant to protect the bike/rider from the elements and modernize its appearance. Today, the historic machine features a restoration completed by marque specialist Kevin Giles of Pearland, Texas, which was completed in 2022, and it is being offered with its original Dutch registration dated April 5, 1957.

Several motorcycles will also be offered from the personal collection of Brad Lackey, winner of the 1982 500cc World Motocross Championship and American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Hall of Fame Inductee. After retirement from the race track, Lackey excelled in the collecting and restoration of historically significant and race-winning machines, and he’ll be presenting five of his finest at the Monterey auction. The selection ranges from a trio of Bultaco singles to a 1982 Kawasaki SR250 (Lot S145) that is one of only three true factory works motorcycles hand built by Kawasaki in Japan for the U.S. factory race team, and it today boasts a restoration by factory Kawasaki mechanics.

No motorcycle auction would be complete without a Harley-Davidson in the mix, and Monterey has an exceptional one in store: Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn’s 1932 Harley-Davidson VL Stuntbike (Lot F10.) The famed performer and Evel Knievel of his day purchased this bike new and employed its use throughout his 28-year career.

Consignments are still being accepted for the Mecum Monterey 2024 auction, and bidder registration will remain open through the duration of the event. For more information on Mecum Monterey 2024 and all other scheduled Mecum auctions, visit Mecum.com or call (262) 275-5050.

# # #
Mecum Auctions
Communications Department
Breeann Poland
bpoland@mecum.com

More info on the cars and motorcycles up for auction is available here. It’s worth a click just to see the photos!

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Don’t forget: Visit our advertisers!

Not as measured by the compass, mind you, but as measured in dollars. A 1980 Honda CBX recently sold at auction in Las Vegas for a whopping $49,500. Wow.

The CBX originally debuted in 1979, and production continued through 1982. The first two years featured naked bikes (no windshield, no fairing, and no bags); the last two years were equipped with bags, fairings, and a little bit of detuning to make them a bit more reliable. The bikes were (and are) impressive, with wide engines (the engine was a straight six mounted across the frame), six carbs, six headers, and 24 valves. I think those CBX Hondas were and still are beautiful.

When the CBX first came out in 1979, I was living in Fort Worth. I rode my Triumph over to the local Honda dealer, and the guy let me take a silver one out (by myself) for a test ride. I immediately headed to Loop 820. It’s where I used to open up my ’78 Bonneville, which would touch an indicated 109 miles per hour. Naturally, being a wise-beyond-my-years 28, I did a top end run with the brand new CBX. I don’t remember what its speedo went up to, but I do remember running out of resolve at something north of 135 miles per hour (the bike still had more left). The CBX was an impressive motorcycle.

I turned it around and headed back to the dealer, and when I arrived, I leaned the bike over on its side stand and left the engine running. It was leaking oil from the left valve cover, and it was kind of pulsing out like I had nicked an artery. The sales guy came up, eager to close a deal, and asked what I thought of it. “Not for me,” I said, pointing to the oil leak. “It’s already leaking oil.”

But the CBX bug had bitten. About a dozen years later, I had moved to southern California and I rode a ’92 Harley Softail (didn’t everyone back then?), and I saw a pristine ’82 CBX at Bert’s MegaMall in Azusa. It was $4500, and I had to have it. I bought that bike and rode it for another 10 years, and I did some serious touring on it. That’s me you see in the photo at the top of this blog somewhere in Arizona with good buddy Lou and his Goldwing.

The CBX was an amazing machine, and I felt that way the entire time I owned it. I sold it when Honda stopped stocking parts for the CBX because I was worried that if something complicated broke, I’d have a $4500 paperweight. I put it in the CycleTrader and it sold the next day. I thought I had done well because I sold it for what I had paid for it 10 years earlier. If I only knew what they’d be going for today.

Never miss an ExNotes blog…sign up here for free:

More Dream Bikes!