LAS VEGAS, BEHIND THE PODIUM (PT.3)

The Thursday night 'dinner auction' began as every MidAmerica auction begins, with a selection of Automobilia, the sale of which benefits various charities - a nice touch. Oddments like a Steve McQueen spanner ($1500) or connecting rod clock ($800) or Hüsqvarna dealer poster ($325) warm up the audience and the circus of auction helpers for bigger things to come.

And yes, it did resemble a circus; while I described each motorcycle as it was pushed onto the rotating podium, eight other people were shouting, leaping, cajoling bidders, gesticulating, waving signs, negotiating (down) reserves with owners, and making a cattle call from the high lectern in the center of the stage. It is indeed a cattle auction, and my job is to extoll Bessie's finer qualities, while explaining her parentage and place in the herd. I had done my homework, so I expected no surprises, although of course I got a few (see below).

The lineup Thursday evening consisted of 80 good-quality machines, almost all of which were totally affordable to anyone with a job ($2-6,000 hammer prices made up the bulk of sales). The Jay Kaufman collection of lightweight motorcycles and scooters taxed my Cushman knowledge, although his Ner-a-Car ($16,000) was right up my alley. It seemed a single phone bidder (#911!) was responsible for most sales of the Kaufman bikes.

High price for the evening, $100,000 at the hammer for an ex-Steve McQueen 1918 ohv Pope 'L' (above), was so far in excess of the next nearest price ($19,000 for a Triumph X75 Hurricane), that a Great Divide was exposed, between rideable old motorcycles and Pedigree Collectibles. While many in our Movement fear a general trend of rising prices and eventual unaffordability for the average collector, the 2010 Las Vegas auction made clear that the vast bulk of older motorcycles remain completely accessible, at least in the current economic climate. The day of the $25,000 Triumph Bonneville/BSA Gold Star is over, prices for these have dropped into the mid-teens... I personally thought a perfect Bonnie for $25k was reasonable, as it was about equal with a new Harley Davidson. But, buyers without deep pockets, who still happen to be employed, should take heart in these lowered auction prices, and go buy the motorcycles they've always wanted, before the economy picks up and prices inevitably rise again! I'd say we have a few years to go, so don't panic, but do commit to buying that perfect Velocette Thruxton or 'square barrel' Triumph Trophy in the near future.

After finishing the auction at 10:30pm, there was little else to do but rest for Friday, where 225 motorcycles would parade before my uncomfortable chair. Thus; sleep, coffee, and back to work at 8am. The tone of the day was established quickly; 'drop the reserve price, or take it home', and almost all owners saw the writing on the wall - prices were down from last year - and hurriedly lowered their expectations. I tip my hat to their practical nature.

Sellers who refused to drop a high financial bar found no takers, and the 'Second Chance Corral' began to swell with unsold machinery... many of which did in fact sell, sometimes at 'Why on earth didn't I offer that?' prices. A case in point; two beautiful Norton Featherbed Internationals, a matched pair of 350cc/500cc ohc beauties, failed to sell on the podium after a rather vague attempt to sell them as a pair (see above), but singly. Confused? Yes. The 500cc Inter sold in the Corral for $10,000... this was a well-restored machine which appeared correct, and in times past (or another location?) ANY 'cammy' Norton would have sold for twice this amount. I kicked myself, but hadn't the wherewithal to buy it.... I really like Featherbed Norton singles.

Other fantastic machines which sold for bargain prices: a pair of 1960s Harley Davidson KRTTs with full racing history (the Dennis Schoenfeldt racers). His cobby 1963 KRTT with 8-gallon 'Daytona' tank, on which Schoenfeldt placed 2nd at that race in 1966, sold for a mere $23,500. His sexy 1968 KRTT, which he owned for 40 years, did a bit better at $29,250, but still, these are rare racing motorcycles with fully documented and laudatory racing lives.

A 1969 Clymer Münch Mammut from the David Manthey collection (which sold 2 months ago at auction) had 1,772 miles, and was the 22nd Munch built; it did well at $78,000. That was the high price of the day by almost double. Next on the list was a replica Harley FHAC 'Eight Valve', which made $49,000 - much better than any other replica American racing machine (Indian 8-Valve, Harley Peashooter & Hillclimbers, etc) that weekend, as these tended to fetch in the $25-35k range.

I did manage to peek into the all-action Indoor Flat-Track Racing show in the adjacent Hall; the hotel is mammoth, with a permanent race track/horse track facility. After 9 hours spent with my ear pressed to a PA system, the usually joyous notes of a motorcycle race were too much, even with a pair of earplugs kindly supplied by Gary Inman of Sideburn magazine, who was shooting a story for Italian GQ on a rising flat-track star.

Being tired and hungry and terribly bored of fried food, I sought the best restaurant in the Hotel, Michael's, hoping for something fresh, green, and delicious, plus half a bottle of wine and a cocktail! My companion was 'Black Lightning' Esper from Norway, who suggested the place, and bade me stop before entering, to regard the stained glass doors and gilt signage. 'What are they telling us with these things?', queried Esper, with his sandpaper-dry sense of humor. Within, it was all Mafia-fancy, with red flocked velvet wallpaper, red leather upholstery, and an enormous stained glass dome on the ceiling. Esper tried to explain to the Maitre'd that we were tired of hamburgers and wanted a good meal; somehow his Norse accent, and our host's Croatian accent, negated each other, and they couldn't understand a word the other said. I found myself translating between two people speaking English!

The entire dinner was a comedy - 'bizarre' was Esper's description - prices for a main course ranged from $78 - $180, but the first item to arrive (unordered) to our table was a mighty 10lb platter of canned, pickled vegetables, with a small ramekin of Ranch dressing in the center. 'It looks like dinner is free tonight; why order anything else?'. But we did order, as pickles are hardly dinner (unless you have cheese and bread and beer!). As a palate cleanser, we were given a cocktail glass with lemon sorbet, over which our waiter poured a nice bottle of Dom Perignon. 'Just give me that, you're wasting good champagne' I said to the waiter, as he flicked the bottle away from my hands.

I recommended a straight shot to a meat course, intuiting the most likely 'can't lose' dish, which proved correct. The filets were divine, followed by Bananas Foster created on a cart, with a flame robust enough to hearth-braze a lugged frame. Then another unordered grand platter of sweets, which we completely ignored. Truly, the 1968 Cadillac of restaurants; luxury for show, with tremendous waste. It made for a good story anyway. 'Bizarre'.

Saturday was the day the 'big guns' of the auction were rolled out, the machines expected to fetch high results, and which garnered much pre-sale publicity. Principal among these was the 1950 Vincent Black Lightning, which rolled onstage around 11:40am. I spoke about the machine's rarity (one of 32 made - but 50 surviving!), its provenance, its fabulousness (which was easy), and a klunky auction began, which was halted three times by conferences with Ron Christensen or difficulties with phone bidders, at which times I spoke a little more about the bike... and a little more still. Pay me to talk about a Lightning, no problem. Esper was firm on his reserve of $275,000, and bidding halted at $245,000, so no sale. The last Lightning to sell (in Europe last year) fetched $320,000; in this context the reserve made sense... the bike is now in Colorado having a few incorrect nuts and bolts attended, and I've been given carte blanche to take it for a road test. It will have to wait until the snow clears, but only a fool would refuse such an offer! Watch this space.

Two other 'star' machines, which had much press and TV coverage (see below), were the Jefferson and Lake (above) Board Track Racers, built by Jeff Haberman (see the story on the Jefferson here). They formed the backbone of our Classic Motorcycle Roadshow display, and we had shot footage of Jeff discussing his family history of the bikes, etc. It all seemed an attractive package, but I had taken a phone call from a very well-connected motorcycle impresario the previous day, who explained the 'word on the street' was the bikes were 'fakes'. Ouch. When they came up for auction, there were no bidders at all, just a lot of histrionics from the team on the floor, and phantom action (perfectly legal, up to the reserve price) from the auctioneer.

Which brings up some interesting questions about Replica machinery... all of which did poorly this year. Haberman's machines were indeed replicas, built around as many original parts as he could find, from blueprints he had diligently uncovered in his search for his own family connection to these machines. In the case of the Lake, only an engine was found, but the Jefferson had original frame and other parts. The catalog description didn't include these facts, which may have left MidAmerica and/or Haberman vulnerable to the accusation of 'fakery'. It is typical of an auction catalog to include the best description possible, and it is sensible to leave out untidy details; any rational buyer expects this, caveat emptor. Perhaps it is time, though, for replicas to be clearly advertised as such in all cases; people regularly buy replica machines at auction for good prices, there is a clear market for them, so why not simply advertise the fact? As my friend Josiah quotes, 'I'm just sayin'.

Other high points; a non-matching numbers Vincent Shadow with Rapide engine made $45,000, a couple of immaculate Jim Hiddleston-restored Triumphs went well above their reserve, and you could have taken home a '59 DBD34 Gold Star in very nice original paint condition for $13,000. Excellent Triumphs went for $12k ish, Ariel Square 4's (seven of them! All nice) ranged from $11,500 to $24,000. I missed the last 100 motorcycles, as the only plane out to SFO left at 4:30pm, but all the results are online, below.

The conclusion to all this; it's a buyer's market, unless you have a truly blue-chip, well-documented machine. Prices are back at 2001 levels, and if you want to buy a motorcycle, this is a great time to do it.



(For all results of the 2010 Las Vegas MidAmerica auction, click here)

LAS VEGAS, BEHIND THE PODIUM (PT.2)

While the life of an 'expert commentator' may sound glamorous (being flown to events, put up in hotels and actually getting paid), the reality is far more workmanlike. As mentioned, early arrival at Las Vegas airport on Wednesday meant a very early flight from SFO - in fact, I booked the only seats available there and back. By non-coincidental planning, both the massive Consumer Electronics Show and Adult Entertainment Expo (read: computer and porn conventions - a natural pairing if ever there was one!) are concurrent with the world's largest Old Motorcycle Auction, meaning all flights are booked long in advance, and I hadn't.

My early arrival allowed time to poke around the motorcycles as they were offloaded into the cavernous halls of the South Point Hotel, located 10 miles from the Las Vegas 'strip'... which means a $30 cab ride each way if you want to see what else LV has to offer beside motorcycles, crappy food and gambling. Which is all SPH has available, and I tried every restaurant in the place over the course of 4 days. No, I never left the hotel! My daily schedule (8am to 7pm, or 11pm) would require a substantial sacrifice of sleep and money if I wanted to explore the 'good' parts of Vegas...neither of which I cared to part with. I've already seen Bette Midler, thank you, and eaten at Thomas Keller/Daniel Boulud/Michael Mina's latest alternate-universe clone of the restaurants which made them famous elsewhere. For whatever reason, they ramp up the fat-butter-salt content to satisfy the yearnings of hungry masses, eager to eat at big name, big city joints.

Our film shoot to finish the Classic Motorcycle Roadshow reel went well and late into Wednesday evening, as we needed quiet in the hall; not easy with P.A. microphone checks, semitrailers driving in, and stevedores manhandling motorcycles. We finished around 11pm, and producer Mick still needed to edit the thing, as it would be 'looped' on a big TV at the Classic Motorcycle Roadshow booth, near the auction bleachers. See the result below; feedback welcome - this show is for you!

After a very late dinner (no problem in the temporal netherzone which is Vegas), it was up to my room for some last-minute 'notes to self' on the 500 motorcycles which would pass under my nose over the next 3 days, about which I needed to say something meaningful! When presented with such an array of machinery, I'm constantly finding 'holes' in my internal encyclopedia; for instance, I can expand at length on Lambrettas, but a Cushman Super Eagle is a cipher. Facing a seemingly endless lineup of the American scooters (one man's collection actually), it seemed prudent to start googling before bed.

Thursday morning; habit had me bolt upright at 7am and walking through that unique ringing buzz of the casino to get my coffee, where I met Gordon McCall for breakfast in the lobby's only quiet spot, near the sports bookmaker's corner. Gordon is committed to making his Quail Motorcycle Gathering next May as prestigious an event as his Quail Motorsports Gathering has become over the years. Watch this space for more details as they are confirmed, but it looks as though quite a few GP stars will be on hand, there will be track time at Laguna Seca raceway, a ride along the coastline, and other attractions. The quality of motorcycles on hand in 2010 will be ramped up dramatically from last year, which Gordon admits had a 'club' feel. Sounds like an event not to miss - soon to be a world-class Gathering, given Gordon's track record.

Mid-day Thursday meant more TV spots, clustered around the Vincent Black Lightning brought from Norway by Espen to sell at MidAmerica on Saturday, the high point of the auction. The Vinnie was compelling not simply because of what it was, but the fact that it had clearly been ridden regularly, and wasn't simply a show bike or an investment. Remarkable for a machine so valuable and storied; Espen and I soon discovered we were kindred spirits, with a love for riding motorcycles which technically belong on the track (ie, in full racing trim), and a disinclination to clean off the dirt after every ride! Old dirty fast racing bikes, that's what floats our boat.

Classic Motorcycle Roadshow interviewed a whole phalanx of experts and opinioneers about the Vincent's sales prospects (and the Jefferson/Lake machines as well) - here is Somer Hooker discoursing about what makes a Lightning so unique and compelling.

The story of this particular machine is very interesting; originally imported to the Swedish Vincent dealer, the bike made a rapid detour to Yugoslavia and back, perhaps to avoid taxation issues, as all it's racing history is documented in Sweden proper. Later retirement from active competition meant the possibility of road use, which was undertaken by... stamping the frame numbers from a Vincent Series B 'Rapide' OVER the Lightning numbers, after filing off the originals. This is the only case I've heard where racing serial #s are overstamped with road #s... it's usually someone faking up a racer from a roadster, not vice versa! Espen claims to have spoken with the fellow who played the numbers...a policeman no less...who wouldn't sign a notarized admission of his long-ago act, to protect his reputation at age 90. How utterly frustrating. Still, a little microcrystalline analysis from a global metal testing outfit confirmed the original numbers did correspond with the Swedish import story, and match the (thankfully unmolested) engine serial number.

And, as this Lightning is one digit away from the infamous Rollie Free 'bathing suit' bike, I just had to!

LAS VEGAS, BEHIND THE PODIUM (PT.1)

I'm in Las Vegas a bit early this year, to shoot a few 'fills' for the Classic Motorcycle Roadshow pilot. It gave me a chance for a more leisurely view of the motorcycles as they arrive, and to speak with a few owners before things get really busy tomorrow. About half of the 500 machines have already arrived, with trucks backing into the loading dock, disgorging a lot of great bikes just as fast as they can be processed (for the all-important VIN verification, checking for keys, and to make sure what arrives is what was described!).

I consider it a good omen that the first person I bumped into at the South Point Hotel was Gordon McCall, who is heading up the effort to bring the Quail Motorcycle Gathering for its second year, this May. Gordon's baby has been the Quail Motorsports Gathering for many years, which has become among the most exclusive automotive events on the planet; he is committed to shaping the Motorcycle event to the same high standards, including track time at Laguna Seca Raceway for the machines entered in the show, and bringing as many past and present GP stars as possible to the lawn of Quail Lodge golf course this year. I'll keep you posted on developments; when Gordon is on the case, great things can happen.

The crew of Classic Motorcycle Roadshow (cameraman, sound guy, lighting guy, producer) could be seen among the employees of MidAmerica Auctions, helping push bikes into place, and crawling around as necessary to spot those chassis numbers! Here is Mick Way, producer of the show, with George, checking in the 500 bikes... if they look tired, ask how late they worked last night (I think they got to be before midnight).

A pair of Ariel Square 4s; a mid-production 'Mk 1' model, with an alloy cylinder head but a single exhaust pipe, stands before a late 'Mk 2', tw0-pipe last-edition variant. Nice!

Not all the 500 motorcycles can be Bonnevilles and Squariels; these Honda 3-wheel ATVs were banned over 20 years ago in the US, but still have great, if dangerous, appeal. They weigh less than 200lbs, and the oversize tires mean they can be ridden on water! Calm water, anyway.

A lineup of very desirable single-cylinder roadsters; two Featherbed-era Norton Internationals ('54 and '55), and a Vincent Comet.

Scooterland! There must be 50 iterations of the lightweight motorcycle theme; Cushmans, Mustangs, a Powell, a Fuji Rabbit, Whizzers, etc. Cheap and cheerful.

And here's the booth for Classic Motorcycle Roadshow, sans people, sans the '09 Curtiss which will grace the stand tomorrow. The Curtiss was the subject of our first shooting schedule last May in St.Paul, MN. It will be nice to see it again. We've already got two Mack-based bikes - the 1914 Jefferson mentioned in a previous post, and a 1919 Lake racer. Perry Mack created quite an engine in 1910, with twin cams and vertical overhead valves, at a time when 'automatic' inlet valves (ie, with no positive valve control, just suction from the piston to draw incoming fuel/air mix, and a weak spring to shut the inlet valve) were the norm.

Mack sold his engines to other manufacturers, but his own bikes were called, initially, the Waverly, then the Jefferson, and after that company ceased trading, he created the 'Lake'. This machine is a re-creation based on an original Lake engine, which is a 'Mack' engine identical to the Jefferson, barring the name cast on the crankcase. It isn't known whether Perry Mack ever sold any a Lake motorcycle, but uber-enthusiast Jeff Haberman built a 'period' machine around the engine he found.

Jeff's business is sign writing, and he's quite an engineer; his skills in both areas show via the work he's done building, and patinating, the Lake. An attractive Board Track machine, which he created using original photographs and blueprints as his model.