Posted on 02/14/2023 8:12:48 AM PST by Red Badger
Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A Harley-Davidson motorcycle dating from 1908 sold for $935,000, making it the most expensive bike ever sold at an auction.
Mecum Auction in Las Vegas said the motorcycle, known as the Strap Tank due to the nickel-plated steel bands that suspend the fuel and oil tanks from its frame, sold for $935,000 after fees in a late-January auction.
Vintagent, a website that tracks auctions of vintage motorcycles, said the sale represented the highest price ever paid for a motorcycle at an auction.
"We marketed the bike well, and Harley is by far the most famous American motorcycle brand, so we had a feeling it would do well in auction, but obviously you are surprised anytime you sell the most expensive bike ever," Greg Arnold, motorcycle division manager at Mecum Auctions, told the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel.
Arnold said surviving Strap Tank bikes are rare, and the bike sold by Mecum was an especially unique find.
"This bike has many of its original parts, which makes it that much more rare," he said.
Mecum said the bike was found intact in a Wisconsin barn by David Uihlein in 1941, and he kept it in his possession for the ensuing 66 years. The bike was most recently restored by Paul Freehill of Fort Wayne, Ind., the auction house said.
Motorcycle ping!..................
Does it make a ‘tater tot tater tot’ sound?
Technically, it’s a moped.
Very cool, still.
WOW! It even comes with white wall tires...
Gangsta!....................
It being a one-lunger I’d doubt it does. But it does sound like a million bucks.
Harley is still an American name and still in business.
A biker once gave me a history lesson about Harley, he said Evinrude was either a partner or buddy of the guy that came up with the Harlely Davidson motorcycle, only that Evinrude split off to make boat motors.
Sadly Evinrude/Johnson was bought out by a Cannuck outfit Bombardier then discarded into history in favor of Mercury. IMO Evinrude is just as big of a icon in American history as Harley’s.
I got a ‘FatBoy’ Harley jacket and
That’s as Far as I’m going.
Tater-tot
Tater-tot.
Well, I got the ‘Fat’ part down pat!.......................
Restored? Come on man, leave that original paint on there!
Needs saddle bags and a Windjammer......................
Cool story. The picture makes me laugh a little, bike completely restored (meaning any rust is long gone, leather, paint and chrome is all brank new) and they guy is holding it with white gloves like it was an original Guttenberg bible and would crumble if his skin oils got on it.
Phooey, I built my own from a 26” bicycle frame, using 20” wheels. I needed the extra room to alter the frame to allow room for a 3hp Briggs and a jackshaft reduction just ahead of the rear wheel. Took the pedal crank sprocket, and welded it to the small sprocket on the back axle. Welded the small sprocket to the right end of the jackshaft. Left side was pulley up to a centrifugal clutch on the Briggs. I never did put brakes on it.
I was 13 yrs old, but was advised by a mechanic that had made one himself. I sold it to a neighboring farm kid a year later.
Made a true mini-bike at 15, and a 3 wheeler at 17.
I sold the 3 wheeler (which I also hadn’t got around to installing brakes on) about a year after to the same neighbor that bought the converted bicycle. The kid’s dad said to me, “you don’t worry about stopping much, do you?”
Sale price was $850,000 according to video.
6 years ago I was at a gas station in Arizona and met a gentleman who was actually riding (to or from some sort of event) a 1913 Indian. I have a picture but I’m not going to go to the trouble of getting it posted here. Anyway he was gracious enough to let me take a picture and look it over.
To me it was cooler than this Harley simply because somebody was actually riding it down an American Highway.
Interesting, at least to me, is that a little over 2 years later I ditched my Suzuki for an Indian Scout. Best bike I ever owned. Actually as far as quality is concerned the Suzuki was bulletproof, I just wanted to move up in weight and displacement and the Scout was the best possible Cruiser in the class. I like it much more than a Sportster
Before WWI the Indian motorcycle was the preferred motorcycle by riders and was considered superior to the HD. However, when the US entered WWII, the US Army purchased the entire production capacity of the Indian motorcycles for their couriers and the HD was the next best. Indian never fully recovered their market share after WWI.
I have a Yamaha 650 and a Suzuki 800.
My wife rides a Harley UltraGlide.........
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