Welcome to our 2021 UK auction review where we're going to go through the top 10 most expensive
bikes sold in auction this year. But before we get to those, let's have a little look through
some of the other interesting machines that made it through the auctions throughout the year. Now,
we took a view on all the key auction houses so Cheffins, Charterhouse, HJ Pughs, Spicers,
Silverstones, H&H and Bonhams to name a few. So we've tried to get the broadest view possible
and well there's been some interesting action throughout the year, so let's have a look.
Two-strokes, now, two-strokes from the 70s, 80s and 90s, Japanese and Italian,
proved to be one of the strongest categories of the past couple of years, and 2021 has been
no exception to this. All size of bikes, all conditions. Now, there's been some really nice
examples going through and we'll highlight some of those now. Suzuki RG500 middleweight
sports road burning machine. There's two examples I want to show here. The first one, H&H achieved a
fantastic price of £26,450 including premium. Now, a wonderful machine, excellent condition, but that
was trumped by the one at Bonhams which had very, very low mileage, practically an as new bike.
Wonderful condition, and achieved an incredible sum of £34,500 all in. So really strong prices
for this type and category of machine. But it's not just the bigger two-strokes,
also the smaller ones are doing well as well. So, great example at Bonhams, a Yamaha RD350,
liquid-cooled version. Again for a number of years these have been very popular.
Guys wanting to sort of relive their youth and buying the machines they had back in the day.
Lot 680 at the Bonhams auction in the summer there fetched, and this was a bike that needed
restoration it had been barn-stored for a number of years, achieved £12,075 all in which is
an incredible figure. But that was beaten or trumped if you like for the Yamaha FS1E that was
sold by H&H. There was a number of nice examples sold this year but there was one in particular,
Fizzy, that achieved, yes you heard this right, now I'll say it twice, £10,350 all in.
£10,350 for a 50cc motorcycle. Beautiful condition, a really fine example, but
an incredible price for these very lightweight machines.
But it's not just these immaculate, super polished, well restored machines that are fetching
good money and interest. It's the garage find and barn finds do particularly well as well. And
if they're in original condition and they're 100% complete then they can fetch very strong prices.
One example that really stands out, another two-stroke, but slightly different flavour.
A 1964 Lambretta GT200. Stored in a garage since 1976, 100% original
and complete. In need of full restoration, but achieved over four times its estimate at H&H.
£23,000 a record price for one of these types of machines but an incredible find but also a
significant price. Another interesting bike, barn find, was the 1951 Panther M100. So,
big single sloping cylinder, 600cc, British war horse if you like. Very popular to use with
sidecar mounts. Stored since 1971. All matching numbers. Original and complete. Again three times
its estimate. £11,000 at H&H. Finally another nice example actually of a barn find or garage find was
a 1970 Honda 750 KO that was sold by Silverstone Auctions in November. One owner from new.
Genuine UK supplied bike that was one of just 36 machines sold in the KO format in the UK.
Original paint on the tank and side panels. Still had its original tool kit as well. A really,
really rare machine. It'll need a full restoration but that went for £7,855. Very interesting bike
indeed. So, without further ado let's move on to our top 10 bikes in UK auctions 2021. Starting
at number 10. The Italian machine here, 1973 MV Agusta 750S. The factory produced race bikes for
the road, if you like, that allowed you to become Giacomo Agastini on the road with this beautiful
four-cylinder double overhead cam 750cc engine. Producing around 65 brake horsepower. A real
replica of the Grand Prix winning machines that Agostini and others were riding. So one of only
583 machines made in this particular style. These earlier bikes with the drum brakes and the
red, white and blue styling, the humpback seat, were the more attractive ones when compared to the
750 Americas and 850 Monzas that were produced later on. Very original condition, this machine.
Beautiful example. Fetched the sum of £81,650. So moving on to number 9 on our list. A very rare
vintage Brough Superior. 1925 Brough Superior 750 mark II. Offered by the National Motorcycle Museum
for sale at the Bonham sale at Stafford. Reported to be the last one ever made of this particular
type. They were catalogued between 1921 and 1924, this one being registered in 1925 when new.
Still has its original log book. Did have a change of engine at some point. But these
models were quite rare in that they featured the Mag or MAG engine, and the only model to feature
a V-twin from that manufacturer. So, very rare machines. Mated to a three-speed Sturmey-Archer
box, sporting V-twin, very expensive in its day. Achieved the sum of £92,000 including premium.
Number 8. 1937 Indian Four. So an American machine now. American manufacturers had been
making inline Fours from as early as 1909 were really ahead of the game on this. Very technical,
very refined, very smooth. Big mileage crunching machines. Manufacturers such as Pierce, Excelsior,
Henderson and Ace made some fantastic machines. And it was the Ace company that, when they went
into liquidation, were purchased by the Indian Motorcycle company so that they could roll out
their own version of that bike, branded up Indian. A four-cylinder machine that was
inlet over exhaust configuration. Very refined. But for two years only they changed the engine
and it was called the upside down engine. So it was exhaust over inlet, which gave it a slightly
unusual appearance, and to be honest wasn't very popular because the exhaust manifold was mounted
so high it had an unenviable reputation of sort of burning your inside seam on your trouser leg. So
it didn't last for very long this particular model. So very rare. Two years only in production.
This example was a UK supplied from new bike. Restored to concourse standard in 1984.
Regularly ridden and started until two years ago. Again very, very rare. It achieved
double its estimate at the sum of £94,450 when sold by H&H. Moving on to number 7.
A 1914 Brough Model H. Now, not to be confused with Brough Superior, this was a Brough built by
William Brough, father of George Brough. He'd been producing motorcycles in Nottingham since as early
as 1902, and had built up a great reputation of building bikes that he not only designed and put
together himself, but genuinely built including the engines. So he was producing machines of very
high quality, good reliability, but in fairly low numbers. And these were bikes that, in fact,
George Brough himself rode very successfully in various trials and competitions throughout
the early 10s and 20s. And this particular model incorporated an engine configuration that William
Brough favoured later on. It was a fore and aft configuration, 500cc two-speed model, overhead
valve. Very rare machines. One of probably only 10 surviving examples of William Brough bikes.
You're unlikely to see another one on the open market for a very long time,
and we got up close to this bike when we visited Stafford in the summer. Achieved all in, over and
above its estimate, £103,500. Number 6. Another Italian machine. This time a 1974 Ducati 750SS.
These were the ultimate incarnation of the very popular Bevel Ducatis. Highly
desirable machine. Made famous by the Imola 200 winning machine that Paul Smart rode to victory
in 1972. These were a road going version of that bike, incorporating the same large capacity tank,
hump seat. It was the definitive factory built Cafe Racer, if you like, of the early 70s.
Made in very low numbers. An expensive machine in its day.
And probably the top of any Ducati collector's list. If they can own one,
this is it. With its distinctive silver paint work and green frame, very easily recognisable.
Achieved the sum of £115,000 when sold by Bonhams in the summer. Number 5. A 1973 MV Agusta 750GT.
Basically this is the road going version of the 750S that we talked about at number 10
on our list. This particular machine was part of a collection, the same collection as the Ducati
750SS. Immaculately presented. Fully restored and running machine. Just 1800 kilometers on the
clock. Very handsomely styled bikes these were, with their bronze and off-white paint schemes. One
of only 50 bikes produced. Very, very rare. Sold in America. You're unlikely to see another one of
these anytime soon as well. This bike was bought by an Italian collector at the Bonhams auction in
the summer. Achieved a fantastic sum. £126,500 which is a world record for one of these bikes.
Number 4. Brough Superior SS100 Supercharged. Now this is actually a replica or recreation bike,
so it's not a genuine machine. But what it is, is the replica of something that was very special.
A recreation, and built as a homage to the Noel Pope Brooklands machine that held the,
and still holds, the lap record there, or top speed of 124.51 miles per hour average speed.
A bike built to recreate that machine. Supercharged engine. It does feature
a genuine Jap 880 racing engine from 1938, built into a 1920s frame. Wonderfully
engineered. Ridden regularly, and shown at events. It achieves the fantastic sum of £126,500. Bikes
number 3 and 2 on our list are actually examples of the same type of machine. They're both Brough
Superior SS100s from the late 1930s, featuring the Matchless 1000cc overhead valve engine.
The first machine was sold by H&H, and the second bike by Bonhams. They're both one of 102 machines
produced. Built between 1936 and 1940, these were the ultimate in refined motorcycling. The genuine
Rolls Royce of motorcycles. By this point the SS100 had become a really refined sports tourer.
Very luxurious. Very expensive in its day as well. Priced at, starting from £155 and upwards
depending on what options you picked. And these were very, very, very highly refined machines,
and well regarded. Now two super examples sold in the summer. The first one achieved
£218,000 at H&H, trumped by the Bonhams bike which achieved the price of £253,000 including premium.
So, here it is, number 1 on our list. The most expensive bike sold in auction in the UK in 2021,
and it's a racing machine. In fact it's an AJS E90 Porcupine Grand Prix racing machine. The
machine that carried Les Graham to AJS, his first and only world championship in 1949.
The Porcupine was a very distinctive and very recognisable machine from the period.
It's a 500cc twin cylinder overhead cam bike, which with its cylinder facing forwards,
had these spiked fins to aid the cooling of the bike. Hence the name The Porcupine. Produced in
various forms from the mid-40s until 1954. Only four complete E90 models, of which this one was,
were actually built. Plus a number of unknown, an unknown number of spare engines and parts as well.
This particular bike was bought as a selection of bits from the estate of Ted Frend. Now Ted Frend
was a well-known and well-respected racer from the pre-war and post-war years. In fact he was the
recipient of the Brooklands Gold Star because he did 110 miles an hour on a Vincent Rapide
in the late 30s around the Brooklands track. He also achieved the fantastic position of fourth
place in the Senior TT in 1947 when he was riding the Norton. In fact I'm the lucky owner of that
trophy up there. And it was that performance in 1947 that caught the attention of AJS,
and they signed him up as a works rider for them. And he got to ride the Porcupine, in period,
on behalf of AJS. And in 1948 he gained the first victory at Grand Prix for AJS riding this
Porcupine, the E90 model. Before then Les Graham went on to win the world championship on one.
So this particular bike was acquired as a selection of parts, so it's not known if it was
a complete machine and raced back in period. Although it was likely that
parts of the bike were raced in period, it was recreated and rebuilt as part of a
collection of bikes put together by a chap called Ken Senior. And it was his collection
of bikes that was sold by Bonhams in the auction held in the summer at Stafford. This particular
bike had a lot of interest from international bidders and all over the world of collectors. And
well, it just beat its estimate, and it achieved the grand total of £293,000 including premium,
which is a fantastic figure. You're not going to see another one of these bikes come for sale
anytime soon. There's one complete machine at the Sammy Miller Museum, and there's another one
in the Barber Museum in the USA, and then this is the only other known example. So £293,000
including premium. It tops our list for 2021 of UK bikes sold in auction here this year.
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