BSA

As announced last week, BSA is back. The first motorcycle of its new era has now been revealed at the UK's Motorcycle Live show, and it's a revival of the Gold Star, one of its most famous motorcycles, which was in production from 1939 until 1963.

One of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers of the 1950s and 60s, BSA is set to resume operations almost half a century after it went bankrupt, funded by its new owner, India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, and with a new factory under construction in England.

The motorcycle marketplace is recalibrated each year with the January Las Vegas sales, and this year saw new records and the changing tastes of the buying public. While vintage bikes performed well, the real movers were two-strokes, seventies classics and Japanese motorcycles.

Bonhams' Stafford Motorcycle auctions are held each spring and autumn at the Staffordshire County Showgrounds in the United Kingdom, and these auctions invariably throw up some fascinating motorcycles.

The motorcycle auction marketplace evolved rapidly at the year-defining Las Vegas auctions this year, both on a macro and micro level. Mecum's five day sale was the largest motorcycle auction ever held, while Bonhams set a new world record by fetching $979,000 for a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning.

As India's gargantuan motorcycle market matures, Indian manufacturers are partnering with or acquiring brand names that focus on provenance, heritage and authenticity: Peugeot (since 1901), Triumph (since 1902), BSA (since 1903) and Husqvarna (since 1903).​

The average motorcycle show attendee in the US has gotten used to events that feature a range of chopped, bobbed, lowered and chromed out V-twins that mostly wear the Harley Davidson badge. Then there's the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, where the bikes and the crowd are far more diverse.​

An unprecedented 1000 motorcycles sold in Las Vegas this year and the strength of the marketplace was clearly evident by the top 150 sales, arranged here for easy browsing

RM Sotheby's Duemila Route Auction contained 423 cars, 150 motorcycles, 60 boats and racing hydrofoils, 117 bicycles, bobsleds, and more. Here's the highlights of the motorcycle section.

Last week Artcurial held a D-Day sale where the entire contents of a World War II museum went up for auction – every aspect of perhaps the most important single military confrontation in history and a fascinating insight into the technologies of WWII and the evolution of warfare.

Step inside the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame, and you’ll get a glimpse into a world where two-wheeled machines were far less complicated yet still advanced for their time.​

Bonhams Stafford Spring sale has been responsible for more sales of elite motorcycles than any other single sale anywhere in the world, rivaling even the combined January Las Vegas sales. Not surprisingly, there are a number of very rare and valuable motorcycles going under the hammer on April 26.