Crocker

It has taken a long time for a motorcycle to break the million-dollar barrier at auction, and it was almost done twice within a few minutes today in Las Vegas.

The Monterey car auctions will see more than a third of a billion dollars spent in three days this year, but the volume of well-heeled individuals in town ensures that among the cars are a smattering of bikes vendors hope will appeal to the hyper-monied audience.

The collectible motorcycle marketplace has snapped back into action with Mecum belatedly wrapping up its annual January Las Vegas auctions on May 1, following a four-day-sale. The results are intriguing, particularly if you're a Harley Knucklehead fan.

Three of the most expensive motorcycles in history sell during Monterey Car Week 2019.

Monterey Car Week is where the world's most monied automotive enthusiasts congregate once a year, and as usual, there are quite a few elite motorcycles on offer. We count 15, maybe 16 motorcycles that are expected to fetch six figures, headed by two Crockers likely to fetch $500,000 each.

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.

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

The 2017 Las Vegas motorcycle auctions combined Mecum's four-day auction (Jan 25-28) with Bonhams' January 26 event to give the year a kickstart. Almost 1000 collectible motorcycles changed hands, offering enough data to identify a few trends that portend what will happen over the coming year.

Less than 100 Crocker v-twins were ever made with only the first 23 units having hemispherical heads. The bike being offered by Bonhams in Las Vegas on 26 January is one of just seven "hemi head" Crockers known to have survived and the earliest example ever offered at public auction.

This is not a normal auction report in that we've included a number of significant bikes that didn't sell, and we've listed them with their high bid. That means opportunity for motorcycle enthusiasts.

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.

The E.J. Cole Collection has auctioned and the ramifications are profound. The top two motorcycle prices ever fetched at auction were achieved, 28 bikes sold for more than US$100,000, 12 forced their way into the top 100 and American-made bikes are now statistically more valuable than British bikes.