Hundreds of motorcycles were lined up by their auction day at the four-day Mecum event in Las Vegas.
Sin City is the logical venue for the celebrations of beauty, excess and conspicuous consumption that are the Bonhams and Mecum motorcycle auctions. Held concurrently in casinos just 8 miles apart, the world?s motorcycle collecting elite amass their rolling historical artifacts and commence the bidding in either or both locations.
The Bonhams Auction was held in a carefully staged ballroom of the Rio Hotel and Casino.
Going Once: The Bonhams Auction
The Bonhams Motorcycle Auction is a segment of the large, British auction company that deals in everything from fine art to antiquities. Many of the motorcycles rolled onto the bidding platform at the Rio Hotel and Casino were certainly a melding of both history and art. The Bonhams experience was a two-day event at which nearly 200 bikes were ultimately sold. The preview day of the Bonhams Auction afforded attendees a chance to get up close and personal with all of the bikes.
The first day afforded the masses a chance to leisurely view and study the fine examples. The actual auction day was much more heavily attended and became electric the moment the British-accented auctioneer in a suit and tie started the bidding with a relaxed cadence.
Among the first few motorcycles auctioned off was one of the bikes I lusted after in my youth?a Yamaha Mini Enduro. This unrestored but intact 1971 incarnation of the little dirt bike went for...