Mecum?s Monterey 2024 sale is swiftly approaching, and the U.S. auction powerhouse has a field of 100 vintage motorcycles selling August 15-17. With everything from turn-of-the-century cycles to a 2023 Ducati Lamborghini Streetfighter on the docket, there?s plenty to choose from, but we feel the following three Lots deserve to have their stories told.

Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn?s Harley-Davidson VL
40 years before Knievel?s Skycycle completed a somewhat anticlimactic descent into the Snake River Canyon, motorcycle stunt riding looked a little different in America. Regional stunt riders made names for themselves by riding the wall, jumping second-hand bobbers and crashing through flaming obstacles in spectacular fashion. A rising star, touring the best venues in California, Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn was certainly one of the biggest names on two wheels in the 1930s. Picking prunes at 10 cents a box, Washburn was able to fund the purchase of his first bike?a 1917 Harley-Davidson that set him back $75. By 1925, he?d learned how to ride the wall and was touring local carnivals for $2 a day pay.

Washburn was an accomplished racer and was headlining an entire team of stunt riders by the 1930s, often referred to as ?Dare Devil Washburn?s Mystery Squadron.? His signature stunts included jumping over a sedan at 70 mph, and crashing through glass, brick and flaming board walls, and in 1934, Washburn jumped a distance of 65 feet over eight sedans. Washbur...