THESE ARE NOT BIKES for sensible people. Sensible people don?t want a vintage, rusting, non-running motorcycle in their garage. Alas, we are not sensible people. Mike Wolfe is one of us, a guy that simply falls in love with a bike because it?s old, or historic, or interesting, or cool. Certainly not sensible, but who cares"
A couple of years ago on the ?American Pickers? TV show, I watched co-host Mike Wolfe yank a 1967 Triumph Bonneville out of an old barn, and I knew he was one of us, one of the guys who probably has a bumper sticker on the back of his van that reads, ?My Other Car is a Classic Motorcycle That Doesn?t Run.?
Anyone who?s been around the hobby for any length of time knows guys like this. The big difference is that Wolfe has a TV show, ?American Pickers,? a warehouse, and he?s paid to travel around the country and find old motorcycles, old scooters, or even the old tour van that once belonged to Aerosmith. Over the years, we?ve seen him literally dig up classic bikes from the ground, haul them out of fields, or (usually) carefully roll them out of a barn. His personal collection has grown to over 150 vintage bikes, and it was a surprise when the notice for the 2023 Mecum Las Vegas auction said he was going to sell about 70 of his rarest cycles this month. Hoarders, ahem, collectors like him don?t sell their bikes, so this is a rare chance to see what he?s personally amassed before they go to auction in Las Vegas and likely disappear forever into a new p...