Richard Edmonds Auctions 12 September

There was a strong entry of machines in the last Richard Edmonds motorcycle auction. Some 70 in total. In these times of Corona Virus viewing was held over the three days prior and bidding both live and online. I personally viewed on the Thursday before by appointment and it was a very civilised and gentle experience having pretty much the full auction just to myself to look around. I did not follow bidding on the day but most of the bikes found new homes. Personally I thought many of the prices a bit low: there could be many reasons for this.. There has been a surfeit of auctions of late, folks are nervous about spending money with the looming recession hanging over us and the auction was held just as the Government announced the return of more stringent measures to try to hold back the second wave of the virus. Either way on the day it was seemingly a buyers market and undoubtedly there were a good number of happy new owners come close of play. If I had had the ready cash there were several machines I would have been delighted to have come home with. A small sample of lots on offer below. For more details see the Richard Edmonds website.

I was rather in love with this 1928 Harley Peashooter. A bike
very seldom seen in the UK. The condition was beautiful and
the hammer price at £12000 was a steal. Quite gutted I didn't
have the readies to buy it.

Peashooter power plant.

The restoration work on the Peashooter appeared
to be of excellent quality.

And the flip side of the Peashooter.

Ex Wehrmacht Zundapp KS600 combo. Running around on an
ex-Nazi steed wouldn't be my cup of tea but these are sort after
bikes and very high quality machines. This one looked tidy and
all correct but would certainly need a good bit of fettling to return
to the road. Give me one in civilian trim and I would be very happy.
A bid of £8000 bought the bike. Another bargain.

1927 Scott Super Squirrel. Did other folks know
something about this lot that I did not? It seemed
to be a lovely correct Scott two speeder and I
personally couldn't really fault it. £5000 was a
bargain price, if I had been there on the day I think
this bike might have gotten me in trouble when I
returned home.....

The svelte lines of a Vintage Scott.

1937 BSA Empire Star 250cc obviously needed a bit of work
but what a lovely genuine original bike. It would be a crime to
restore it. £3400 was the hammer price.

Something a bit different. You don't see many Norton featherbed
framed off roaders. Unfortunately it didn't attract a buyer.

Honda CB160ss from 1967 in the foreground made £2600 and
reflects the growing interest in Japanese classics. In the
background rather an interesting Armstrong MT500 military
machine. This bike was created by Wasp as a combination for
the Ministry of Defence to evaluate. It made £4900.

I was very taken with this 1930 Scott Sprint Special. A very
genuine and correct bike, one of the sportiest models made by
Scott and as nippy a vintage bike as you will find for less than
a six figure sum. It needed fettling but £9100 was very reasonable. 

Power plant of an NSU 251 OSL. A very rare
bike in the UK and in lovely condition. £4300
seemed a good price.

Another lovely original bike that one can only
pray will stay in its original paint. A 1935
New Imperial Model 40 350cc. One of the very
well thought of range of unit construction New
Imps of the thirties. A snip at £3200.

1957 Moto Guzzi ohc 175cc Lodola. Someone
took home a sweet bike for £1500.

This Norton fetched a good price - £3400 for a WD 16H model
in need of plenty of work and parts.

Richard Edmonds Auction June 2019

The Richard Edmonds three day auctions are well established and this year two have already passed and a third is to come. It is something of a small miracle how they manage to find so very many lots to sell. The last one was a fortnight ago, there were a few lots I took a fancy to and had a day spare so decided to make the journey up to Chippenham. The format of the auction is parts on day 1, day 2 'petroliana' (ie enamel signs, petrol cans, old advertising guff, etc) and day 3 vehicles. I was up for the parts day - I had quite taken a shine to a couple of bicycles that in the end went beyond my miserly budget. An auction is a social occasion as well as a good chance to be parted from your hard earned cash (or as is often the case buy stock if you are a dealer) and it was a good day out wandering around and nattering with fellow enthusiasts.

By the end of the day I had been outbid on most of the lots I was interested in, the cycles went for a bit more than I wanted to pay at the moment but I did go home with a very charming small selection of veteran Brooks leather motorcycle puncture repair cases and spare tube cases that were all bundled up together in one lot. Quite unusual items, I'll post pictures soon.

There were a few rather tasty vehicles coming up on the third day of the auction, some pictures are below as well as prices realised (or not in some cases...)

This 1934 Austin 7 Beaufort Special was a real cracker. A very
extensively and expensively modified car and unusually set up
for the taller driver. A really nice pre-war sports car with a
performance to keep up with modern traffic. It was estimated
at £15-18k and failed to sell.

Unrestored ex-police BSA  1932 BSA G12 combination was
rather nice but probably a big old heavy brute to ride. It sold
for a very reasonable £13.5k.

The Beesa G12 was original paint and event had 'Bath Police'
written on the door of the sidecar.

This very sweet French Carteret cyclecar was estimated £12-15k
but failed to sell. It was a bad day for car sales.

1933 Sunbeam Model 8. It was over estimated at £12-14k but
was in very tidy condition. In the end it made a respectable £10k.

I absolutely loved this 1926 Triumph Ricardo.
It looked like original paint but was in fact an
older restoration. In very nice condition with very
little evidence of wear and tear - all the nuts and bolts
were nice, clean hexagons. Evidently several other
people felt the same way as I did about the bike, the
difference being that they had spending money in their
pockets, and it went way above the £12-15k estimate
to hit £21k.

1922 Sunbeam 500cc side valve would make
a very decent flat tanker for regular use and
sold for a reasonable £8.5k.

1950 Douglas Competition Model went for £5.5k. Geared up
it would make a fun machine for Sunday runs and occasional
green lane excursions.

This 1922 Baby Triumph was a cracker but
it carried a more recent number plate as
evidence that it ha passed through the hands of
a number plate dealer in the wild west years of
personalised number plate shadiness in the 80s
and 90s when a lot of old bikes were stripped of
their history. As a result it only made £3.5k.

Despite its dodgy number the Baby Triumph
was a steal.

A very immaculate and seemingly ready to race Sprite Scramber
found a new home for £2.1k.

Charterhouse Auction 11 May

A few pics from yesterdays' motorcycle auction by Charterhouse of Sherborne. A reasonable turn out of bidders and plenty of action from online bids. The surprise was that run of the mill machines were attracting a lot of interest, top end stuff less so and seemingly the market for number plate transfers is still alive and kicking....

Cute 1958 DMW 200P fitted with arguably
Villiers' best motor, the 8E, was bid to £1500
(don't forget the 10% buyers' premium). Less
than the somewhat optimistic estimate of £2200-
£2500 but it sold none-the-less.

Very rare 1965 DMW scrambler with their own
clone of the Villiers Starmaker lump fitted. Est
£3000-3500 and didn't meet reserve.

1928 Coventry Eagle is a very attractive vintage
bike. A slightly underwhelming 300cc sv JAP
motor fitted but still a useable machine. A good
buy at £4400 plus premium. Flat tankers had a
big jump in interest and price a few years back.
They seem to have leveled out now.

Another well presented Coventry Eagle. This one a Silent
Superb 150cc. Sold for £3000 plus premium.

Nice wing accessory fitted to the Coventry Eagle's headlight.

1952 Norton ES2 was an honest bike. Needed a
little fettling by the look of it and if it was indeed
sold at top bid of £2800 was a good buy.

Best bike of the auction condition-wise was undoubtedly this
1954 Matchless G9. At £4400 a good buy.

The Matchless appeared to be very meticulously restored.

1959 DOT trials didn't sell. Nice bike but the over optimistic
estimate of £3000-3500 may have contributed to this...

Super rare 1923 Grigg v-twin fitted with 1000cc Bacher and
Hellon engine was very lovely and a star of the auction. It
even came with a spare engine. Only bid however to £12,500
and not sold. Interestingly interest in all four of the v-twins
on offer (Grigg, Vincent, AJS and Matchless) failed to sell.
Perhaps sellers' expectations for them have just gotten too high?