This weekend at a showground in Staffordshire, England, Bonhams is having the sale of the century for great British and American motorcycles. A £1 million pound single-owner collection of 60 incredible motorcycles from a private museum will go under the hammer on Saturday 17th October and an astounding collection of barn finds unearthed after more than 25 years will be auctioned off on the Sunday.
The Lonati collection, made up predominantly of American motorcycles, has been carefully stored in an astonishing Italian-based private museum of entrepreneur, Tiberio Lonati, who began collecting motorcycles with his son. The rare find includes a one-hundred year old 1915 Thor 1,000 cc (estimate £28,000-25,000), a pre-war 1911 Flying Merkel Racer (estimate £16,000-20,000 and some outstanding Harley Davidson dating as far back as 1913.
On Sunday, Bonham’s will be auctioning the legacy of the late John Keeley, a village mechanic from Berkshire, who developed a love of old machinery.
James Stensel, Bonhams Head of Collectors’ Motorcycles, said: “To find so many unrestored motorcycles under one roof is incredibly rare.”
Why not make a weekend of it in a charming English bed & breakfast? I found these two options nearby here and here.
