Estate Auction

I attended the estate auction for Jack Dash on Friday in Clarence New York. There was a staggering collection of bikes and parts up for bid. I came away emptyhanded, I am not a cheapskate and had a fat wallet however there were dealers there that were prepared generally three times what I thought an item was worth. Why is a 73 Commando very rough, 80% there, worth four grand US plus 12 % auction fee and two taxes? To do a Commando is 10k plus time it makes no sense for that kind of money. I suspect those guys were just buying parts to break up and sell on ebay. I was looking for parts that I can put into service and was prepared to pay for them but competing with professional dealers that were looking for stock is a whole different matter. Any comments?

I used to attend farm equipment and shop equipment auctions. Many times I saw things go for new or better prices. I guess it's the bidding frenzy some get caught up in. I attend Mecum's classic and collector car auction in Kissimmee, FL every year. It's quite a spectacle when two whales buck up against one another. Eye candy abounds there and I'm not talking just vehicles. Most everything in the world is for sale, it's just a question of price.

I experienced the same thing a couple of months ago at the S&G Cycles auction in Columbia TN. I walked through the bikes and examined them the day before the auction and listed 14 bikes that I would be interested in owning. I took notes on each of the bikes and annotated my top dollar. All but four of the bikes started bidding at over my top dollar and closed two to four times over it. Of the four that I bid on, all but one closed at over double my top dollar. There was a Brough Superior that I believe brought about $47K. It was in complete but relatively rough condition.

Now I know that I was being conservative in my bidding but these bikes were a bit of a pig in a poke. Most of them had no history available, no batteries and no fuel (so you couldn't actually verify that they ran); many had no titles. I bid expecting that I would have to do some repair and, depending upon the bike, cosmetic work as well. The owner of S&G Cycle, Sam Goodman took bikes from his customers in trade for repairs that he had done for them on other bikes (usually Harley's). I suspect that many of them had problems in the first place which is why people traded them in.

I'm not sure how many bidders there were, but I saw someone with the number 468 and I know that they issued the numbers incrementally. People came out of the woodwork. So, given the current state of the economy, when bike sales are supposedly in the tank, I was shocked that as many people came out to vie to pay top dollar for what to me was a lot of very rough bikes.

Yes, no bargains at estate auctions. I went to one a couple of years ago and everything sold for ebay prices. There was a nice little BSA B33 I was hoping to get at a good price. They also had a nicely-restored Victor Special that caught my eye. Neither bike had titles though, and the bidding soared way beyond what I had in mind. Oh well.

Debby

Frame of mind can influence what someone pays for a bike. Last summer I traveled over 500 miles, over a 1000 miles round trip, to get what was described to me as a BMW K75 RT in very good condition. Unfortunately, the owner forgot to mention a few things. The rear brake (ABS) was inoperable, the windshield was permanently fogged and the fairing was damaged. We had made a deal over the phone and I had sent a down payment. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I arrived, but I had traveled all that distance, the guy had $500 of mine and I had another $500 (8 mpg motorhome, $4/gal gasoline) in the trip. I had looked for that particular BMW for some time and had missed getting two by a few hours, so I bought it. Had it been local I never would of payed what I consider a $1000 too much. Turns out the brake only needed bleeding and a new windshield was around $200. Never did fix the fairing.

Very interesting commentary from Norsa1. i would have assumed that the location and amount of mostly junk that was shown there wouldn't have been a lot of interest. that said looking at the prices the Brits and EU are paying for classic bikes it's no wonder we Yanks are priced out of the market. then again the "Power Sellers" on Fleabay may have been stocking up for their stores.
Auctions always reafirm my belief that there are a lot of people out there with more money than brains. JimC I love your analogy of two whales bucking up against each other, an accurate description if I ever heard one.
Scooter