A MOTOTRCYCLE dubbed 'Sir Costalot' by its owner due to the amount he had spent on it has sold for a lot at auction!
The Vincent Rapide was a non-matching numbers motorcycle constructed in 1963 from a 1953 Vincent Comet frame and a 1951 Vincent Rapide engine.
It went under the hammer at the Haynes International Motor Museum on October 13 as part of a Chaterhouse specialist auction, and sold to a buyer in Cheshire for a whopping £27,450, underbid by a collector on the Isle of Man.
In total, the auction saw sales of more than £250,000.
“We were instructed to sell a great range of motorcycles from across England,” said Charterhouse motorcycle expert, George Beale.
“There were barn stored projects through to show and race bikes so there was pretty much something for everyone.”
Speaking of barn-stored projects, an old barn in Devon revealed a collection of pre and post war Velocettes and associated parts which also went under the hammer.
They had been amassed by a keen Velocette enthusiast over many years until he recently passed away.
Some of the Velocettes in the Devon barn
At the auction, the barn stored bikes were hotly contested with buyers looking for winter projects and all the lots sold.
Top lot of the collection was 1962 Velocette Viper project which sold for just over £3,400, with the bikes and bits totalling over £20,000.
A collection of motorcycles, including a group of Greeves scramblers, from a client in Kent, also generated a good deal of bidding.
Rather like the Devon barn collection, there were bikes from Kent needing restoration and recommissioning. Overall this collection sold for over £24,450.
The 1927 James Model 11
The earliest bike in the auction was a 1927 James Model 11 motorcycle. It had spent most of its life in Somerset, was in wonderful original condition, and sold to a North Yorkshire collector biding on the internet for just over £12,000.
However, one motorcycle which attracted several raised eyebrows was a 2007 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail tilting trike from a client near London.
Believed to be the only Harley Davidson tilting trike in the UK, this sold to a client in Northamptonshire for £9,380, underbid by a Dorset biker.
The 2007 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail tilting trike
Charterhouse is now accepting further entries their next specialist auction of classic and vintage motorcycles in March at the Museum.
George Beale and the team can be contacted for advice and valuations on barn stored projects to race machines at The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne, on 01935 812277, or by email to bikes@charterhouse-auction.com.
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