It’s not on a regular basis which you could bid on museum-caliber bikes, and Mecum’s upcoming public sale on the Nationwide Motorbike Museum in Anamosa, Iowa, is stuffed with heavy hitters. The gathering hits the market from the property of John Parham, who based J&P Cycles together with his spouse Jill in 1979. Having amassing the most effective personal bike collections within the nation, John sadly handed away in 2017, and 300 of his bikes might be discovering new houses.
With every little thing from road-racing Harleys, hill climb bikes and trick European racers within the assortment, there’s a lot to see. Mecum is internet hosting the sale September sixth by way of the ninth, and in case you’re within the midwest, do us a favor and produce one of many following bikes house—ideally the XRTT.
1971 Harley-Davidson XRTT The XRTT 750 is probably the most stunning road-going Harley ever constructed, that’s a scientific reality. Okay, it’s extra like an informed opinion backed by sources, however I welcome your challenges within the remark part. A road-racing model of the wildly profitable XR750 flat tracker, the XRTT is a shocking, purpose-built piece of Milwaukee iron.
Harley’s KR750 was a dominant drive in flat monitor racing, so why wouldn’t it work on pavement? Again within the Nineteen Sixties, you possibly can modify your KR for asphalt by way of HD’s components catalog, or purchase a factory-built KRTT and go racing in AMA Class C.
New guidelines from the AMA in 1969 leveled the taking part in subject for British marques, and despatched Harley again to the drafting board after seeing the KR750 wrestle to compete. Hasty improvement of an XR750 racing engine based mostly on the 900 cc Sportster, resulted in an iron-head mill that went into nuclear meltdown commonly, till a brand new prime finish was developed for ’72.
The brand new alloy XRTT (and a few irons as nicely) gave European makes a run for his or her cash in ’72, particularly within the Transatlantic Match Races, however that’s one other story altogether. This 1971 XRTT was piloted by Ohio’s George Roeder, who got here inside inches of a Grand Nationwide Championship in 1963 and 1967. The XRTT is powered by the up to date alloy-head 750 engine, and is sporting an exquisite restoration with timeless HD orange and black paint and Roeder’s No. 94. Mecum estimates Lot S142 will carry between $40,000 and $48,000.
1949 Vincent Black Shadow The long-lasting Vincent Black Shadow is without-a-doubt the most effective bikes ever constructed. It was light-weight and well-designed with the 998 cc engine as a pressured member, and naturally, it went like stink. The air-cooled, 50-degree twin was good for 55 hp, and propelled the Black Shadow to 125 mph in inventory trim. Off the showroom ground or on the salt flats, the Black Shadow was certainly the world’s quickest bike.
The Black Shadow would stay a velocity freak favourite for years after manufacturing led to 1955, and several other American tuners perfected the bike for drag use. Minnesota-based Invoice Lehmann was the most effective, and his supercharged fuel-burning Black Shadow drag bike is actually one of many highlights of the Parham Assortment.
Lehmann’s Shadow was based mostly on a customized inflexible chassis with a brief Hagon inverted fork, a Harley clutch and a Burkhardt Engineering transmission. Engine output was maximized by pushing the V-twin to 1,200 cc, and putting in uncommon Vincent Black Lightning heads. A nitromethane/alcohol mix was drawn by way of the SU CV carburetor and force-fed by a belt-driven supercharger from a small British automobile.
Rad by any definition, Lehmann’s ’49 Black Shadow is a drag racing time capsule, and one of many wildest Vincents in existence. Mecum estimates Lot F48 will promote for between $50,000 and $60,000.
1937 Brough Superior SS80 Strolling out in your father’s bike enterprise to start out your personal proper down the road is unquestionably a cheeky transfer. Much more so in case you take his identify, and add ‘Superior’ to the tip. But when your purpose is to construct the most effective bike on the market, George Brough did certainly have a superior approach of doing issues.
Brough went out on his personal in 1919, and his Brough Superior bikes value practically as a lot as the typical particular person made in a yr. In your sizable funding, you acquired a motorcycle that was tailor-made to your private style and specification, and every Superior was absolutely assembled, after which disassembled for paint and plating. Brough would personally assure that every bike carried out because it ought to, and within the case of the SS80, that meant it could obtain a prime velocity of a minimum of 80 mph.
The SS80 was one among Brough’s earliest successes, with manufacturing beginning in 1922, and ending with the outbreak of WWII in 1939. Initially, the SS80 was powered by a side-valve J.A.P. engine, and Brough grew to become the primary particular person to prime 100 mph at Brooklands on a side-valve with one among these machines. From 1935 on, Brough used 982 cc V-twins from Matchless with modified backside ends for the SS80.
Outfitted with a superb alloy gasoline tank with knee pads, the Brough Superior SS80 is a superb instance of basic pre-war British bike design. Mecum expects Lot S131 from the Parham Assortment to carry as a lot as $120,000.
1954 NSU Sportmax Sporting a large silver-bullet fairing and a brilliant complicated little 250 engine, this 1952 NSU Sportmax may be probably the most quintessentially German bike ever constructed. Evocative of streamlined Mercedes and Auto Union race vehicles of the Thirties and ’40s, this NSU brings us again to an period when aerodynamics have been limitless in street racing.
BMW reigns king of the German bike producers immediately, however for a few years that title belonged to NSU. Neckarsulmer Motorrad began constructing bikes in 1901, and so they equipped bikes to the German military in World Struggle I and II. In truth, NSU manufactured these goofy half-track bikes with a single steer wheel out entrance, referred to as the Kettenkrad. Within the Thirties and mid ’50s, NSU constructed extra bikes than anybody on the planet.
The NSU Racemax was the manufacturing facility’s works machine for 125 and 250 cc street racing, immediately recognizable for its large aluminum ‘mud bin’ fairing. The works bikes have been very sophisticated and impractical for privateers, so NSU made a small variety of Sportmax bikes obtainable that have been based mostly on Max and Tremendous Max fashions.
The 247 cc OHV four-stroke used within the Sportmax employed a pair of rods, just like connecting rods, to function the valvetrain—know-how Bentley used within the ’20s. 250-class Sportmax bikes weren’t tuned as scorching because the works bikes, however have been good for as a lot as 20 hp.
These streamlined NSUs have been fairly profitable in Grand Prix racing, with notable pilots like John Surtees and Mike Hailwood within the saddle, and NSU took house a World Championship in 1954. Sadly, the sanctioning our bodies concerned later banned giant fairings after a nasty expertise with crosswinds. From then on, entrance fairings have been to not enclose the entrance wheel.
The 1954 NSU Sportmax within the Parham Assortment is an superior piece of street racing historical past, but it surely’s value noting that this explicit bike is listed by the Nationwide Motorbike Museum as a duplicate. As such, Mecum estimates Lot S15 will carry between $6,000 and $7,200.
1951 Sunbeam S7 Admittedly, we discover ourselves most attracted to chill customs, or bikes with notable competitors historical past, however typically it’s onerous to disregard a motorcycle that’s attention-grabbing, or simply plain bizarre. I wouldn’t name the Sunbeam S7 bizarre, but it surely’s undoubtedly distinctive. I imply, take a look at that longitudinally-mounted twin and balloon tires?
John Marston began Sunbeam Cycles again in 1887 with a deal with high-quality bicycles. He began experimenting with motorized bicycles round 1903, but it surely didn’t go nicely, and apparently somebody was truly killed. Marston dabbled with cars afterward (fully separate from Sunbeam Motor Automobile Firm), however reluctantly returned to bikes round 1912.
Marston’s Sunbeam bikes match the usual for British bike designs of the period, and boasted modest efficiency (understandably so), and Marston marketed his bikes as ‘The Gentleman’s Machine.’ Marston handed away in 1918, however the manufacturing of Sunbeam bikes continued on.
Sunbeam is finest identified for its S fashions, which have been manufactured between 1949 and 1956, and that’s the place issues begin to get a bit unusual. Sunbeam was acquired by BSA, and BSA had acquired the design of the BMW R75 in reparations after WWII. However the Brits have been nervous concerning the bike trying too German, so the boxer needed to go.
A longitudinally-mounted 500 cc twin took its place, and propelled the S7 through shaft drive. Early bikes suffered severely from engine vibration, and the bronze worm gears within the shaft drive might strip from nothing greater than extreme throttle. Sunbeam’s answer was nothing greater than detuning the engine!
Regardless of these design faults, the early S7 mannequin instructions a premium over the S7 Deluxe and S8 fashions immediately. If the S7 from the Parham Assortment is certainly one among these early fashions, Lot F51 could possibly be a cut price on the estimated $7,000 to $8,400. [Mecum]
