Prototype superbike is star of the show at the world’s biggest motorcycle auction
A 1968 Honda CB750 prototype has sold for $US313,500 ($A446,300) at the annual Mecum auction in Las Vegas.This US auction is the world’s largest and always throws up a curveball, usually some rare American or European motorcycle. It’s the first time a Japanese motorcycle has fetched such an eye-watering price.
However the Honda prototype is very special. It’s a one-off sent to the US for evaluation testing several months before four pre-production CB750s arrived for the company’s Las Vegas Dealer Show in January 1969.
It has unique features, including badging, starter motor cover, one-off sandcast carburettors with shared floatbowls and an accelerator pump, an early version of Honda’s disc brake and a seat that flips up to the rear not sideways. The speedo reads 446 miles.
The prototype CB750 was restored to its original condition in the early 2000s, including the correct Candy Blue-Green paint, and won Best of Show at the prestigious 2024 Quail Motorcycle Gathering in California.
The Mecum auction, held from 27-31 January, attracted its biggest crowd and number of entries for several years. However seasoned observers described prices as “soft” with one saying: “People are holding their cash.”
A generational change was apparent with British twins from the 1960s and 1970s selling for less than half what they would have just a few years ago.
For example a 1963 Triumph Bonneville, the first powered by the new unit-construction engine, sold for just $US7000 while a very clean 1969 BSA Rocket 3 only fetched $US5500.
Japanese performance bikes from the 1980s sold consistently well, indicating a higher level of interest from possibly younger buyers.
A 1980 Wes Cooley GS1000S sold for $US11,000 and even a 1982 Honda CX500 Turbo for $US5000. A 1983 Honda CB1100F sold for $US17,000 and a 1990 Yamaha TZR250SP for $US9500.
More than 2000 diverse motorcycles went under the hammer, including groups from 30 or more collections.
Strangely, four Easy Rider Panhead replica choppers were offered up, selling for as much as $US60,000 and as low as $US21,000.
