Feb 19, 2023
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle dating from 1908 sold for $935,000, making it the most expensive bike ever sold at an auction.
Mecum Auction in Las Vegas said the motorcycle, known as the Strap Tank due to the nickel-plated steel bands that suspend the fuel and oil tanks from its frame, sold for $935,000 after fees in the auction.
Vintagent, a website that tracks auctions of vintage motorcycles, said the sale represented the highest price ever paid for a motorcycle at an auction.
"We marketed the bike well, and Harley is by far the most famous American motorcycle brand, so we had a feeling it would do well in auction, but obviously you are surprised anytime you sell the most expensive bike ever," Greg Arnold, motorcycle division manager at Mecum Auctions, told the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel.
Arnold said surviving Strap Tank bikes are rare, and the bike sold by Mecum was an especially unique find. "This bike has many of its original parts, which makes it that much more rare," he said.
Mecum said the bike was found intact in a Wisconsin barn by David Uihlein in 1941, and he kept it in his possession for the ensuing 66 years. The bike was most recently restored by Paul Freehill of Fort Wayne, Ind., the auction house said.
Take a look at the bike and watch the auction unfold...
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