bonhams Articles
Retro: Drysdale 2x2x2
What would happen if a motorcycle was developed on a different planet, free form the influence and lineage of terrestrial motorcycles? It might end up looking something like this Drysdale 2x2x2; other than an engine located between two round wheels, it shares virtually no other similarities with terrestrial motorcycles. “2x2x2” stands for two-wheel steering and two-wheel drive, but there’s a...
15 April 2011
Retro: 1933 Brough Superior SS100
If any motorcycle ever was more than the sum of its parts, it was the Brough Superior. It's the cliché I use every time I describe a Brough but a very important one to note. During the 1920s there were a number of other manufacturers, including Zenith, Montgomery, McEvoy and Coventry Eagle, which used a similar formula for their machines: JAP v-twin overhead-valve engine, Sturmey Archer gearbox...
14 February 2011
Photos: Steve McQueen’s Husqvarna
Last week we brought you the story of of Steve McQueen’s 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross that’s going to be auctioned by Bonhams at the Quail Lodge in in May. Now, here’s high-res studio photos of that bike. Why is this particular Husky so significant? Well, it’s the bike Steve famously rode shirtless on the cover of Sports Illustrated. So, if you’ve got a heavy McQueen man crush, this is the j...
03 February 2011
Retro: 1922 Megola 640cc Touring
Don’t call the engine mounted to this front wheel a radial. It’s actually a rotary, just not in the Wankel sense. Instead of spinning the crankshaft, the motor itself rotates along with the wheel. There’s no clutch and no gears, but there is a five-cylinder engine similar to that of a Sopwith Camel's that’s good for 75mph. Of 2,000 ever made in 1920s Germany, the example you see here wears...
12 January 2011
The BSA Gold Star that conquered Daytona Beach
Who knew sitting in front of a computer screen pecking away at a keyboard could be so dangerous? No physical threat from my gig writing catalog descriptions for the upcoming Bonhams motorcycle auction in Las Vegas, but I am in deep danger of moto-lust about every third bike. A Munch Mammoth TTS, an Excelsior Big X board-tracker, a Brough Superior Black Alpine, a Suzuki RG500 Walter Wolf, a Condor ...
14 December 2010
Retro: 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmuller
All the countless Steam Punk customs of the last few years — with their affected brass fittings and better mousetrap-style needless mechanical complication — have nothing on this 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmuller. Not only is its design derived from steam power know-how and its engine equipped with rubber bands, but it’s the first machine to which the term “motorcycle” was ever applied. That...
07 December 2010
Henry Manney III’s Manx Norton
The argument over best-loved automotive writer of all time would last far into the night, but among the finalists has to be the late Henry Manney III. No finer wordsmith ever grasped a steering wheel or set of handlebars. For decades his pieces were required reading in Road & Track magazine, especially his "At Large" column, which often signed off with his trademark shorthand coda, Yr Faithfl Srvn...
30 October 2010