Dad Inlaw's bike collection going to Auction.....

1,497 · March 27

This is one for the bike pervs!

My sort of Father in law (I am not actually married to his Daughter but its close enough!) liked motor bikes and didn't really like selling them. He also had a bad habit of taking them apart and then he would get distracted and start working on the next bike and then the next bike. This habit/hobby interest started in the Sixties but fortunately he was fairly selective and as a ships engineer would spend a good 6 months or so at sea unable to purchase more bikes!

Fast forward to January 2024 and sadly he left for the great race circuit in the sky, leaving behind a collection of 12 motor bikes, only 2 were properly complete. He didn't label anything as " he knew were everything was", this meant in the shed and garage there were piles of parts, draws of carburetors and gear sets etc but with no clues as to which bikes they belonged to! This isn't a dig at him, like most of us he hadn't spared too many thoughts about dying! But it has inspired me to actually label up my various car parts for my 3 project cars, so should I get run over by a number 42 bus, my other half will find off loading all the cars and bits that bit easier!

After talking to the Mother in Law a decision was made that it all bikes and bits needed to go, she suggested scrap! We suggested auction as it might help towards her care home fees especially as one of the bikes is a none matching numbers Vincent Black Shadow!

Anyway after a bit of shopping around My better half got Bonhams to agree to deal with all 12 bikes. A couple of weeks ago the first batch of bikes got collected they were the Vincent, a Norton International, a little Honda Elsinore scrambler and a Suzuki 150 - photos to follow as my other half has those...

Today the rest of the bikes and bike frames went... Including a Moto Guzzi, Norton Rotary, Yamaha Vmax, Honda Gold wing (early 4 cylinder) Honda CB750 and a Sunbeam.

Guzzi and Goldwing (the Goldwing looks like a bobber, its not its just been stripped back to its frame).

V-Max, Norton and CB750, plus a spare Honda Engine....

A Sunbeam in a shed...

A van's load bed of mostly bike parts and bits...

I'm not really a bike person but it was nice to have a proper (and last) look at these, I can certainly appreciate the engineering and they are all quite interesting in their own ways. It was sad to see them go a real end of an era for me. I believe most of them will be auctioned as reasonably complete projects, I hope they find good homes!

More pics to follow hopefully, thanks for reading!

March 27

What a great collection. If they'd gone for scrap he'd have been back to haunt someone and rightly so!

3,362 · March 28

Let's hope they make some money for the family and go to someone who can save and make use of them.

1,497 · March 28

Fleshing this out a bit more - pics from Mrs Marina Door Handles phone from the first collection...

Black shadow before we had a massive fight to get it off the bike lift/ramp thing (which was jammed in position 3 foot off the ground!).

Oh and that engine in is/was his spare Honda Goldwing flat four... Which was another slight issue in that he had spares for bikes he no longer or had never owned making things a tad confusing.... What does this go with? Who knows!

The Elsinore... Sweet little bike American import rather rare over here.

Suzuki 150

Sadly no pics of the Norton international cause it was just a frame and a big pile of parts!

4,266 · March 28

Any idea when the auction is? Sort of interested in the V50 Moto Guzzi. I have checked Bonhams Web site but can't find it.

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1,497 · March 28

I have been told June-ish, I will update the thread when I know more, it will be an online auction.

March 28

Enjoy the process too - I've had mixed feelings at times about getting rid of some of my Granddads (numerous) bits of automotive shite, but actually, moving some of it on is part of the story too.

I'd never sold at an auction before, and it was pretty exciting to be fair

March 28

Yes, please let us know when the auction date is announced. Much though I’d love the Vincent, the Elsinore is more likely to be within my reach. 🤣

1,497 · April 19

No update yet on the bike Auctions but... I do have a few bits up for grabs that weren't suitable to go in the auction. I will put a thread in the for sale section...