SHOWING that perhaps a classic bike show isn't the best place to find a buyer for a relatively modern superbike – even one with an impeccable pedegree – the Bonhams auction over the bank holiday weekend didn't find buyers for several of its star lots.
While a brace of ex-Carl Fogarty Ducatis, a TT-winning Honda RC30 ridden by the same man and an ex-Haga and Xaus Ducati 999 F03 with works Ducati and Renegade Racing history garnered all the headlines before the sale, on the day it was the more traditional classics that found willing buyers.
While King Carl's road-going 916SPS Foggy Replica – serial number 002, with only 26 miles on the clock and the registration “S3 FOG” - did find a buyer willing to spend £27,600 on it, the rest of the headliners went unsold.
Which is a bit odd, really. It's not like there wasn't the money there – a Brough Superior went for £131,300 at the sale, a 1955 Vincent prototype took £107,100 and a 1957 Gilera 500cc GP bike reached £84,000. But bikes of the 80s and 90s didn't fare so well; even the ex-Foggy, ex-Rutter Ducati 888 North West 200 winner, which carried a reasonably £26,000 estimate, didn't find a buyer, let alone the gorgeous Honda Britain, double TT-winning Honda RC30 (estimate £50,000-£70,000).
At least there was someone crazy enough to plump for the weird, two wheel drive, two wheel steer Drysdale 2x2x2 we wrote about before the sale, getting their hands on one of the oddest bikes ever built for a bargain £5750.
