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Vintage & Classic Motorcycles — Webb's
| Auction House: | Webb's | Number of lots recorded: | 46 |
| Sale Title: | Vintage & Classic Motorcycles | Lots with images: | 29 |
| Auction Location: | Auckland | Prices available: | 31 |
| Date: | 18-Mar-2009 |
Lot: ***
T120 Tt Bonneville Special, 1968, The Earth shaker. The cafe racer's favorite since its launch in 1959, the Bonneville continued as Triumph's top-of-the-range sports model after the switch to unitary construction of the engine/gearbox in 1963. An alloy cylinder head equipped with twin carburetors helped the Bonnie motor produce 46bhp at 6,500rpm and the model was reckoned good for a top speed approaching 120mph., The Usa had long been Triumph's most important export market and to cater for local tastes, a…
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Kawasaki H1 Mach III, 1973, The Widow Maker, Raw and uncompromising, the Mach III was nothing less than ferocious. Aimed squarely at the fearless and idiotic, this Darwinian time machine, designed by Kawasaki, was destined to cull the less-evolved rider out of existence., Although the production of the wildly aggressive triples formed a tiny part of Kawasaki's enormous heavy industry business whose core focus was producing trains, ships and aircrafts, the H1 Mach III is, without a doubt, Kawasaki's most…
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Indian Chief 1200cc, 1948, The Beautiful and Damned, If ever there were a machine that captured the industrial design sensibilities of the roaring 20s it was, without a doubt, the Indian Chief. Designed with the throttle on the left-hand side of the machine to allow the police to brandish their pistols in the comic pursuit of all manner of bootleggers and slapper crooks, the Indian Chief was and remains the classic Art Deco machine of the 20th century. Inspired at a time when youth culture was 'the lost…
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Burt Munro/Duncan Meikle Special - Velocette Drag Bike, 1936. Metal Incarnations. The story of Burt Munro's metal-urging genius is long and in many ways, complicated. For a start, the legend of Munro was, and remains, fuelled by anecdote, fact and fiction which have become one; the blockbuster movie 'The World's Fastest Indian' is a wonderful testament to this. What is also true is that Munro worked and toiled with likeminded dedication and from this gained complex and lifelong friendships. One of Munro's…
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Douglas, Circa 1911, Future Primitive. The Bristol-based Douglas Foundry took up motorcycle production in 1907, three or four years before this machine was created. There is something quite remarkable about a find such as this very early Douglas. Putting aside the validity of its design, whose fore and aft piston installation created a slim machine with a low, attractive and successful centre of gravity, and the early competitive success (the design took first, second and fourth place in the 1912 Junior Tt…
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Triton T150, 1969, What could have been. This immaculate T150 Triton (a hybrid of Norton and Triumph) pays homage to the pinnacle of British motorcycle engineering of the late '60s. This formidable hand-built machine has a Triumph 750cc Trident engine and is balanced, ported and polished with mushroom tappets; it has travelled far fewer than 1,000 miles since total rebuild. Beautifully matched with Norton's superb wideline feather-bed frame, Roadholder forks each having a 25 cm Fontana double-sided, twin…
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Triumph Trident T150, 1971, Fast line, Arguably one of the world's most capable roadsters when released in 1969, the new 740cc pushrod-operated, three-cylinder engine pumped out a respectable 58bhp which catapulted the piacross the 200kph line with a unique howl and smooth line. With this, the Trident delivered a relaxed 150kph cruising speed for as long as the pilot's upright position allowed. Unfortunately the success of the Trident was limited because of Honda's introduction of the flamboyant CB750 in…
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Triumph Trident T160c, 1975. The Minta. With fewer than 1,200 genuine miles on the clock and 100% factory correct, this has to be one of the cleanest Tridents available in Australasia. Returning to Triumph's signature design lines, the T160c added the aggressive sloping cylinder line in the last year of Triumph production. Produced in one of Triumph's more troublesome years, the T160c was overshadowed by the newly elected British Industry Minister Eric Varley's recall of a loan of four million pounds in…
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Triumph Trident T150, 1973. The Breadbox, The Trident's modernistic styling was, at the time of its unveiling (1973), not universally appreciated, particularly in America. In fact, the angular lines expressed by the Trident were forced off the table a year later. However, in retrospect, it is evident that the clean angular aesthetic Triumph had developed foreshadowed many of the tightly cut designs of the late '70s and early '80s.
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Harley Davidson Xls 4-Speed Sportster Roadster, 1979, Iron head, The first Xls (S for special) took some design cues from the Low Rider which made a point of accommodating the pilot's better half, although the pillion mount was still sub-standard and ran the risk of attracting a class action. This did not, however, distract the design team away from its core responsibility to the rider which had the standard power plant delivering a 14.26 seconds quarter mile drag (excluding the missus). As with many…
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1981Yamaha SR500. First released in 1978, the SR500 was destined to become a legend as one of the most reliable and easy to maintain motorcycles ever built. It sold more units in Germany than any other Yamaha, and in Japan the SR holds cult status. Produced for over 30 years the SR500 applied the same power plant as its Brothers', the remarkable XT500 and TT500. Its featherbed inspired frame also proved successful and what was even better was the fact you could bolt on a further 20 HP without having to…
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Bsa Sloper Sv 500, 1930, Hard YardsAnother wonderful example of Neil Skeet's workmanship this 1930 side valve Sloper, which in some ways reflects the end of an era as over head valve technology started to become common place for the private rider. With this, the best of side valve designs faded out of favor. Fitted with 'colonial' guards which were designed to address our rough and muddy roads, this example is sure to have seen some of toughest miles in New Zealand which is a testament to it rugged…
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Bsa O.H.V Sloper, 1931. The one that got away. Although documented in Maureen Bull's remarkable publication New Zealand's Motorcycle History - Book One: 1899 to 1931, the early history of Neil Skeet's Bsa Sloper is not known. However, we are told it was first noticed on a railway wagon of scrap iron passing through Masterton where its reprieve was negotiated. It passed through two owners before Neil purchased it for a modest sum. The previous owner had been using the motor in a makeshift garden tractor (a…
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Douglas, 1926, Refined Geometry. The Douglas Engineering Company, formed in Bristol by brothers William and Edward in 1882, was at first a blacksmith's shop but soon expanded to become an iron foundry. After the turn of the century and the advent of the motor vehicle, it soon became involved in the development of engines and was especially renowned for horizontally opposed twin-cylinder bikes and as a manufacturer of furious speedway machines. There were no less than five incarnations of Douglas throughout…
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1951 BSA A7 500cc, designed by Val page, Herbert Parker and David Munro, the BSA A7 was the first of BSA's twin cylinder motorcycles, the 495cc twin cylinder engine produced 26bhp and was capable of 85mph
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Royal Ruby, 1914. The Jewel in the Crown Royal Ruby motorcycles were built from 1909, although some say it was later at the Cannel St, Ancoats factory in Manchester, which had previously been manufacturing cycles only (Ruby Cycle Co). They were relatively successful though expensive as the company ambitiously tried to make as much as possible on site. The engines were Jap or Villiers with the 'Royal Ruby' name cast on them. Fitted with the 976cc side valve Jap V-twin engine, the publication 'The Motor…
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Triumph Tourist, 1913. The First all-British Motorcycle, The first Triumph motorcycle of 1902 used a Belgian Minerva engine but, within a few years, the Coventry firm (originally a bicycle manufacturer founded by German immigrants Siegfried Bettman and Maurice Schulte) was building its own power units. The first of these, a 298cc single-cylinder side valve, arrived in 1904. By 1905, Triumph succeeded in manufacturing the first 100% British-made motorcycle. Production at this stage was approximately five…
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Velocette G.T.P, 1940, Two Stroke Genius, Produced from 1904 to 1968, the Velocette marque was headed by brothers Percy and Eugene Goodman and by the early '20s the mark had gained a reputation for reliability and more importantly, speed. Stanley Woods, Freddy Frith and Alec Bennett were but a few of the great riders who piloted Velocette to memorable victories. The 'Velo' was one of the few marque that were well known for both their pedigree four strokes and innovative two strokes. The ultimate expression…
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Harley Davidson with Sidecar, 1929, Old Whitey. This is the last H-D model to use the well-proven inlet-over-exhaust engine which had formed the basis of Harley-Davidson's previous two decades of commercial success. However, the true value of this machine rests once again in its provenance and recommission. The 'essence' of this machine (including an engine full of mud and water) was acquired in the mid -'60s by Geoff Hockley, one of New Zealand's early motorcycle visionaries and dedicated enthusiasts.…
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Power Plus Board Track Racer Replica, 1916, In Machine We TrustThe nature and value of this machine is twofold. At the centre of the machine is a factory-correct power-plus motor: a design that had, by 1920, placed Indian as the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Founded in 1901 by two bicycle racers, George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom, the factory was producing 500 machines a year by 1903. Ten years later, this number would be 32,000, such was the phenomenal success of the Indian. Indian's first…
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Ajs S3, 1931, One of 10. The Ajs S3 was produced in an attempt to revive the flagging position of the Ajs company which had over-diversified on the cusp of the great depression. As a result, the Ajs activities were broken up and sold. The motorcycle business was acquired by Matchless, an everyman's brand that was well known for no-nonsense hard-working machines. Unfortunately the design philosophy of the S3 was a long way off and Matchless squashed the innovative promise of the transverse V-twin and…
Estimate: ***
Price: ***
Lot: ***
Bsa Bantam, 1950. The Quintessential. Born in 1948, the Bsa Bantam is one of the great British icons of the 20th century. Like warm beer and black taxi cabs, the heart of the humble commuter is its no-nonsense simplicity. It is also said that the Bantam was everything that was best about the British bike industry: that is, it was German, as the heart of the machine was a Dkw (German) blueprinted design.The Bantam had fewer parts than did the vast majority of other bikes made during the same period which…
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The Mighty Atom, Circa 1921, From Little Things...Another great example of New Zealand motorcycle creation, the aptly named 'Mighty Atom' was hand built by Mr J S Gibbons (his name being punched into the brass petrol tank cap). Many components were entirely handcrafted, such was the number-eight-wire mentality that was applied. Putting aside the very unusual scale of the machine, much of the bike, on first impressions, reflects all the things you would want in a motorcycle. The following extract is quoted…
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Road Rage, 2008, Street Legal, New Zealand has a history of delivering innovation. This modern machine is a testament to this and to the fact that New Zealand has its fair share of committed motorcycle builders who are willing to expend blood, sweat and tears to create exceptional bikes. As it is with any significant build project, a broad set of talent and experience needs to be applied. However, it is fair to say that the lifelong experience of Ray Pratt and Dave Anderson was the driving force behind…
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R90S, 1976. The Boxer. Bmw's true origins rest in the production of aircraft; however, the 1919 Versailles Treaty destroyed Germany's large-capacity combustion industry and so Bmw was forced to cease producing large displacement engines and refocused on 500cc units. Named the 'Boxer', a metaphor referring to the two opposing cylinders combusting against one another like two competing fists, the 1932 signature design was to be the basis of one of the world's greatest motorcycles.Fast-forward 50 years…
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GT750, 1974, Boiling MetalDeveloped from the Suzuki GT500 (Refer to lots 29 and 29A) with an extra cylinder and liquid cooling, the prototype Suzuki GT750 was shown at the 17th Tokyo Motor Show in October 1970 and launched in Japan in September 1971 as a sports tourer (Gt standing for Grand Tourismo). Launched as their answer to the super bikes of the day, such as Honda's CB750 and the Triumph Trident, 'the water bottle' was the first Japanese serial-manufactured motorcycle with a liquid-cooled engine.…
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