The March H&H Auction at the National Motorcycle Museum featured a fantastic mix of old motorcycles and scooters that went under the hammer, with mixed results. Hidden within the cracks of the 270 lots stood some superb bikes, and this is the pick of the bunch from our perspective.
A number of people have muted that 2025 is a buyers’ market, but that does fetch some positives – most notably, it helps to open up the world of classic motorcycles to the next bunch of people who may have not been able to afford an old clunker.
This unicorn of a Royal Enfield is from 1912. The 2¼hp V-twin is reputed to be a prototype machine of the day and has previously been owned marque specialist Ivor Mutton. This lot sold for £7,475 – not a bad price as you are very unlikely to see a similar model, anywhere in the world.
This one has to be mentioned, for obvious reasons. It is a 1930 Brough Superior SS100, however it comes with quite the provenance. It is a works competition bike, built for and ridden by George Brough himself in the 1930 MCC Edinburgh Trial. This bike was as good as it got at the time (we all know of the slogan, the “Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles”), and was powered by a 998cc air-cooled OHV 50° V-twin engine – built for speed and endurance. This motorcycle was meticulously restored by renowned Brough Superior specialist Tony Cripps in 1980 and displayed at the National Motorcycle Museum. It sold for a whopping £241,500, but is that really any surprise!
This 1912 Zenith Gradua 680 V-Twin had been stored for 25 years and recently surfaced from hibernation. It needs some TLC, but the basis is there for a splendid bike. It sold for way above the estimate for £11,730.
This 1926 Royal Enfield 180 project sold for 5,290. The bones of the bike are there, and it with a bit of TLC it could make one hell of a motorcycle, with one hell of a lot of grunt from the 1000cc V twin.
V Twins out the way, and now to the modest singles.
This 1914 Douglas Model B (500cc) sold for £9,200. The 494cc side-valve, two-speed version of this machine came into play in 1914 with the Model A. The Model B was the next step up, and for an extra £4 the lucky owner would have a motorcycles with a kick start, cone clutch and footboards. This particular example spent most of its life in Australia before it was repatriated into the UK in recent years.
This sporty number is what is believed to be a 1926 Ariel Model D which is powered by a 500cc overhead valve motor. It sold for £9,660 and the new owner will get a quick vintage mount – check out the pipe on this motorcycle which can only be described as art!
This rare Vincent Series A Comet (“the makers of the world’s fastest motorcycles”) was built in 1939, and purchased by the vendor in 1957 as his daily transport and weekend pleasure bike. It is a beautiful machine, however at the time of writing we have no idea how much it sold for! Still, who cares, bikes don’t get much prettier than this!
The Rover 3½hp debuted at the 1910 Olympia Show. It was powered by a 500cc single-cylinder engine and equipped with a Brown & Barlow carburettor, Bosch magneto and featured an innovative inverted tooth drive chain and Druid forks. It was a posh machine at £55 and drew widespread praise for its performance and build quality. This Rover was an older restoration and came unregistered but still fetched a healthy bid of £6,900.
The Abingdon Engineering company (later to be renamed Abingdon King Dick) dates to 1856 when they produced tools and chains. The tools became famously known as the King Dick and were particularly known for the adjustable spanners that sold in their millions across the world. The Abingdon Works were located in the heartland of the British automotive industry in Birmingham, and in 1903 they turned their trade to motorcycles – both in solo and tricycle form. The bikes were produced in limited numbers by all accounts, and for that reason they are rare finds. This one in particular, from 1911 featured an in-house motor, and had two-speed drive by both belt and crossover shaft and chain drive, with the added advantage of a clutch (believed to be the only known one out there). Sold for £8970.
Images credited to H&H Auctions.
an article by The Girder Club
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