It will be the 4th annual Bonhams Las Vegas Auction Of Motorcycles at Bally’s Hotel and Casino. On the block, all offered with no reserve, over 50 motorcycles from the extensive Wayne Pierce family museum collection. Among the machines is a first-year Harley-Davidson Sportster believed to be the 10th XL883 produced in 1957, a 1933 Harley VLE police bike that saw actual duty on the streets of Chicago before being cast in the 1987 Kevin Costner movie “The Untouchables,” and an authentic and unrestored 1947 Harley Knucklehead wearing period correct aftermarket accessories.
Wayne “Pappy” Pierce started his Harley-Davidson dealership in 1957, run out of a one-room tin shed in Illinois. From the beginning it was a family operation, with wife Eleanor tending the books. The shop quickly grew and at one point Triumph motorcycles were added to the showroom, several of which are included in this auction. Pierce was also a successful racer with some 250 trophies to his credit, including wins in the sidecar class at the grueling Jack Pine Enduro, a two-day, 500-mile slog through the wilds of Michigan. His solo 1956 Harley-Davidson KHRM racer is among the bikes being offered, as are two virtually showroom-fresh Baja 100 racers from the 1970s.
In later years, son Wayne Jr. took over day-to-day operations of the dealership, and daughter Marylou also helped out, but the elder Pierce could still be found at the shop until his death in 2008, telling stories, entertaining customers and tinkering with the bikes in his museum, which numbered as high as 120, most in running condition. In business for 55 years, Pierce Harley-Davidson was one of the last remaining true “Mom & Pop” dealerships. Info at Bonhams.
Bonhams always has a class auction!
Yepper, they know how to pump all the Do$$ars out of the Merchandise just enough to bring the feeling of I paid to much as the Bidder and the feeling of Not bringing enough Buckoos to the Owner! Go Pirates today @ 4:37 In case any of you being a Buc’s fan.
Ah yes, the jewels of our MC history.
They are our last connection to a time when no less than 242 motorcycle “producers” were creating their own versions of what a Motorcycle should be, in garages and workshops all over the country ( and the world).
Food for thought;
We’re transitioning into an era where a MC is little more than an ego accessory.
Where the average owner knows little more about their scooters’ beyond “make & model.”
What will happen to classic scooters as they’re commercialized, sequestered into collections, and allowed to petrify into inoperative curiosities? The value of any commodity is based on its ability to attract attention, create demand, and energize a market. But fads come and go.
Who will remember the hundreds of creative builders and the rugged individual who became their customers? And in doing so they not only became avid enthusiasts but also mechanics and engineers as they learned to maintain and improve the products they purchased and loved.
-nicker-