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The Best of of the EJ Cole Motorcycle AuctionMarch 20-21, 2015 - Las Vegas, Nevada
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Sold for $650,000 on March 21, 2015 The three Davidson brothers, plus William Harley, weren’t bicycle racing champs or trained engineers like their competitors in the pioneering days of motorcycling. But they knew a good idea when they saw it, and set about building a motorcycle in 1901, which they finished in 1903, a single-cylinder of 116cc. This first prototype lacked power, so they enlarged the engine size to 24.74 cu-in. (405cc) for their next model, and with a little advice from Ole Evinrude, the bike would climb hills without ‘light pedal assistance,’ establishing a pattern which served them well for the next century – build it stronger, and build it bigger. Their second prototype adapted the Merkel purpose-built motorcycle frame rather than their first bicycle frame, and this second machine was finished in 1904, and competed in a race on September 8th of that year in Milwaukee – the first recorded appearance of a Harley-Davidson. |
| 1907 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STRAP TANK | |
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These earliest Harley-Davidson ‘strap tank’
models are the rarest and most coveted of all Milwaukee machinery, and
this 1907 model is one of the first 207 built, including the prototypes.
The serial number (#2037) suggests it is the 37th Harley-Davidson built
in 1907, making it their 94th machine ever built, including the two
prototypes. This machine, #2037, is widely considered the best
unrestored ‘strap tank’ Harley in the world and was purchased from the
Leo Bongers estate auction in David City, Nebraska, in January 1993. It
should be noted that Leo Bongers’ father was the original owner of this
machine. |
