More than 60 motorcycles, scooters and mopeds from one of the UK's biggest private vehicle collections will be auctioned at no reserve by Brightwells at its permanent auction site at Leominster, Herefordshire (HR6 0DE), on Wednesday 29 April.
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| Stondon Museum- collection being sold |
All the bikes are from the Stondon Motor Museum at Lower Stondon, Bedfordshire (SG16 6JN), which closes its doors on Easter Monday 6 April after 21 years in business.
Museum director Chris Saunders, whose late father John created the collection, said lack of footfall, high rates, other business commitments, and the property owner's reluctance not to renew the lease had prompted the decision.
"The footfall, the rent, and the landlord's expressed desire not to renew the lease are the reasons," said Saunders. "We have spent many happy years amassing the collection, but the care and maintenance of such a large and diverse assortment of vehicles has become increasingly onerous, and we have decided that the time has come to move on," he added.
Helping Brightwells to catalogue the bike entries is British bike dealer John Harding of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. The machines range from a 1915 Radco to a 1985 1200 Honda Gold Wing. Machines of particular interest to collectors include a 1954 500 Vincent Comet and 1920 ABC flat twin. Other marques include Scott, Triumph, BSA, Norton, Ariel, Gilera, Moto Guzzi, Sunbeam, Terrot, Velocette, Jawa, Rudge, and James.
"All the engines turn over," said Saunders.
The full list of bikes was due to go on Brightwells website before 1 April. Buyer's premium is ten per cent plus VAT on the premium.
Details: www.brightwells.com Toby Service 01568 61122 toby.service@brightwells.com
Regular visitors to the museum should note that not all the bikes on display will be at auction. Some are privately owned and will be returned to owners on closure of the museum.
A second Stondon collection no reserve auction will be staged by Brightwells to sell more than 140 cars.
This takes place on Wednesday 10 June. Car lots of potential interest to the bike world include a Honda S800 coupe and a variety of microcars.
Other exhibits include a Russian rocket launcher, a Romany caravan, a helicopter, a replica of Stephenson's Rocket, armoured vehicles, buses and fire engines. Some of the bigger exhibits will be left on site and sold by video link.
Parts of some of the eight exhibition halls on the one-acre museum site, a former garden centre, will have to be dismantled in order to move the largest exhibits, said Saunders whose main business is second-hand cars. It is through this business that Saunders has established a working relationship with Brightwells.
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