1948 Vincent Rapide V-twin Sold for £57,600

The third major collectors' motorcycle sale of 2009 ended successfully for Bonhams, as 74 percent of the lots sold, raising a total of £981,638. The highlight of this event, however, was a 1948 Vincent Rapide v-twin famously ridden by Arthur Merrett at that year's International Six Days Trial at San Remo, Italy, which sold for £57,600, originally estimated at £50,000 - 60,000.

Other Vincent Marque machines were also showcased, namely a 1951 Series-C Rapide sold for £35,600, exceeding the top estimate of £26,000, a fully rebuilt 1949 Black Lightning Replica fetched £23,000, a restored 1951 Comet single sold for £14,375, while two Egli-Vincents made £25,300 and £18,400 respectively.

As for the racing motorcycles, the famous ex-Francis Williams 1930 Cotton-Blackburne, also known as ‘The Village Fire Engine', sold to a buyer in Mumbai, India for £34,500, while a Rotax-engined v-twin ridden by Derek Huxley, fetched £15,525. The post-war Velocette KTT MkVIII, restored in Sweden by its previous owner, fetched £34,500.

Several Japanese and Italian motorcycles were also in the spotlight, with a 1975 Honda CB400F selling for £7,475. Other noteworthy results included the 1974 Kawasaki Z1A, fully restored by the editor of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, the late Rod Gibson, which fetched £9,430. A limited edition 2001 Ducati 996R Corse racing-specification superbike sold for £16,675, while a 1949 Gilera Saturno, offered for restoration, found a new owner for £5,750.

"The results reflect many different facets of the collectors' motorcycle world - the growth in demand for Japanese classics, the value of a good provenance, and, where vendors are willing to be realistic with their estimates, the competitive bidding it attracts and the strong prices that are achieved as a result," said Ben Walker Head of the Motorcycles Department at Bonhams.