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Incredible 165 Bike Kannonball Kannenberg Motorcycle Collection Up for Auction

Once a well-known flat track racer, Denny “Kannonball” Kannenberg, was also a motorcycle collector and dealer, and now a no-reserve sale will showcase his wide-ranging collection - one of the most significant motorcycle collections ever to come to market.
1942 Indian Four 8 photos
Photo: Worldwide Auctions
Indian FourIndian FourIndian FourHonda GB 500Honda GB 500Honda GB 500Indian Four
Featuring a total of 165 motorcycles which include race machines, dirt bikes, and street bikes, this amazing collection and its variety will appeal to anyone who appreciates two-wheeled machines. The collection also includes 30 collectible vehicles and a trove of memorabilia, petroliana, and transportation-themed toys.

The auction will take place on September 10th and 11th 2021 in Auburn, Indiana and is presented by Worldwide Auctioneers and Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkey Garage fame.

Some of the most iconic machines in the collection include an exceeding rare 1942 Indian Four “440” which comes complete with an original Indian sidecar. It’s one of the last Indian Fours built before the factory ceased production of civilian bikes at the outset of WWII.

There’s also an infamous 1969 Kawasaki 500 III. This excellent example of a “Widow Maker” is offered in totally original condition and has just a single mile on the odometer.

One of Kannenberg’s rides, a modified dirt tracker prepared by Harley-Davidson from a Model KR in 1953, has no braking system, and for a flat tracker like Denny, that was the way. It’s been restored to race-ready condition and still carries Denny’s 20J nameplate.

This collection is unusually varied in that it includes bikes by Moto Guzzi, Metisse, Hodaka, Bultaco, Maico, and Ossa. There are also some sublime examples of classic Italian bikes and those from Japanese manufacturers such as Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha.

“I’m blessed by the opportunity to bring the, literally, lifetime collection of my friend Denny to the world,” says Rawlings. “Here is a historic offering of everything that it is motoring and bikes and racing, representing a real coming age of motorcycles themselves and racing itself and American flat track, and there will not be another opportunity like it.”

Denny also had a lifelong relationship with Honda and the collection includes a long list of 1970s example CB’s which includes a slick black cafe racer and an elegant six-cylinder CBX.
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