4 Laverda's for sale at Mecum's 2025 Las Vegas auction

Steve G. said:
I’ve been there 4 times over the years. YES, you must be careful not to aggressively scratch your nose!!!
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Never been to a Mecum event though have been to other auctions. Thinking that it's not too far to travel to the the Las Vegas auction, should do it at least once!

As a spectator at Mecum, can you get close to and inspect the bikes before they're on the block?

As a registered bidder at Mecum, can you get close to and inspect the bikes before they're on the block?
 
TeddyG said:
are you bidding in person or online? From current prices I’ve seen I’d say $10k-$12k for it [assuming it’s in good shape).
A friend in Portland is selling a very nice silver RGS for $13k, no stories
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A 1978 Jarama number 5799, looking as new with 307 miles, sold at the 2024 Mecum LV auction for $13,200 according to Mecum's results.
 
What is with all you guys figuring auction houses are even a reasonable alternative to sourcing a
bike from the owners/enthusiast groups. Auction houses here in N. America and the masters in the
U.K. are interested in their cut of the final bid price. The auction house is ONLY interested in their
profit not the bonafides of an entry or its history or its mechanical condition. You want a Laverda or
a Bimota or a real MV get cracking and do some networking....
 
EncinoBoy said:
What is with all you guys figuring auction houses are even a reasonable alternative to sourcing a
bike from the owners/enthusiast groups. Auction houses here in N. America and the masters in the
U.K. are interested in their cut of the final bid price. The auction house is ONLY interested in their
profit not the bonafides of an entry or its history or its mechanical condition. You want a Laverda or
a Bimota or a real MV get cracking and do some networking....
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Yep, you most definitely do not get to test ride the bike or get to Rev the motor you are lucky if you get to check the oil. Unless you are fortunate to bid on a bike with 'No Reserve' and you get it for a song Auctions are for the convenience of the seller and the Auction house with no interest in the bike, it is all about getting the maximum price. Be sure to read the fine print, the Bid price is not what you pay there are all kinds of fees pegged onto your bid, Bidder beware!
 
arancia said:
Never been to a Mecum event though have been to other auctions. Thinking that it's not too far to travel to the the Las Vegas auction, should do it at least once!

As a spectator at Mecum, can you get close to and inspect the bikes before they're on the block?

As a registered bidder at Mecum, can you get close to and inspect the bikes before they're on the block?
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Yes, and there are auction people walking around as well beforehand. Plus the location, the Southpoint Hotel, is quite ok! It’s actually slightly off the ‘strip’, closer to the airport, more relaxed and casual. I like it there. Heck, years ago my dear departed mum went with me, and she wasn’t into bikes at all.
 
I often wondered if seeing the bikes running before bidding was possible and it will be interesting to see what the SFC and Jota go for as they didn't get reserve last time.
 
Steve G. said:
Yes, and there are auction people walking around as well beforehand. Plus the location, the Southpoint Hotel, is quite ok! It’s actually slightly off the ‘strip’, closer to the airport, more relaxed and casual. I like it there. Heck, years ago my dear departed mum went with me, and she wasn’t into bikes at all.
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Thoughts after attending the Mecum Las Vegas auction:

I think much of it comes down to how the bike is presented at the auction, both the appearance and the information available. I sat through three days and had closely examined many bikes that were of interest to me, as much as is possible of a static exhibit with very little history and no chance of getting any bike started. My initial focus was old British which is where I began, and Laverda where I've ended up. Over the course of three days though I did look at almost every bike there. I went to this auction because it wasn't too far away and I felt the opportunity to examine closely a wide variety of "2000 motorcycles" was too good an opportunity to let pass.

Bikes that I thought would not do as well were surprising in their sales and it became pretty clear that those which were nicely presented, gleaming, no obvious faults suggesting that the seller hadn't taken much time to prepare them to their best advantage, etc with information that the auction item presenter and auctioneer used in building up attention and bids were getting far more local bids at the auction. It wasn't easy to discern where bids were coming from in audience, phone or internet but watching the bids happening in the arena suggested that appearance counted a lot.

Emotions triggered in the other related chain suggests that any thoughts specific to any of the 4 Laverdas should be kept to myself.

For me, seeing the sale of bikes from the Urban Hirsch collection was a terrific education in early American motorcycles. I'm going to be looking into that more - I thought I knew a bit about early history but it seems that was too European focused, I saw a lot today that revealed my ignorance of the early 20th century American motorcycles.

By the way, the Cyclone sold for 1.2 Million US Dollars.

Interesting how much people are paying, for example, for the 1970s Kawasaki 2 stroke triples and Z1/KZ 900/1000 models.

Check the auction results - create an account at mecum.com if you want to see what things sold for - I have no relationship with Mecum other than as an observer.

Would I buy a bike there? Probably not unless the price was low enough to be worth a major gamble or I knew well the seller and the history of the bike. I have bought bikes through Ebay in the past with mixed outcomes and perhaps that sours my outlook a little.

Overall I think it was worth my investment of time and money, perhaps I'll go again next year if the catalog is as diverse.
 
arancia said:
Thoughts after attending the Mecum Las Vegas auction:

I think much of it comes down to how the bike is presented at the auction, both the appearance and the information available. I sat through three days and had closely examined many bikes that were of interest to me, as much as is possible of a static exhibit with very little history and no chance of getting any bike started. My initial focus was old British which is where I began, and Laverda where I've ended up. Over the course of three days though I did look at almost every bike there. I went to this auction because it wasn't too far away and I felt the opportunity to examine closely a wide variety of "2000 motorcycles" was too good an opportunity to let pass.

Bikes that I thought would not do as well were surprising in their sales and it became pretty clear that those which were nicely presented, gleaming, no obvious faults suggesting that the seller hadn't taken much time to prepare them to their best advantage, etc with information that the auction item presenter and auctioneer used in building up attention and bids were getting far more local bids at the auction. It wasn't easy to discern where bids were coming from in audience, phone or internet but watching the bids happening in the arena suggested that appearance counted a lot.

Emotions triggered in the other related chain suggests that any thoughts specific to any of the 4 Laverdas should be kept to myself.

For me, seeing the sale of bikes from the Urban Hirsch collection was a terrific education in early American motorcycles. I'm going to be looking into that more - I thought I knew a bit about early history but it seems that was too European focused, I saw a lot today that revealed my ignorance of the early 20th century American motorcycles.

By the way, the Cyclone sold for 1.2 Million US Dollars.

Interesting how much people are paying, for example, for the 1970s Kawasaki 2 stroke triples and Z1/KZ 900/1000 models.

Check the auction results - create an account at mecum.com if you want to see what things sold for - I have no relationship with Mecum other than as an observer.

Would I buy a bike there? Probably not unless the price was low enough to be worth a major gamble or I knew well the seller and the history of the bike. I have bought bikes through Ebay in the past with mixed outcomes and perhaps that sours my outlook a little.

Overall I think it was worth my investment of time and money, perhaps I'll go again next year if the catalog is as diverse.
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Yes I noted the surge in popularity specifically Kawasaki 2 stroke triples, ‘non’ first year Kawasaki 900 Z1’s, 1970-75 CB750’s, and the general softening prices of pre 1971 Triumphs, and notable big English singles such as Velo Thruxtons and Venoms, and even DBD34 Gold Stars.
 
arancia said:
Thoughts after attending the Mecum Las Vegas auction:

I think much of it comes down to how the bike is presented at the auction, both the appearance and the information available. I sat through three days and had closely examined many bikes that were of interest to me, as much as is possible of a static exhibit with very little history and no chance of getting any bike started. My initial focus was old British which is where I began, and Laverda where I've ended up. Over the course of three days though I did look at almost every bike there. I went to this auction because it wasn't too far away and I felt the opportunity to examine closely a wide variety of "2000 motorcycles" was too good an opportunity to let pass.

Bikes that I thought would not do as well were surprising in their sales and it became pretty clear that those which were nicely presented, gleaming, no obvious faults suggesting that the seller hadn't taken much time to prepare them to their best advantage, etc with information that the auction item presenter and auctioneer used in building up attention and bids were getting far more local bids at the auction. It wasn't easy to discern where bids were coming from in audience, phone or internet but watching the bids happening in the arena suggested that appearance counted a lot.

Emotions triggered in the other related chain suggests that any thoughts specific to any of the 4 Laverdas should be kept to myself.

For me, seeing the sale of bikes from the Urban Hirsch collection was a terrific education in early American motorcycles. I'm going to be looking into that more - I thought I knew a bit about early history but it seems that was too European focused, I saw a lot today that revealed my ignorance of the early 20th century American motorcycles.

By the way, the Cyclone sold for 1.2 Million US Dollars.

Interesting how much people are paying, for example, for the 1970s Kawasaki 2 stroke triples and Z1/KZ 900/1000 models.

Check the auction results - create an account at mecum.com if you want to see what things sold for - I have no relationship with Mecum other than as an observer.

Would I buy a bike there? Probably not unless the price was low enough to be worth a major gamble or I knew well the seller and the history of the bike. I have bought bikes through Ebay in the past with mixed outcomes and perhaps that sours my outlook a little.

Overall I think it was worth my investment of time and money, perhaps I'll go again next year if the catalog is as diverse.
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Think of the Mecum Las Vegas motorcycle auction as a museum with 1600 different exhibits every year :)
 
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