 Mention the word "Winchester" to the average person and most will think of the famous "Gun That Won The West". Virtually no one conjures up the Winchester motorcycle which the gun company marketed briefly in 1909-11. Winchester didn't actually make the bikes carrying their distinctive logo on the tank; a mere 200 were produced under contract by the Edwin F. Merry Co. in San Francisco, which still exists. Powered by a single cylinder, 6 HP Marsh-Metz engine manufactured in Waltham, Massachusetts, the Winchester also featured a flat leather belt drive, leaf-spring front suspension, and a "battery only, total loss" ignition system. It sold for $160, but not very well. After it took more than two years to move the small production run, Winchester moved on. This 1910 Winchester motorcycle being auctioned by Worldwide Auctioneers at The Auburn Auction on August 31 is believed to be the only 1910 survivor of the 200 bikes made, as decades of searching have failed to locate another. The bike survives in overwhelmingly original condition because the original purchaser's father insisted it be ridden only on the family farm. Typically, the son ignored the prohibition. The father removed the bike's rear wheel to enforce his edict and it was never refitted! The unhappy son kept his nearly new but unusable "one-wheel" motorcycle for the next 40-plus years. Collector vehicles that bring the big bucks at auction are usually true to supply and demand principles. Here's a bike so rare that most motorcycle collectors have never heard of it, with a few gun collectors claiming it to be fake, though period advertising materials say it's not. Estimating demand here is more difficult, but when two rabid collecting segments are involved, sometimes fireworks occur. Reports indicate that the bike's seller plunked down a serious $250,000 for the restored bike and a dealer sign! When the gavel falls on the last day of August we'll learn if the motorcycle was indeed well-bought. (text Gregory Wells, photos © courtesy Worldwide Auctioneers) |
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Son of a Gun: Winchester
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