The Classic MotorCycle

Saleroom Savvy

Actual auctions

Leaving eBay firmly aside for the time being, there’s a thriving marketplace of actual physical auctions in the UK which serve the classic motorcycling market. There are several big auction houses which have entire departments dedicated to old bikes (see our listing elsewhere), and a wide range of smaller, less specific salerooms who include two-wheelers of all types in their general vintage and vehicles sales.

They may not be ‘online only’, but actual auctions are well up to speed with info-tech, so the vast majority are also accessible online and worldwide. Unlike eBay sales, actual auctions take place at a fixed time and date but in a ‘best of both worlds’ scenario they cater to bidders who want to see the machine in the metal, kick its tyres and size up the opposing bidders. While real people wave bidding cards in the saleroom, other prospective purchasers can place bids by telephone or over the internet. So in theory you reach the maximum number of potential purchasers with a traditional auction, both online and

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