Every year, the Mecum Antique and Classic Motorcycle Auction takes place, giving collectors and motorcycle afficionados an opportunity to bid on machines that range from the new to the most rare. The 2017 edition of the Mecum Auction is scheduled for January 25-28, and it will even be televised on the NBCSports Network.
Perusing the Mecum site at https://www.mecum.com/motorcycles/ we came across several excellent examples of classic and or vintage dirtbikes that pegged our lust meter. If we were headed to Las Vegas, here are 12 machines for which we wouldn’t mind raising our bidder’s paddle in an effort to drag them home.
12. 1973 Honda CR250 Elsinore
The Honda CR250 Elsinore is the machine that swung the tide in favor of the Japanese just as the sport of motocross began to reach fever pitch in America. To prove the bike, Honda stole reigning AMA 250cc National Motocross Champion away from Yamaha, and Jones repeated his outdoor success by handily defending his title aboard the works version of the new machine. There used to be a lot of 1973-74 250 Elsinores still circulating the track at vintage motocross events, but fewer and fewer are hitting the dirt because people are realizing how collectible they are. Frankly, we’d race one if we had one. Mecum has two pristine examples ready to fall under the gavel at the Las Vegas auction, Lot numbers S25 and S26. Perfectly clean unrestored models can go as high as $10,000.
Our max bid: $6500