This 1951 Vincent Black Lightning Motorcycle Sold for a Record $929,000 USD
Set the land speed record in 1948.
Over the weekend, Bonhams’s auction in Las Vegas announced that its record for the most expensive motorcycle sold had been broken. Taking Bonhams’s top spot is now a Vincent Black Lightning motorcycle dating back to 1951 (some argue the 1976 “Captain America” Harley-Davidson FLH custom from the film Easy Rider is still valued the highest). Based on Vincent Motorcycle’s Black Shadow superbike, the Black Lightning was a tuned version, as the engine was beefed up to 70hp from 55hp and stripped down to 360 pounds.
Coming under the hammer at $929,000 USD, there were only 30 examples of the Black Lightning made, but it’s the bike’s history which helped it snag so many zeroes at the auction house. This particular Black Lightning had only four owners up until being sold and was also the same bike used to set a two-way average record in Australia at 141.5 miles per hour.
In recent news for what you can buy for a million dollars, this ultra rare 1993 Bugatti EB 110 Super Sport Prototype goes up for auction later this year.
