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An ultra-rare Harley-Davidson motorcycle from 1908 sold for nearly $1 million — the highest price ever paid for a bike at auction — after it was found in a dusty old barn in Wisconsin.
The 114-year-old hog sold to a mystery buyer for $935,000 via Mecum Auctions in Las Vegas in late January, according to the auction house.
The bike is believed to be one of only 12 “Strap Tank” motorcycles — made with nickel-plated steel bands to suspend the bike’s fuel tanks from the frame— in the entire world.
It’s considered one of the earliest models of motorcycles vintage gearheads could get their hands on.
The motorcycle, which looks more like a modern-day electric bicycle with its thin frame and wheels, was found in good shape in 1941 by Wisconsin resident David Uihlein, the auction house said.
He kept it for the next 66 years and it was recently restored by collector Paul Freehill of Fort Wayne, Ind.
“We marketed the bike well, and Harley is by far the most famous American motorcycle brand, so we had a feeling it would do well in auction, but obviously you are surprised anytime you sell the most expensive bike ever,” Greg Arnold, motorcycle division manager at Mecum Auctions, told told the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel.
Vintagent, a website that tracks auctions of vintage motorcycles, said the sale marked highest price ever paid for a motorcycle at an auction.
Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, WI.
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