Sales at Classic Motorcycle Show in Stafford top £2m

An auction of motorcycles at the County Showground in Staffordshire topped £2 million at Bonhams' annual sale of collectors' machines and related memorabilia.

The sale was held as part of the Classic MotorCycle Show at the venue in Weston Road, Stafford. The auction saw 93 per cent of the more than 500 lots sold.

Top item in the sale was a 1934 Brough Superior SS100, which was restored by specialist Dave Clark in 2004, which went for £131,300 at the event on Easter Sunday.

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It was the first sale at Stafford to include live bidding via the internet.

A restored Manx Norton 500cc from 1961 sold to a bidder in California for an above estimate £29,900, reflecting its rarity.

Ben Walker, head of Bonhams collectors motorcycle department, said: 'We were extremely happy with the results achieved.

"The vendors of some of the more expensive mach-ines had been offered substantially less in advance of the sale than the actual prices achieved, which amply demonstrates the merits of offering collectible motorcycles to a worldwide audience at a Bonhams auction."

The sale attracted a worldwide audience, with bidders representing al-most every EU country as well as the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Switzerland, Norway, Mexico and India.

The oldest motorcycle, an unrestored 1902 Griffon discovered by the seller's late father in a local garage in 1959, fetched £24,250, beating a £10,000 estimate.

Traditional bikes att-racted more interest than some modern macines — which included two Ducatis and a TT-winning Honda RC30 ridden by four-times world superbike champion Carl Fogarty.

But Fogarty's road-going 916SPS Foggy Replica was snapped up for £27,600.