Mid-American Motorcycle Auction at Aldrich Arena, Maplewood, Minnesota.
5 years ago, this auction
was a good place to pick up a runner on the cheap, or to get the startings of a cafe racer. Now, the fee is too high for most
people to put a garden variety runner in just to sell it, and there are starting to be more and more rare and unusual bikes
on the block. The last five years have also seen the junkyards move in to snap up anything marginal and to drive up the prices
on the stuff they don't already own. They've also become a prime source of bikes for this auction. Not just wrecks, but
repairables and restorables from the vast collection of the guy who owns Sport Wheels down in Jordan.
Proof of this can be seen in the odd British bikes that filter through this auction. Proof also can be seen in the 3 Honda
Trail 90s that were at the auction. That's a little unusual, but what tipped me off is that a minimum of cosmetic stuff had been
done to get them to sell. They looked as if they'd been wiped down, but the thing that really tipped me off was the brand
spanking new seats on all three of them. I had a Trail 50 once upon a time ago, and the first thing that rotted off of it was
the seat. What says new or new old stock seat like a junkyard?
I didn't go to the auction itself, so I really can't comment on the prices that were had for this stuff. I'm not really in a
buying mood of late, anyway.
April 14, 2000. Preview night.
I usually go to the preview for this yearly auction just to see what's there and perhaps to snap some pictures. This year
there were quite a few lustable bikes on the block. I've noticed in the last few years that this auction is
changing from a "get a bike for cheap" type of auction to a speculator/collector bike auction.
If your bike is uncomfortable or doesn’t please you any more,
it’s far cheaper to change it than get another one.
Get out and practice riding. That’s right, practice riding your motorcycle.
Integrate motorcycling into your life. There's more to do than just ride around town.