A massive private collection of bicycles from the Pedaling Through History museum in Buffalo, NY, is being liquidated following the death of founder Carl Burgwardt two years ago. His was the largest bicycle museum in the world, and included a few motorcycles. The auction on April 19th, the second of three big auctions selling off the bicycles and related parts and ephemera, has over 600 lots of interesting stuff, quite a bit of it related to early motorcycling.
Star of the show will be a
1911 Pierce 4-cylinder motorcycle in original paint, running condition, which has only seen its tires and handlegrips replaced. I've seen this bike in person, and its simply fantastic, and in the same condition as the original-paint Pierce 4 which
won the Concorso di Villa d'Este two years ago. Like most early motorcycle makers, Pierce built
shaft-drive (and chain-drive) bicycles before building motorcycles of single and four-cylinders, which were distinctive (and well ahead of their time) in using large-diameter frame tubing as fuel and oil tanks, making both a stronger frame and fewer parts to build, repair, or keep from vibrating to bits on the unpaved roads of the early 1900s. Pierce was 'inspired' by the FN four-cylinder design, and these first American 'fours' (débuted in 1909) have moved slowly into mainstream consciousness as a very important part of Motorcycling history.
Check out the Copake Auction website here. |
| The 1911 Pierce 4 motor and pedaling gear; note shaft drive and flywheel (with clutch, with lever for a two-speed gearbox above) |
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