It would be very interesting to hear how much frame 31 sold for. The last time I saw it listed on eBay it was a little over 36,000, climbing fast and it had plenty of time remaining. If the bidding continued, you can only guess what it would have sold for, certainly way over $40,000.
It’s hard to believe that this bike had been displayed publicly for so long on a showroom floor, since 1997, over 20 years, and nobody educated the buyer a little bit about what his “orange” bike really was, especially since it appears he was in the motorcycle accessories business.
If in fact it didn’t sell, the only explanation that I can come up with is that there was a dispute over the true ownership of the bike. Why else would he shut the auction down without a sale with those bids in place?
I made a couple of inquiries to the seller about the bike, but like Steve’s experience, nary a word. How could the guy take an offer without first responding to all interested parties? Stranger things have happened I guess.
It would be nice to know what it did sell for if it did. We know there is a huge sliding scale of value for sandcast bikes but it would help everyone guess at a value for their own bike for curiosity sake, insurance valuation, establishing a number to sell their own bike if they ever cared to, or establishing a number to purchase one if another one like it ever came on the market. I can understand the new owner, if there is one, keeping the purchase price to themself, but if you know it sold and know what it sold for, let us know.