The Most Important Motorcycle Sales of 2024

2024 is drawing to a close, and as we look back at an eventful 12 months in the car market, we note that there has been a lot of activity in the two-wheeled world, too. While classic motorcycles don’t garner a lot of headlines, they’re plenty significant to a whole cadre of enthusiasts, and the Hagerty Price Guide does cover hundreds of vintage bikes. Motorcycles offer the greatest feeling of being one with your machine and a sense of freedom that a car doesn’t quite match. Just as important, they’re generally more affordable than cars and trucks and they take up very little space, making them easy to collect. And, as with cars, collecting habits evolve over time, and that didn’t let up in 2024. Looking back at the past 12 months, there have been a number of bike sales that point that out.

We explored our sales database and uncovered some of the most notable sales this past year. This is not a list of the most expensive sales, however—the following five bikes represent meaningful, emerging trends that we will be watching in the year ahead.

1956 Harley-Davidson FLF Panhead

Sold by Mecum for $55,000

No other American brand comes close to Harley-Davidson when it comes to heritage, so they’re the obvious place to go for many enthusiasts new and old. For decades, the sweet spot for vintage Harley collecting has been with the Knucklehead bikes made from 1936-47. As time marches on, however, a new trend in Harley collecting has emerged.

“The Knucklehead was one of the most famous Harleys for the last 20 years. The Panhead has now shown very strong results, and 2024 appeared to be the year of the Panhead” says information analyst and motorcycle collector James Hewitt. The $55,000 sale of this 1955 FLF Panhead at Mecum’s Las Vegas sale in January is notably higher than where the market has been sitting, and it didn’t occur in a vacuum either. Hewitt points out that “we are even seeing Duo-Glide Panheads from 1958+ achieving $30k—a price once only reserved for Knuckles let alone a fully suspended bike.” If you’ve been ignoring Panhead Harleys, or waiting to add one to your garage because they’re less noticed than Knuckleheads, perhaps now is the time to reconsider before prices creep out of reach.

1972 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV

Sold by Mecum for $55,000

For fans of Japanese motorcycles, sport bikes like the Kawasaki H2 are held in high regard. For those riders who experienced the 1970s firsthand, the H2 was considered a fearsome bike in the same way that one-liter sport bikes are today. It’s not only fast, but the two-stroke triple engine ticks all the right boxes for bikes of the time with savage noise, the sweet oily smell of the exhaust, and a wide power band.

Over the years, we’ve seen these bikes climb in value, but we paused a moment when this particular bike sold for $55,000 at Mecum’s January sale in Las Vegas. Completely restored with zero miles since completion, the bike was like new, but in a world where H2s have seen a ceiling in the $40,000 range, this was a big leap. Hewitt remarks that “two-strokes ignite passion amongst a specific age of enthusiasts, and they just keep paying up more and more for that experience.” It’s also worth mentioning that the $55,000 paid here is near-record territory for one. These bikes are hot items and are showing that even Japanese brands are worth good money these days. The Kawasaki H2 is one to keep a close eye on.

2007 Ducati Desmosedici GP7

Sold by Iconic Auctioneers for £402,500 ($531,300)

MotoGP is, in short, Formula 1 on two wheels. It’s a series with some of the best riders in the world riding some of the most powerful and advanced race bikes in the world, with estimates into the seven-figure range to produce a modern MotoGP bike.

Ex-MotoGP bikes don’t often come to market, but a pair were offered by Iconic Auctioneers in August over in the U.K. The highlight of this sale was an ex-Ducati Team bike raced by Casey Stoner during his MotoGP championship-winning year in 2007, in what some consider to be the golden age of MotoGP. The bike also included numerous spares and was billed as being race-ready and event-eligible. The significance here is that just like with the V-10 era of Formula 1, there are motivated collectors who are willing to pony up for significant pieces from an iconic period. Now, these bikes are bringing the kind of money that had traditionally been reserved for pre-war, blue-chip bikes.

1995 Honda XR600R

Sold on Bring a Trailer for $10,500

As the owner of a pair of Honda XRs, I may be biased, but I will shout from the rooftops that they are an excellent, affordable entry point to the hobby. Honda “thumpers” are torquey, dead-reliable, and easy to work on. Compared to Honda’s CR-series two-strokers, the XR is pretty agricultural, but don’t despair, Honda did build a faster tractor in the form of the XR600R. Like how the CR500 was a beast to be tamed in Motocross, the XR600R was the dominant platform for off-road racing in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the Baja 1000 five times.

In a world where a good-quality rider example can be had for around $3500, this $10,500 example that sold back in April is worth a second look. It has only ticked over 46 miles according to the odometer and is quite clean aside from some of the usual discoloration to the plastic tank. Its price is much higher than normal for any sort of XR and is more in line with the more desired, two-stroke CR500, which carries a rabid following. So, what lesson can we take away from this? While the price is unusual, it does hint that the XR market could be warming up for exceptional examples, especially the full-size, big-bore thumpers like the 600R. If you stumble across a good one at a cheap price, perhaps now is the time to pull the trigger.

1976 BMW R90S

Sold by Bring a Trailer for $63,000

Considered one of the best superbikes of its era, the BMW R90S is powerful yet well-mannered, making it comparable to its Japanese contemporaries like the Honda CB750 and Kawasaki Z1. Up till recently, these classic superbikes have maintained reasonable prices, with values in the $25,000-$30,000 range at the top end. However, the BMW may be getting a huge boost.

“This bike was restored by the best of the best R90S restorers,” says Hewitt. “Once people start to see what a #1 condition restoration brings publicly, they are validated to spend higher and higher amounts.” Hewitt also observes that “one of these bikes from the same restorer sold previously for $60,000. And reports are that a whole bunch more R90S are getting restored and showing up in collections now. These are all strong signs that the R90S is a bike to watch.” While a couple of sales do not denote a trend, there does appear to be evidence that the values of these bikes have some growth ahead of them.