'THE KILLER'S' PANHEAD TOPS $385K...

The Jerry Lee Lewis '59 Panhead, a gift from the factory

At Mecum's Kissimmee auction yesterday, Jerry Lee Lewis' 1959 Harley-Davidson FL 'Panhead' which he's owned for 55 years, and was a gift from the Harley-Davidson factory, sold for a remarkable $385k, including fees.  This places his Harley at lucky #13 on my 'Top 20' list of the World's Most Expensive Motorcycles; wholly appropos.   I was asked to interview 'the Killer' and provide text for the auction, which is below:

"Rock n’ Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis has an outsize reputation as a larger-than-life character living with scant regard for public opinion. Regardless of debauched tales and extreme behavior, this electrifying showman not only climbs onto pianos, but also motorcycles…which should come as no surprise at all. In the 1950s, he seemed the most‘at risk’ performer of all, pioneering a new musical style with an aggressive, almost wild stage presence, as well as the original “sex, drugs, n’ rock n roll” lifestyle…yet he remains alive today, still performing on occasion, and still with a clutch of Harley-Davidsons in his stable.

The Panhead on delivery in 1959 from Ralph Murray of Harley Davidson Sales in Birmingham, Alabama

 Lewis bought his first motorcycle – well, a Cushman scooter – at 16 back in 1951, when he “wasn’t big enough for a real bike”, using money he earned working on his father’s farm. But ‘farm work’, and the Cushman, wouldn’t last long; his first hit record from the historic Sun Studios dropped in 1956, ‘Crazy Arms’, which sold 300,000 copies, mostly in the South. The next year, ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ spread like a grassfire across the globe, and as a gift to himself, Lewis purchased a brand-new, blue 1957 Harley-Davidson FLH ‘Panhead’, with the big 74” motor. “It was a fine motorcycle, and I rode it all over the place. When I put out my first record is when I bought that bike.” 

Jerry Lee with his third (of 7!) wife (and cousin, Myra Gale Brown, aged 13) in 1957, with his first Panhead, also a '57 model

Jerry Lee Lewis was at the peak of his early career in 1958, having already sold millions of records, and established himself in the Rock ‘n Roll firmament alongside Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, and Little Richard. The Harley-Davidson factory, always savvy with ‘product placement’, gifted a pair of new 1959 FLH Panheads to Lewis and Elvis Presley. Jerry Lee got his first, which irked The King; “Harley-Davidson asked if I’d like to have a new bike, and they brought it down to Memphis and gave it to me at my house. Elvis got the second one, and there was a bit of personal talk about this – he couldn’t understand why he got the second one, so I asked if he wanted to trade! That was just a joke.”

Good times, when girl fans tore the clothes off his back...

Lewis really enjoyed this ’59 Panhead, “It’s a fine motorcycle, no comparison to my ’57 Panhead - the motor on that one wasn’t quite as nice. This motor is just as good as the day it was given to me.” Asked why he’s selling a precious piece of personal history he’s owned for 55 years, Lewis becomes pensive. “There was a time I wouldn’t take a zillion dollars for it, but now it’s just sitting there. You can crank that motorcycle up and she purrs like a kitten – but you have to kickstart it you know. I could probably sit on it alright today, but I wouldn’t take a chance. I’m 79 years old. This bike is like a child to me, but I’ve decided it’s time to let it go.”

 Jerry Lee Lewis’ loss is a memorabilia collector’s enormous gain, as few celebrity motorcycles have such an indelible association with a notorious and legendary owner. ‘The Killer’s ’59 Panhead, looking fresh as the day the factory gave it to him, still in his ownership after 55 years; it doesn’t get any better than that, and likely there will never be another classic Harley for sale with such solid gold provenance. If that doesn’t leave you ‘Breathless, Honey’, it’s time to check your pulse."

In the 'now it can be told' file, Lewis admitted a big reason he was selling the Panhead was to prevent a family feud after he dies, with many heirs clutching at whatever fortune he's retained after half a century.  He still has one bike, a Sportster, which he's revved up on stage in the past, and now sits in his Florida restaurant.

Here's a video of the auction sale:


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GRAND PALAIS, S'IL VOUS PLAIS..

The enormous, sweeping volumes of the Grand Palais, with its original Art Nouveau ironwork, is something to behold

Bonhams is hosting its February 5th Paris auction to coincide with the giant Rétromobile festival, an excellent reason to visit the City of Light in the winter (and it's a lovely place to be if it snows). The Grand Palais is perhaps the world's most spectacular venue for an auction, an Art Nouveau engineering masterpiece, which the city of Paris has recently put back into circulation to host regular exhibitions and events.

1958 Borgward Rennsport, an achingly lovely miniature of the Jaguar D-Type

As always, Bonhams kills it with their automobilia selection of sculptural radiator caps, original illustrations, and posters, and also as per the script, there's a fine selection of motorcycles for sale before the four-wheelers dominate the podium.  Even then, it's worth sticking around, as European auctions turn up stuff we never see Stateside...like a late-'50s Borgward 1500 Sports Racer with an aluminum body. Want!

One of many European racing posters for sale...

Other drool-worthy machines are a Norton-Velocette with dustbin fairing, and an endurance-racer Bimota HB-1, which is about the sexiest 1970s motorcycle of all.  While Triumph had their Hurricane, and MV made their heavy 4s, Bimota truly captured the sideburn-and-flares era with bikes that scream 'sex!' and 'speed!' with equal volume.  They're still reasonably priced (depending on your point of view), but I can't imagine these remaining in the low-to-mid 5-figures for much longer...

Cafe racer with a twist - a Velocette in a Norton featherbed frame, with a full dustbin fairing.  Cool!

Sadly, no Paris for me this year.  I'm busy building a photography studio, back in San Francisco.  If you go, kiss the grande dame for me, eh?

The only '70s Honda that matters...the 1974 Bimota HB-1 CM3. 

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'STORY OF THE CHOPPER' EXHIBIT - BIKES WANTED!

Fat chance finding the Kenny Howard Indian he modified in 1946, the grand-daddy of all choppers...but we can ask!

I'm working with Mark Mederski and John Parham at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa, to curate an exhibit illustrating the development of early American custom motorcycles, up to and including the chopper itself.  The exhibition is based on my new book 'The Chopper; the Real Story' (Gestalten), to set the story straight on the history of American custom motorcycles.

We're looking for ORIGINAL, built in the period examples of:

1920s/30s Cut-Downs

1930s/40s Bob-Jobs

1940s/50s/60s Show Bikes and flashy Bob-Jobs

Choppers of the 1960s and '70s

Cool as they are, we're not using later recreations or inspirations - we need the real deal, period-built customs, the core bikes which established the American custom style.

Do you have a bike which fits the description above, which you'd be willing to loan to the National Motorcycle Museum starting in late May of 2015?  Let us know!  It will be an amazing, never-before exhibit.

Here's the National Motorcycle Museum press release:

History of the Chopper: Bikes Wanted!

The first comprehensive history of a century of American customs has just been released - ‘The Chopper: the Real Story’ – and museum staff are working with author/curator Paul d’Orleans to create a new exhibit based on his research. Paul is a well-known writer (‘The Ride’, ‘Café Racers’, plus TheVintagent.com) and curator (most recently the Sturgis exhibits with Michael Lichter), and contributes monthly to magazines in 6 languages.

You can be part of this exhibition project, as they’re looking for some very special motorcycles.

Americans started ‘chopping’ bikes long before ‘Easy Rider’, and the late 1920s saw the emergence of the ‘Cut-Down’, based on the Harley JD or JDH, with shortened and lowered frames. Cut-Downs were hot, high-performance bikes and are rare today. Next came the ‘Bob-Job’, stripped down Harleys and Indians and even British imports from the 1930s, built to look like the new Class C racers. From the late 1940s, a few riders began decorating their Bob-Jobs, using chrome and wild paint, adding ape hangers, upswept exhausts, and small sissy bars, which by the 1950s became the established ‘show bike’ standards at combined car/motorcycle Hot Rod shows. Dragster motorcycles also influenced street customs using drag bars and raked forks. By the late ‘50s what we’d recognize as Choppers emerged, and in the early to mid-‘60s raked steering heads, extended springer forks, wild pipes, sissy bars, sculpted tanks, and moulded frames could be found under the hippest motorcyclists in America.

'Marshmallow' and her chopped Triumph, from the EasyRider archive

The long history of choppers is a uniquely American story, akin to Rock ‘n Roll in its cultural impact and global influence. The Museum will create the first-ever exhibit documenting culture and history of the American Custom Motorcycle, the cut-downs, bob-jobs, show bikes and choppers, from the late 1920s to the mid-‘70s. The exhibit will include only period-built original bikes, plus related artwork, memorabilia and photos, plus posters showing their important film roles. As a special feature, the curators are commissioning sculptures, paintings and illustrations made especially for this new exhibit.

 Do you own an original or restored 1920s-70s custom motorcycle or related memorabilia? We’d like your help to tell this important story, or if you are a fine artist who would like to loan motorcycle artwork, please send an email to Mark Mederski: mmederski@nationalmcmuseum.org
or Paul d’Orleans: thevintagent@gmail.com


Books from curator Paul d'Orléans...

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