Auction house Bonhams said it plans to sell a 1914 Indian Model F racing motorcycle, once owned by the late actor Steve McQueen, during its April 28 sale at the International Classic MotorCycle Show in Stafford, England.
The Model F is one of 242 motorcycles set to cross the block during the Bonhams sales sale. While it is not the rarest and doesn’t have the highest estimate, its connection with McQueen could make it a wild card. A number of McQueen’s former cars and motorcycles have fetched many times their estimated value in auctions during the past decade.
The Model F is an early board-track racer from an era when racing motorcycles on banked wooden tracks was extremely popular. This purpose-built bike and the machines it competed against generally had no clutch, throttle or brakes. They were push-started and ran “wide-open” at speeds up to 100 mph.
