What Did I Buy At Mecum? And Other Controversies. My Mecum Jan 2024 Las Vegas Wrap Up
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- Опубліковано 13 лют 2024
- Well, Mecum 2024 Las Vegas is in the books and what a ride it has been (pun intended). The big thing everyone is talking about is the 1974 Kawasaki Z2 with a frame number that asks more questions than it answers. But there were some other controversies as well. All in all it was a good time. Plus I bought something…..
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Hi from David Silver across the pond. The UK title/reg document issue is a little more complicated. Firstly under Mecum/state? rules, only pre 1945 street bikes can be sold BOS, post 1945 Must have a title, the Douglas Dragonfly did. I did bring a lot of pre-war bikes which I'm not allowed to use foreign registrations, because I hold a US dealer licence, those did get hurt on price. I would have got titles but Pa DMV can take up to 6 months to produce a title and often loose the application, I'm not sure anyone is there doing them now, 3 staff on them have left in the last year. Terrible. Thanks for the mentions, good videos.
Thank you for the clarification. I wish I had time to speak to you there about it, I got most of what I knew second hand. Also thank you for the compliments. Cheers!
The big point here is the vin on the frame was very obviously crudely ground off. This should have been noticed by mecum regardless of the make of the bike. The remorse thing probably happend and then the buyer noticed or was shown it after the sale so he jumped on it. Also looked suspisious that the seller split right after they got the check in hand.
There are just too many bikes at Mecum to expect Mecum to do that for every one. They have a vetting process of asking for a copy of the title and a photo of the vin to show they match. The owner claims that they ground the powder coating off to make the number visible for the photo and ground too deep. Mecum still got a legible photo and all they check for is whether the number matches the title.
Again expecting Mecum to not only be an expert in vin tampering and to inspect 3000 bikes the day before the auction is just unreasonable. They have it setup so if you are the buyer and you notice an issue with the vin you don’t have to buy the bike which is about as fair as it is going to get.
The seller didn’t split right after they got the check. No money was transferred. The seller had a two day drive back to Columbus, Ohio and left on Saturday after the bike sold to make sure they wouldn’t have to pack it up and so they could get home in time for Monday (so their people could go to work). The seller had to come back and get the bike and they did. It does look a little suspicious they way the cycledrag guy presented it but I was there also and the seller and I have friends in common. We knew when he was going to leave before the bike crossed the block because there some talk of them taking a bike back for a mutual friend.
Well done!
Thanks!
Another great video. The new microphone is a great addition. Watched all your Mecum videos and this was a nice wrap up. Hope you do the same for the next Mecum motorcycle auction. I’m a follower now.
Thanks you. Originally this channel was to document my ridiculous car and bike projects like the VW motorcycle and the GTO I neglected for 16 years but it seems I get the best response from even coverage. Mecum and Hot Rod Power Tour videos seem to be the big watch items so now I’m going to cover a lot more car and bike events. Thank you for subscribing and please keep watching.
You did a terrific job covering Mecum! Well done! I’m a subscriber! Way better than Cycle Drag!
Wow, thanks!
The cycle drag guy gets on my nerves!!! Had a 1970 cb750 in high school, have put 500,000 miles on my 4 ducatis 😊😊 well done
He must be doing something right, he’s got 10 times the views and subscribers.
I have no hate for him, he does his thing I do mine.
Z2s were never dealer sold in Australia - any here are grey (private) imports. I think Mecum should at least check engine and frame numbers or mark them as NV (Non Visible). Your videos are better with the microphone. In one of the óther guys'videos, he claimed the Z2 seller had provided Mecum with a photo of the frame number BEFORE he had the frame repainted? My personal opinion is it looks dodgy and ground down from the videos I have seen. Good luck.
Good to know about z2s. When I looked for past recent sales, Australia, U.K., and Japan were the big markets for them.
When you put a motorcycle in to Mecum’s auctions, they require you to send a copy of the title and a photo of the VIN. What Mecum is checking for is a match. They aren’t experts on vintage font or old vins, and prior to 1973 there were a lot of legal but terrible looking vin practices. Both Honda and Kawasaki used to sell blank replacement frames and engine cases with the understanding that a shop rebuilding a wrecked bike would just stamp the numbers themselves. You could even buy factory punch kits that mimicked the correct font.
I saw this bike in person and yes the vin looks not great but it’s not as scary as some real vin tampering jobs I’ve seen.
The story from the seller and people close to him is that the powdercoater for the frame covered up the vin to the point where it wouldn’t photograph well. So the owner hit it with a grinder to reveal the numbers, went too deep so had to retouch the numbers, took the photograph, and then covered it back up with black spray paint. From what I saw, that could be a possibility. It didn’t look like a restamp, the font looks close to right but not like a stamping , and there were grinder marks covered up by paint. It could be something else too, but a restamp it didn’t look like.
By the way, the seller I believe is in his late 70’s/early 80’s. Not your typical criminal type.
Still a very careless act done by the owner of a rare motorcycle. And great advertising for Mecum's auctions either way. Cheers @@MechanicalAdvantageGarage
I agree to both counts.
I think you’re right on point with your comments, and I totally agree with you about the z2
Thanks!