Elvis's last motorcycle, up for auction

Elvis Presley was a passionate motorcycle enthusiast, and now one of his favorites is going up for auction: the 1976 Harley-Davidson FLH 1200 Electra Glide with just 203 kilometers on the clock.

Elvis Presley’s last motorcycle, a 1976 Harley-Davidson FLH 1200 Electra Glide with 203 kilometers on its odometer, will be auctioned at the end of this month by GWS Auctions, and it is estimated to sell for between 1.7 and 2 million dollars.

The current world record price for a motorcycle at auction was set last year when Bonhams sold a Vincent Black Lightning for 929,000 dollars, but a series of recent sales of famous motorcycles suggests that the provenance of Elvis Presley could make this bike the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at auction.

The 1976 Harley-Davidson FLH 1200 Electra Glide has only ever been ridden by Elvis Presley and will be auctioned showing just 203 kilometers on the odometer. The motorcycle has been on display at the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, South Dakota, for more than 30 years.

The 1976 Harley-Davidson FLH 1200 Electra Glide, up for auction

Motorcycles once ridden by entertainment superstars have been breaking records in recent years, with the original bad boy of rock and roll, Jerry Lee Lewis, selling his 1959 Harley-Davidson FLH Panhead Duo-Glide for 385,000 dollars at a Mecum auction in 2015.

While ‘The Killer’ is undoubtedly one of the most famous artists of all time, his auction credibility pales in comparison to ‘The King’.

Another high-profile motorcycle, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Harley-Davidson Fat Boy from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, fetched 512,000 dollars at a celebrity auction in history, surpassing Jerry Lee Lewis’s Panhead Duo-Glide and Pope Francis’s 2013 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide, valued at 241,500 euros. Now we will see what price the most expensive modern Harley-Davidson will achieve at auction.

The Terminator Fat Boy also became the second most expensive Harley-Davidson ever sold at auction, behind only a 1907 Harley-Davidson “Strap Tank” single that sold for 715,000 dollars, indicating that celebrity provenance is key to the price a motorcycle achieves at auction.

Other examples of superstar provenance that considerably increase the value of motorcycles include Marlon Brando’s 1970 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra-Glide, which sold for 256,000 dollars at a Julien’s Hollywood Legends auction; Buddy Holly’s Ariel Cyclone 650, which earned 450,000 dollars at a Guernsey’s auction; Fonzie’s Triumph Trophy 500 from Happy Days, which earned 179,200 dollars to become the most valuable Triumph ever sold; and Steve McQueen’s Husqvarna 250, which sold for 230,000 dollars.

Photographs: GWS Auctions