This 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank Set A Million Dollar Record At Auction

When this Strap Tank was brought before Mecum Auctions, just about everyone knew right away they had a proverbial unicorn on their hands. The bike still had its original tank, wheels, engine belt pulley, seat cover and muffler sleeve, plus an era-accurate gray finish with a red accent stripe. It was as though the vehicle had rolled right out of a time machine from the 1900s.

This wasn’t the first Strap Tank to go through Mecum Auctions, with another model from 1907 going to auction for a modest $297,000 in 2021. Compared to that Strap Tank, though, this newer Strap Tank was the most complete and correct instance the auctioneers had ever seen. As soon as the bike went on stage at the auction, bids for hundreds of thousands of dollars started flying left and right.

After only a couple of minutes of bidding, the gavel ultimately fell on a bid for $850,000. Factoring in auction fees, and the grand total for this piece of automotive history came out to $935,000, the largest price tag for a motorcycle ever seen at Mecum Auctions.