Another Christmas where Santa has over-promised and under-delivered? Despite all of the heavy hints you’d dropped, you knew it was going to be tough, as there were no motorcycle-sized wrapped packages under the tree, in the garage, or stashed at a friend’s home (and you’ve spent the past month checking). Well, there’s still a way to get the bike you always wanted. Empty out the savings account and head for Las Vegas, where many amazing motorcycles are on auction at the 35th annual Vintage & Antique Motorcycle Auction. Conducted by Mecum Auctions, the event is slated for January 27-31 at South Point Hotel & Casino, and approximately 2,000 bikes are expected to cross the auction block.

Included are bikes that are just straight-up, unfiltered fantasy fuel. The very first bike on the list (as of Christmas Day, 2025) is a 1966 Harley-Davidson Panhead Captain America Replica dripping with chrome and infused with upgrades. Talk about a cultural touchstone! For the sportbike enthusiast, the list is a time sink, a black hole where hours go while perusing, reminiscing and thinking maybe, just maybe …

For example, the second bike on the list is a 1977 Ducati 900 SS with a tick over 9,500 miles on the clock. The motorcycle is a three-owner, California-titled example presented in highly original condition, featuring original paint with “nice patina” and accompanied by a report by Ian Falloon, author, historian and restoration authority, that describes it as “an example to be considered as a template for originality.” It is powered by an air-cooled 864cc V-Twin engine with Dell’Orto carburetors and a kick start, and has been mechanically refreshed and technically gone through, including engine refurbishment, brakes and electrics.

Two items later, there’s a 1974 Desmo 750SS “Green Frame” that was raced in the Formula 750 Spanish Championship and has zero miles since its refurbishment.

Aero development is the major talking point in MotoGP right now, but engineers and racers were experimenting in this area decades ago. Up for auction is a 1957 Mondial Grand Prix racebike with a “dustbin” fairing. The motorcycle comes from the MotoTalbott Museum in Carmel, California, is verified by factory records, and underwent a comprehensive multi-year restoration by Giancarlo Morbidelli that was completed by Roberto Totti. Built by Fratelli Boselli Mondial, it features a 125cc DOHC two-stroke single-cylinder engine designed by Alfredo Drusiani, was raced in period by Sammy Miller and Cecil Sandford—who finished fourth and sixth in the 1957 125cc Championship—and is now set up for static display, having passed through multiple notable owners after being sold by the Mondial factory in the late 1970s. (Dustbin fairings are now banned.)

There’s a 1982 Kawasaki KR500 racebike with an aluminum monocoque chassis, raced by Kork Ballington, who finished ninth in the 1982 500cc Grand Prix World Championship. The documentation on the machine includes correspondence between iconic restorer George Beale and Bob MacLean, the American who founded World Championship Motorsports and built it into a race-winning 500cc Grand Prix team.

Harley-Davidson once went after the biggest prize in modern U.S. road racing–the AMA Superbike Championship. Up for auction is an example of the machine it fielded–a 1994 Harley-Davidson VR1000. It’s the Harley-Davidson Factory Archive’s No. 3 racebike built for factory rider and team member Pascal Picotte and was assigned to the Harley-Davidson Factory archives in November 2006 before being purchased by the Estenson Vintage Collection in January 2023. It is a factory road racer powered by a 1000cc water-cooled, off-set 60-degree V-Twin with a six-speed transmission and chain drive, featuring an orange-and-black livery.

A 1985 Yamaha RZ500 up for auction is a Canadian-market example currently titled and registered in Arizona. Powered by a 499cc two-stroke V-4 with a six-speed transmission, it is a bit of a dream machine for those who remember this era of Grand Prix racing fondly. It is also an illustration of how far motorcycle technology has advanced, for it is rated at 88 horsepower. Every 600cc-class sportbike on the market today will make significantly more horsepower and weigh only slightly more. But for those who romanticize the two-stroke era, this bike was a way to own the closest thing to what the legends of the sport raced.

A 1986 Suzuki GSXR750 Yoshimura Tornado is up for auction. The motorcycle is powered by a 749cc inline four-cylinder engine equipped with a Dyna 2000 race ignition, Mikuni flatslide carburetors, and a Yoshimura exhaust system. It features extensive race-spec components including Yoshimura Tornado carbon fiber bodywork, a rare rear-mounted supplemental oil cooler, six-piston race front brake calipers with a Brembo master cylinder, and fully adjustable race suspension.

Back in the day, mating a Japanese engine to a custom race chassis was the recipe for success. On the block will be a 1975 Kawasaki 900 Rickman. The motorcycle is a limited-production Rickman café racer based on the Kawasaki Z1 and is powered by a 903cc DOHC inline four-cylinder engine paired with a five-speed gearbox and chain final drive. It features a green Rickman CR fairing with black stripes, matching Grand Prix tank, black solo seat with custom leather cover, Daytona-style tail section, clip-on handlebars, electric start, polished suspension and wheels, front and rear disc brakes, and a chrome 4-into-4 exhaust with Hooker silencers. And there’s no reserve!

And also back in the day, for some manufacturers, small-bore sportbikes were anything but entry-level machines. Up for auction is a 1987 Honda VFR400R NC24. Honda’s second-generation VFR400, produced from 1987–1988, was the first production Honda model to use the ELF-designed Pro-Arm single-sided swingarm and features updated six-spoke front and eight-spoke rear wheels. The 59 bhp, 399cc, DOHC V-4 with a six-speed gearbox is finished in RC30-themed livery.

There are choppers, bobbers, dirtbikes, minibikes, dirt trackers, and even something called a Pulse Autocycle that looks like a landborne private plane, complete with remote-operated canopy.

And perhaps the auction might pose a danger to the savings account. But the auction list itself is a danger, as it poses the potential to eat away hours while you look at cool motorcycles. You have been warned.

To visit the auction site, click here.