Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

The custom Alpinestars leathers that Kawasaki factory Superbike racer Eric Bostrom donated to the Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund just sold for $3351 in an auction on eBay. Racer Ken Hill and his wife Kristen, owners of Hayward Kawasaki Motorsports, placed the winning bid with less than four minutes remaining in the auction.

Bidding on Bostrom’s leathers started out Friday, January 25 with a minimum bid of $1000 and quickly surpassed our conservative reserve price of $1500. The auction lost momentum through the middle of its seven-day duration and bidding stalled at $2000. However, interest, gauged via e-mail inquiries to Roadracing World requesting information, seemed to indicate that there may be a last-minute rush near the close of the event. In the last 10 minutes of the sale, the high bid shot from $2025 to the final sale price of $3351, in only five bids.

“It was amazing how much the auction went up right there at the end,” said Hill February 1. “We’re the #5 Kawasaki dealer in the country and we’re only a Kawasaki dealer. So, it’s a big deal for us to have Eric Bostrom’s leathers on display here at our place. We’re hoping that we can maybe have Eric in here before the Sears Point AMA race to sign autographs and stuff.”

At post time, the purchase of the leathers had already been completed, and the suit will be shipped out later today.

The next auction to benefit the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund should start within a few hours.

*Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.