Mecum’s Monterey 2024 sale is swiftly approaching, and the U.S. auction powerhouse has a field of 100 vintage motorcycles selling August 15-17. With everything from turn-of-the-century cycles to a 2023 Ducati Lamborghini Streetfighter on the docket, there’s plenty to choose from, but we feel the following three Lots deserve to have their stories told.
Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn’s Harley-Davidson VL
40 years before Knievel’s Skycycle completed a somewhat anticlimactic descent into the Snake River Canyon, motorcycle stunt riding looked a little different in America. Regional stunt riders made names for themselves by riding the wall, jumping second-hand bobbers and crashing through flaming obstacles in spectacular fashion. A rising star, touring the best venues in California, Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn was certainly one of the biggest names on two wheels in the 1930s.…