Description
This motorcycle is Lot 59 to be auctioned by Bonhams at The Spring Stafford Sale (The International Classic MotorCycle Show) on April 25th & 26th, please see the Bonhams Motorcycles Website for full details.
Auction Timings:
Lots 1 - 94 are to be sold from 14:30 on Saturday 25th April 2026.
Lots 201 - 353 are to be sold from 11:30am on Sunday 26th April 2026.
Public Viewing:
Available 25th & 26th April 2026 from 09:00 until 17:00, at The Staffordshire County Showground (The International Classic MotorCycle Show).
The Connoisseurs Collection, Part II
** c. 1931 Moto Guzzi 498cc Sport 15**
Registration no. not registered
Frame no. 13836
Engine no. 14170
** The Lot is from outside the UK. Shippio Ltd must automatically uplift this Lot after the auction, complete all post sale import or export customs administration, and store this Lot until it is customs cleared. A compulsory fee of £350 + VAT will be added to the buyer's invoice for this. This Lot cannot be collected from the auction venue by the purchaser or any alternative transporter.
If the Lot is to stay in the UK or is not exported within 90 days of sale, Import VAT at 5% on the hammer price is payable.**
Moto Guzzi's origins can be traced back to WWI, when a **** of motorcycle enthusiasts serving with the Italian air force hatched a plan to start a business: Giorgio Parodi would secure the finance, Carlo Guzzi would design the machine and Giovanni Ravelli would race it. Sadly, Ravelli died in a flying accident soon after the war's end, leaving Parodi and Guzzi to found what would become one of the most exalted of Italian marques at Mandello del Lario, close to the shores of Lake Como.
Carlo Guzzi's first prototype motorcycle of 1919 was unconventional in so far as its single-cylinder engine was installed horizontally, and by the end of the 1930s the 'flat single' had established itself as a Guzzi hallmark. The prototype Guzzi was exceptionally advanced for its day: unit construction of the engine and gearbox, over-square bore/ stroke, geared primary drive, an overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder being just some of its salient features. However, the Normale model that entered production in 1921 was necessarily less ambitious, the most obvious difference being its engine's inlet-over-exhaust valve arrangement, adopted to reduce costs.
In 1923 the higher performance Tipo Sport was added to the range. From this model Moto Guzzi developed the Sport 14, introduced in 1929, and the Sport 15. Launched for the 1931 season, the Sport 15 incorporated the newly fashionable saddle tank and was finished in bright red – the first Guzzi model to be so – instead of the sombre colours used hitherto.
Currently displaying a total of 1, 378 kilometres on the odometer, this particular Sport 15 is presented in restored condition and would respond well to detailing (the engine turns over). The machine is offered unregistered and without registration documents, but comes with post-restoration photographs and some Japanese paperwork.
Following a period of inactivity, this motorcycle will require recommissioning and/ or restoration to a greater or lesser extent before returning to the road and thus is sold strictly as viewed. Prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves with regard to this motorcycle's completeness, history, authenticity, originality and mechanical condition prior to bidding.
Offered with key
All lots are sold ‘as is/ where is’ and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding. Visit the Bonhams Motorcycles website for all pertinent auction information.
