4 Of The Best Motorcycles Ever Found On American Pickers

By News Update On Nov 18, 2024

If you are a regular viewer of History’s smash-hit reality series “American Pickers,” you no doubt know there aren’t many things that star Mike Wolfe and his merry crew of antique gurus won’t pony up at least a few bucks for. You also know that Wolfe and company have, on rare occasions, shelled out a lot more than a few bucks on big-ticket items like vintage cars and motorcycles. Wolfe, in particular, has shown not only a sincere affinity for the classic motorcycles he’s found tucked away in various barns and garages over the years, but also a steadfast dedication to paying whatever it takes to save them from the rust heap.

Indeed, Wolfe’s love of rare and vintage bikes has led to some of the more tense and colorful storylines in the series’ 392-episodes-and-counting history. While the “American Pickers” star and creator spends freely on rare bikes, the thrill of the hunt and the chance to salvage even a small piece of motorcycle history seem to be the drive behind Wolfe’s efforts more than money.

In any case, finding a cool old motorcycle is often the easy part of the equation, as some owners simply do not want to part with their beloved two-wheeled treasures. In turn, sometimes just seeing a rare or classic bike out in the wilds is enough for Wolfe, as well as the show’s viewers. So, here’s a look at some of the best and coolest motorcycles he’s ever found on “American Pickers.”

The 1966 By Dutch XAVW

As noted, dollars and cents spent is not our primary concern with this list, so if you’re looking for the most expensive bikes ever bought on “American Pickers,” you’ll need to look elsewhere. However, if cool factor is your bag, you just might agree that the famed 1966 Von Dutch XAVW is about the coolest bike to ever grace the reality hit show. That bike turned up in a Season 6 episode titled “Mike’s Holy Grail,” with star Mike Wolfe confirming that he’d been hunting a Von Dutch motorcycle for years. Not surprisingly, he goes pretty hard at the owner, convincing them to let go of the bike for a cool $21,000.

In doing so, he noted that his intention is not to fully restore the bike, as that would tarnish its legit one-of-one credibility. If you’re curious what makes the bike so unique, it is essentially a mad scientist sort of build that cobbles together elements from a 1942 Harley-Davidson and a Volkswagen, among other brands. Yes, the legacy of the bike’s namesake builder is a big part of the equation for Wolfe and other collectors, as Von Dutch (a.k.a. Kenneth Howard) is a legitimate legend in the realm of motorcycle customization circa the 1950s and 1960s, with the designer and artist even building bikes for Hollywood A-listers like Steve McQueen.

Interestingly, this bike also had a famous owner, as Von Dutch reportedly crafted the XAVW for another legend in the customization game, Rat Fink creator Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Cats like that having touched the gonzo XAVW make it about as cool as a motorcycle can be — even if Wolfe ultimately sold his “holy grail” years later.

The 1950s Turner By-Van

Though “American Pickers” primarily finds Mike Wolfe and his various co-stars searching for rusty gold in parts of the U.S. largely unseen by most citizens, on rare occasions they have taken their antiquing talents to other parts of the globe. And in a Season 10 episode titled “London Calling,” he and former co-star Frank Fritz indeed took to England’s capital city looking for rare artifacts. That’s just what they found in the garage of one Londoner, when Mike spotted a genuinely unusual motorcycle the likes of which he’d never seen before. The owner tells him it’s a Turner By-Van, which was manufactured in the 1950s as a light delivery vehicle, complete with an under-seat storage hold.

Wolfe is beyond eager to buy the bike, particularly after learning it may be one of only four in existence. The owner, however, admits to having a passionate love affair with the bike, and is not eager to part with it, even after Wolfe delivers offers of £20,000 and £25,000 — which is about $25,422 and $31,777 U.S. dollars by today’s conversion rates.

Despite the By-Van’s owner offering first refusal rights to Wolfe if he ever decided to sell the bike, that day never came, in part because the owner passed away before he could make the call. As seen in a 2022 YouTube video from The Classic Motorcycle Channel, we know the By-Van eventually made its way to auction through England’s Silverstone Auctions house. Per records, it looks like the bike that eluded Mike Wolfe years ago was sold for far less than the “American Pickers” star offered, netting just £11,250, or $14,305 U.S. Dollars.

The 1911 Harley-Davidson

It does not appear that Mike Wolfe nor any other member of the “American Pickers” actually purchased a rusted-out 1911 Harley-Davidson frame during an episode of the show. However, in the Season 9 episode titled “Traders of the Lost Parts,” he did happen upon a functional 1911 Harley-Davidson Mag Model Motor in a New Jersey garage that he professed he’d been searching far and wide for, as it was one of the final pieces he needed to get his 1911 Harley up and running. In an unexpected departure, Wolfe didn’t pay cash for the motor, instead offering several of his own artifacts in trade.

Now, if you know anything about Mike Wolfe, you know he has a notorious soft spot for Harley-Davidsons, so the idea of having a functional 1911 build from the brand in his collection is legit dream-come-true territory. Mike’s dream indeed became a reality in the Season 11 episode “Kiss and Sell,” after his co-star Danielle Colby delivered the engine to his resto-guru Dave Ohrt, who not only put the bike together, but rode it over to Mike’s place to deliver it in person.

Mike is literally bursting at the seams with pride when he hears and sees the 1911 Harley-Davidson in action for the first time. Moments later, the “American Pickers” star stated in no uncertain terms of the beyond-vintage bike, “This thing is sweaty, it’s scarred, it’s rusty; I’ve been dreamin’ about it.” Though he needed a quick lesson in how to get the bike started, once he got it cranked, he hit a full-on kid-in-a-candy-store level of glee — even after he stalled it out.

The 1922 ACE

One could argue that “American Pickers” is such a uniquely addictive series because you literally have no idea what Mike Wolfe and his crew are going to discover from one episode to the next. That is, of course, the same principle that drives Wolfe and his co-stars in their own search for antique treasures, and as far as motorcycles go, the “American Pickers” team treasured few quite as much as the 1922 ACE they discovered while picking a vast Oregon collection in a Season 17 episode titled “The $90,000 Question.”

By the time Wolfe spotted the 1922 ACE in the Oregon collection, he was already salivating over a 1931 Indian, with the owners pointing out that there are a lot more motorcycles worth looking at. As it was, Wolfe didn’t stop with the Indian and the ACE, and ended up picking several other items that brought the overall tally up to a head-spinning $90,550. As for the ACE, as viewers learn from a brief history lesson about the short-lived but celebrated manufacturer, it is undoubtedly the rarest of the bunch, which only bolsters the cool factor already gleaned from its distinctive looks.

Of course, in the end, it was also the most expensive item in the pack, accounting for just under half of the purchase with Wolfe’s offer of $45,000. Even with that generous offer, the owner flinched at the price as he’d long desired to finish the bike himself in honor of his now departed father. Nonetheless, he ultimately decides to part with the ACE. And for those who think that cash is cool, just wait until you find out what the restored bike sold for at auction.