£70,000 bid with Scunthorpe auction firm for classic motorcycle from Isle of Axholme

It has been revealed that a bidder in an online auction of classic and collectable motorcycles, run by a Scunthorpe firm, found himself in a nightmare situation when he hit the wrong button and offered more than £70,000 for one of the machines.

That was ten times what he intended!

The drama occurred when CJM Asset Management put the collection of a former Isle of Axholme motorcycle racing champion - the late Steve Tong of Belton - under the hammer.

The bike fan meant to make a maximum offer of £7,040 on one of the star lots of the auction - a Honda VFR 400R with just 1.6 miles on the clock - but he added a zero and actually bid £70,400.

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“The auction was still in progress when we received his first call,” said CJM’s Paul Cooper. “He was having kittens.”

“Fortunately for all concerned we were able to sort things out later. We negotiated the sale of the Honda to the under-bidder for just over £18,000, which was actually an exceptional price for the machine!”

“Problems with online auctions are actually quite rare. We have had one instance when a bidder in China bought a pair of silver plated candlesticks for eighteen quid that we are pretty sure was a case of someone hitting a button accidentally but we have never experienced anything like this before.”

Paul added: “The sale of Steve Tong’s collection attracted international interest with a huge number of bike fans registering to bid. The 14 motorcycles raised over £60,000 and earth moving equipment and plant from Steve's business sold for another £40,000.”

“The results appear to have impressed everyone. Since the auction we have had approaches from a number of people about selling both collections of classic or interesting bikes and high-value individual machines. It is looking very interesting.”

Meanwhile the Tong theme will be continued in auctions in the next few weeks. His workshop tools, machinery and equipment is to go under the hammer in a collective industrial sale on Thursday (December 6) and the following week his highly collectable Volvo F16 lorry goes under the hammer in another auction.

Paul said: “There is a lot of interest in classic lorries. All flat-fronted Volvos are highly desirable so far as the classic show lads are concerned but the F16 is the Holy Grail in the lorry collecting world. They can sell for around £20,000.”

“Steve originally used his F16 as a tractor unit to pull his motor sport trailer but he later stretched it and put a tipper body on the vehicle. Opinion’s split about whether that makes it worth more – or less.”

“For sure it is going to make into five figures when it goes under the hammer on December 13, so we really could do without anyone mistakenly adding an extra zero to their bid!”