Engine 450 CC
Color Chrome/Blue
VIN/Serial DM450450151

Sold on BILL OF SALE
Purchases by a Nevada Resident or Nevada Dealer are on a Bill of Sale for display purposes only
Frame kit built in 1971 by Eric Cheney in England
Rare bevel head Ducati engine
Owned, built and raced by the late Sig Erson of Erson Camshaft Company
Restoration completed in 2015 by Mike Vogel
Comes with comprehensive documentation
This bike is featured in the June Vol 70 of VMX Magazine.
Frame DUC9
Engine DM450/450151
Featured in VMX issue 70

Any Eric Cheney motorcycle chassis was guaranteed to be ultra-light with perfect handling, and it was capable of winning big races in the right hands. Cheney was known as one of the best motorcycle-frame designers in his era, and motocross was his specialty, usually with Triumph twin-cylinder engines, though any hot motor was fair game. He had no formal design training, but during World War II he worked on torpedo boats with high-performance engines and gained plenty of real-world experience. He raced motocross at an international level postwar, and he began building his own motorcycle frames in the early 1960s, laying out his full-scale designs in chalk on the workshop walls. He built working prototypes to match his drawings, and when he was satisfied they worked well, he’d make a jig to produce replicas. For the 1968-71 ISDTs, the British national team had no suitable machines to race, so Cheney hand-built ISDT Cheney-Triumphs using 503cc twin-cylinder motors. These had magnesium wheel hubs, special long-travel forks, light alloy bodywork and specially tuned motors, which was good enough to win Cheney the Manufacturer’s Prize in 1970 and ’71. He built a few replicas, but the state of the British industry meant they were rare, as engines were difficult to come by. After BSA folded in 1972, Cheney purchased B50MX motors, which former factory-rider John Banks used with great success in motocross racing, the swan song for the BSA brand. Steve McQueen was also a fan, owning several Cheney-framed machines. This 1971 Cheney-Ducati was originally purchased as a frame kit from Eric Cheney by Sig Erson of Sig Erson Racing Camshafts, who installed a 250cc Ducati OHC motor, which he raced himself. The bike was fully restored in 2015 by Mike Vogel, and it comes with extensive documentation; the machine was also featured in VMX magazine (issue No. 70) and it is the ninth Cheney-Ducati built. It’s a sparkling and very special motorcycle built by the master chassis man at the absolute apex of his career.

Auction Dates Jan 23-27