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04/08/2005: "Bonhams Auctions Classic Motorcycles"

Bonhams is delighted to announce that an important motorcycle collection, assembled by the late John Logan Thompson, will be sold at The Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show, Stafford, on 16th October 2005.

Highlight of the collection is the ex-Les Graham 1947 Velocette KTT MkVIII, a machine previously believed lost, which has resurfaced after decades away from public gaze.

Les Graham won the first ever 500cc World Championship in 1949 riding for AJS, before joining MV Agusta. An eight times Grand Prix winner, he was killed at the Isle of Man TT in 1953. Graham used the MkVIII KTT while 'freelancing' during the 1951 season, taking him to victory in the 350cc class at the Swiss Grand Prix at Berne that year.

A mechanical engineer by profession, John Logan Thompson bought his first motorcycle in the late 1940s and spent the next 50-or-so years adding to his collection. A keen road rider and racing enthusiast, he was also involved in sponsorship under his company's name - Thompson Kirwin Engineering Ltd.

The John Logan Thompson Collection is extensive and contains many Velocette machines, plus examples of AJS, Douglas, Matchless, Norton, Scott and more marques, plus spares.