OKE385F was conceived by the well know classic motorcycle dealer Phil Cotton in the days when he was running his own museum, as a truly exceptional exhibit.
It was to be a road going evocation of the MV fours which dominated World Championship racing in the 50s and early 60s in the hands of the likes of Hailwood, Surtees and Agostini, and the legendry MV guru Dave Kay was commissioned to construct the machine, based on a 1968 Italian registered MV 750s that Phil had 'in stock.'
One of the project criteria was that the machine should have magneto ignition and that it should have authentic 'race type' chain rear drive rather than the shaft drive fitted to the original roadgoing bike which involved necessary crankcase redesign.
It was around this time that Dave Kay was constructing the well-publicised 'Ferrari' bike and it was decided to use the aluminium sump casting from Ferrari project on the Cotton bike, this in turn led to frame redesign, and a lightweight frame was constructed to accommodate the new sump, and so the project duly progressed to completion using authentic replica cycle parts including a traditional aluminium fairing.
Following successful development and testing the bike passed to a Northern collector who had little use of the machine before his untimely death. It returned to Phil who then passed it on to the vendor.
Without doubt this is an outstanding machine that can be ridden and enjoyed, as well as admired. A couple of blips of the throttle is almost guaranteed to bring back the nostalgia of those halcyon days of 1960s Grand Prix racing!
The documents file includes a detailed Dave Kay project build sheets specifying individual components, copies of the original Italian Registration Documentation and a current Swansea V5C Registration Document, showing year of manufacture as 1968, as well as sundry paperwork including old MOT Certificates etc.
All successful bids must be paid in full by midday the day after the auction at the latest.
You can collect your new pride and joy from our venue until 1pm the day following the sale or our partners are on hand to help arrange safe transportation:
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