Collecting is a transferable skill from one set of collectible items to another. Once you become a collector, you can collect motorcycles, you can collect watches, or toothpicks—or anything. You learn the techniques of collecting. But the point is that all the great motorcycles aren’t in museums. They haven’t all been discovered and cataloged. When I bought my first important motorcycle, I was dumbfounded that I, just an ordinary person, had this incredibly important motorcycle. And instead of being in the British National Motorcycle Museum, it was in my house.

That said, I am of the firm belief that collectors can expect no more than one clean shot at an important acquisition. "Let me think about it overnight" usually means the next guy gets the item. Pricing historic motorcycles is difficult; after all, where do you comparison shop? Prices on such items do not often come out of a price guide. You make your own rules and your own price guide.

What are your thoughts on stewardship?

Ancient Roman law classified the rights of property ownership on many levels, the most complete of which is having the power not only to use the property but also to destroy it. Obviously, with historic objects, few consciously exercise this right fully, but every new collector might well think of this last aspect of ownership as belonging to either society in general or his peer collectors in the future. Essentially, my goal is to leave every motorcycle better than I found it.

Additionally, ownership of a historic machine carries with it a duty to show it to the public from time to time. Hidden treasures dim the public’s consciousness of them. Besides, these fine machines are enjoyed more when you let people interact with them, take pictures, ask questions, and more. One thing I try to achieve with a famous bike is to display it without overdoing it and overexposing it.