Indian Built by Eggers Up for Auction

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

A sparkling green, white and gold 1930 Indian 4 motorcycle, restored and customized by William “Wild Bill” Eggers of Goshen, is expected to fetch between $80,000 and $100,000 at an auction by Bonhams this week in Carmel, Calif. The bike has been in a private museum in London for the past 12 years after Eggers sold it for $80,000 at an auction staged by Sotheby’s in Chicago in 2000.

“It’s a custom bike – 90 percent custom. One of my best,” Eggers said last week.  “It took me three years to do that bike. It is beautiful and it’s a four-cylinder.”  The Model 402 was named “Renegade” by Eggers, who purchased it in Florida for $12,000 in the mid-1990s.

“Just a basket case – a rusted piece of crap,” Eggers said. “Most of the stuff was there; the motor, the sheet metal. I had to pick up a few parts.” The rest of the bike, including the handlebars, seat springs and light assemblies, had to be fabricated from scratch. He estimates that the total cost of the bike was $45,000.

The Indian will be auctioned by Bonhams on Thursday 16 at Quail Lodge. “I just liked the design of it. It was a beautiful looking bike. Very sleek. The fenders were unskirted. This was before Indian started skirting their fenders. You could see the whole side walls. This was my best,” said Eggers, who has restored or customized dozens of bikes over the years.

The Indian that’s being auction has been featured in “American Iron” and “VQ” magazines. “VQ” called it a “Fantasy Four.” “American Iron,” meanwhile, once dubbed Eggers “The King of the Customizers.”  He was a general contractor in Manhattan before retiring and buying property in Goshen in 1995.