Elvis Presley Once Owned The Coolest Scrambler Motorcycle, And It’s Now For Sale
The window to own a motorcycle from Elvis Presley’s personal collection is closing fast. A 1964 Honda CL72 Scrambler with documented provenance linking it to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is live at auction right now, with bidding in its final stretch — and it’s expected to change hands for considerably less than most Elvis memorabilia commands.
This isn’t a Cadillac or a Stutz Blackhawk. It’s a middleweight Japanese scrambler, and that’s exactly what makes it interesting. Most people know Elvis as a car collector of outsized taste, but the CL72 is a reminder that his passion for vehicles ran wider than four wheels — and that his eye for quality didn’t stop at the showroom floor.
What the CL72 Scrambler Was in 1964
Honda introduced the CL72 in the early 1960s as part of its CB/CL platform push into Western markets — a direct answer to the British twins that had dominated the middleweight segment for a decade. Triumph and BSA owned that space, and Honda came after it with a 247cc parallel-twin that was smoother, more reliable, and easier to maintain than anything coming out of England at the time.
The “CL” designation stood for street scrambler: high-mounted exhaust pipes, a slightly raised front fender, and a dual-purpose character that made it equally at home on a back road or a fire trail. It wasn’t a full dirt bike — it was a stylish, capable machine that fit the early-’60s California riding culture perfectly. At a time when the American Motorcyclist Association was still the dominant voice in U.S. riding, Honda’s “You meet the nicest people” campaign was pulling an entirely new generation onto two wheels, and the CL72 was one of the bikes doing the pulling.
Elvis and Motorcycles: More Than a Side Note
Elvis’s vehicle collection tends to get framed around the cars — the pink Cadillac, the Stutz, the fleet of Rolls-Royces. But he rode motorcycles throughout his life, and his interest in them was genuine rather than performative. He was photographed on bikes at Graceland, and the machines he owned tracked his broader taste: quality hardware, accessible enough to actually ride, nothing that required a racing license to enjoy.
The CL72 fits that profile precisely. In 1964, it was a premium machine — well-built, mechanically sound, and carrying the kind of understated cool that appealed to someone who didn’t need a bike to make a statement. Elvis already was the statement. A Honda scrambler was just a good motorcycle.
The Auction Estimate and What It Says About Celebrity-Provenance Bikes
Celebrity-provenance vehicles — especially cars — routinely carry premiums that price out everyone except serious collectors. An Elvis Cadillac or a Steve McQueen Porsche will run into six or seven figures without blinking.
Motorcycles occupy a different tier. The celebrity-provenance premium is real, but the baseline values are lower, which means a bike like this lands in a range that serious collectors can actually reach. For the right buyer — someone who wants a genuine piece of Elvis’s personal collection and has an appreciation for early Honda engineering — this is a rare intersection of affordability and authenticity. Documented provenance on any Elvis-owned vehicle is scarce; documented provenance on one of his motorcycles is scarcer still.
The closing window makes the timing straightforward: if this is on your radar, there isn’t much runway left.
Elvis owned a lot of vehicles, but most of them have already passed through auction houses and into private hands. A CL72 Scrambler with clean provenance is the kind of piece that doesn’t surface often — and when it does, it tends not to linger.
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