Despite influencing every Harley-Davidson motorcycle to come, the El Knucklehead motorcycle has become a relic of the past. They aren’t in the manufacturer’s circulation anymore and haven’t been for quite some time, meaning they are now one of the rarest Harley-Davidson motorcycles ever built. Simply put, if you manage to find one at an auction and want to get your hands on it, the motorcycle is going to cost you a large sum of cash.
Mecum Auctions, a collector car specialist, had a 1936 Harley-Davidson E Knucklehead at the 33rd Annual Vintage and Antique Motorcycle Auction in 2024. Although it was the lower compression version of the classic motorcycle, the bike was an extremely-rare first year Knucklehead, and it sold for $115,500. Similarly, the Las Vegas showcase had another first-year bike in 2022, this time a 1936 El Knucklehead. Once the auction opened, the price immediately skyrocketed to six figures, and it wound up selling for $190,000. And in 2020, Mecum had a 1940 EL Knucklehead that sold for a whopping $220,000.
According to trends from Classic.com, a 1936 Harley-Davidson is worth $78,660, but you won’t find a Knucklehead under $90,000. The most recent sale, excluding the one from the 2024 auction, was for $181,500 in 2022.
[Featured Image by Michael Barera via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0 ]
