JERRY WOOD DBA; J. WOOD AND COMPANY AUCTIONEERS, A BRIEF HISTORY

“The love affair with motorcycles started, interestingly enough, at a local church auction at the age of 12 when I won a Safety Cycle with a high bid of $12. We got the bike home after dark and I remember lying in my bed wide-eyed, waiting for daylight so I could ride it.”

Jerry Wood started working in the motorcycle business in 1965 as a mechanic at the BSA shop in his hometown of Norfolk, Massachusetts. He was promoted to service and sales manager and started racing motorcycles in 1968. In 1971 he opened his own motorcycle shop with a friend and sold Norton, Maico, Ducati, Moto Guzzi and other motorcycles. Jerry has been factory trained by BSA, Kawasaki, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Norton, AJS and Maico technical schools. In 1976 Norton went out of business and Jerry sold his interest in the motorcycle shop and started a motorcycle racing business including the nation’s first motorcycle roadracing school.

In 1980 J. Wood and Company Auctioneers was founded as an auction company that specialized in machinery and motorcycles. The company sold many machine shops, construction and farm equipment, antique & classic cars and trucks, manufacturing plants, and motorcycle shops. In 1988 there was a tremendous amount of interest in antique and classic motorcycles and the prices were all over the board. No one seemed to be able to determine the fair market value, so we started the first Annual Antique and Classic Motorcycle Auction at Daytona during the spring bike week.

Our goal was to establish true market value for these special bikes and we did that by not allowing any false bidding by owners or others. We published the highest price bid whether the bike sold or not.

The motorcycle community enthusiastically accepted this method and J. Wood & Co was chosen by the American Motorcyclist Association to conduct auctions for them. In July 2000 the Robb Report’s Showcase Magazine named Jerry Wood “The preeminent motorcycle auctioneer in the United States”.

J. Wood and Company now sells between one and three million dollars worth of Antique and Classic motorcycles each year. We have earned a worldwide reputation for conducting well-organized, well-attended, honest motorcycle auctions.

 We specialize in handling large shops, collections and estates that have needed extensive organization to achieve full value. Jerry Wood has done hundreds of motorcycle appraisals for museums and individuals and has served as an expert witness in motorcycle cases based on what we have learned over the years.

In addition to auctioning motorcycles, Jerry is an accomplished motorcycle racer. He won national roadracing titles from 1977 to 2001. Jerry has served on many motorcycle-racing boards from 1974 to 2010 and served as Motorcycle Safety Director for the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for 21 years.

In recent years we have moved away from organizing multiple consignor auctions with reserves. We still participate where we can, but our true love is to organize and put on a real old-fashioned auction where everything sells to the highest bidder. Our team is composed of trusted motorcycle friends who share our ideals. If you hire J. Wood and Company to sell your treasures, you can be sure that you will get every dollar for your stuff in an honest, well advertised and attended, legal operation.