Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Pope’s Harley up for auction in Paris

Vatican Pope Harley

L'Osservatore Romano / AP

In this June 12, 2013, file photo provided by the Vatican paper L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis receives a leather jacket from Harley Davidson Motor Company senior vice-president Mark Hans-Richer, at the Vatican. A 1,585cc Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide, donated to Pope Francis last year and signed by him on its tank, will be sold at auction in Paris to help raise funds for a soup kitchen and hostel for the homeless in Rome.

PARIS — A Harley-Davidson motorcycle donated last year to Pope Francis is being sold at a Paris auction to benefit charity.

It's unknown whether the pontiff ever rode the custom 2013 Dyna Super Glide that was a gift from Willie Davidson, a retired Harley-Davidson designer and grandson of the company's co-founder.

The pope's hog is expected to fetch between 12,000 and 15,000 euros ($16,000-$20,000) when it goes under the hammer Thursday at the Grand Palais, said Ben Walker, head of collector motorcycles at the auction house Bonhams, which is organizing the sale.

Money from the sale will be donated to the Rome-based charity Caritas Roma, which runs a soup kitchen and a hostel for the homeless in the eternal city.

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