jpbcpa: Unless I were already extremely wealthy, I surely wouldn't donate it anywhere! I would auction it, somehow. No matter what you sold it for privately, you would never know if you got what the market would bear - what it's 'worth'. The way prices have been going crazy on antique bikes lately, there's no telling what it might bring! As to where/how to auction it, that's a matter for a lot of thought. It would probably bring the highest price at one of the high-zoot auction places - Christie's, Sotheby's etc. in one of their bike auctions. I'm sure there are automotive-only auctions that could give similar results - did you ever see the prices they get for cars in the Barrett-Jackson auctions on Speed Channel?!? The J. Wood auction at Daytona would probably realize a good price also (losts of foreign buyers), but that's coming up pretty soon and I would think that you should allow time for an auctioneer to really give it a lot of advance publicity (Daytona '06?) I
wouldn't do it at J. Wood/AMA Vintage Days - things don't bring the money there that they do at Daytona.
The other thing you have to consider is the commission you will have to pay an auctioneer. I don't know what the typical percentage is, but that's money you don't get, and would run into thousands of dollars. In that respect, eBay would be great - it would only cost you $60 (plus any extra features) to sell it, no matter how much it brings. EBay carries its own set of problems, though, most notably scammers. Also, if you sell it yourself on eBay, you're going to have to deal with about a zillion emails wanting you to end the auction early, asking questions about the bike - both legitimate and stupid/time-wasting - and trying to get paid legitimately. I wouldn't accept anything except cash (get a counterfeit pen) or wire transfer to your bank account. Another question: Are the 'money's-no-object' buyers that inhabit the high-end auctions looking at eBay? I don't know.
As to how you should prepare it, I don't think you could possibly go wrong by making it look its best - cleaning and polishing. Getting it running? As long as it turns over without any untoward noises, has good compression and you can give prospective buyers an good idea of its history, it might not make that much difference in the price. On the other hand, it certainly couldn't hurt the price if it runs well. If you know it was running well when it was put away and know what you're doing, a complete going over (fresh oil - checking carefully for water or sludge in the old, valve adjustment, check timing, inspect/clean carbs, fresh gas) wouldn't be hard to do and, if nothing else, would give you the satisfaction of hearing it run! Someone earlier mentioned possible internal corrosion. Maybe, but if it's been in the dry and the outside's not corroded, why would the inside be? If you don't want to tackle it yourself, then you get into cost/trust issues. Whom do you entrust it to? Certainly to someone with a national rep as a Vincent mechanic, not the local bike shop. Will an 'expert's' fees be offset in final price realized? I can't say. If you elect to use an auctioneer, you might be well advised to contact them with it as it is, and follow their advice regarding what to do to it. They want to make as much as possible in commission, so they're not likely to give you advice that will hurt the sale price!
Do your homework, and good luck with it! All this JMHO. Jealously, m-cstuff4u
