Dragonfly TYP 570 relocated to USA

[EnglishAndy]

Yesterday, I picked up my dad's 1957 Douglas Dragonfly, TYP 570, from the port of Baltimore in Maryland. It left Southampton on November 6th and went to Rotterdam, then Calais, then Hamburg, before heading over to New York, where the container was unloaded and brought by road to Baltimore.

I am now awaiting the paperwork that will allow me to register the bike stateside. I will try to get the same as the UK number plate, TYP 570, but that might prove to be difficult.

I wonder how many Douglas motorcycles there are in the USA and in particular, how many Dragonflys (Dragonflies??). If anyone is out here, I am 20 minutes south of Washington DC and I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers!

[Doug]

There are a few Douglas owners Stateside, but sort of spread out. A friend has a Dragonfly up here in PA, and my brother has most of a rolling chassis for another. I tend to like the Mark 3 and earlier models, especially the mid-twenties and 1930s models. I seem to recall a write-up in the LMCCC New ConRod magazine that something like 55 postwar models were exported to the USA, none of which are confirmed as Dragonfly. Though eight Dragonflys are unspecified in the dispatch records as to exactly which country they went to.

My Mark 3 Sports was an original export into New York City, but I suspect that most postwar Dougies here are later immigrants. A few of my earlier Dougies originally came in through Canada before migrating south in the 1960s with American collectors searching for more exotic British stuff.

-Doug

[EnglishAndy]

Good information, Doug, thanks. We're not a million miles apart. Once the weather breaks next year, it'd be nice to take a ride up to PA and meet some other Douglas owners.

Out of interest, Hagerty are asking me what this bike should be insured for. Back in the UK, it's a £5k or £6k bike, but with import costs at around $2.5K and coupled with its rarity, I've got to think it might be worth around $10k. What are your thoughts, please? The bike is not concourse, but really not far off.

Cheers!