Sega’s Shadow the Hedgehog Motorcycle Sells for Insane Money for Ex-MotoGP Rider’s Charity
Sylvain Guintoli just auctioned a one-of-a-kind Shadow the Hedgehog motorcycle for his late son’s charity, fetching around $279,888.
If you follow us here at RideApart, you know how much we love ex-MotoGP rider, current World Endurance Championship (EWC) rider, and TNT presenter, Sylvain Guintoli. It’s not just his racing insight and personality that have us fawning, but how much he does for charity Sadly, Sylvain’s son, Luca, passed away at just six years old in 2025, and since then Sylvain spends any rare spare time he gets raising money for the foundations.
Sylvain’s most notable fundraising effort to date involved running the London Marathon in full race leathers, which raised £164,500 ($219,245) for the Parents’ Association for Seriously Ill Children (PASIC). He blew the target goal of £50,000 ($66,640) out of the water, but this time, Sylvain wanted to do the same for his son’s charity, the Luca Guintoli Foundation. It involved selling a one-of-a-kind motorcycle and was an even bigger success than anyone could’ve imagined.
The bike in question was a one-off 2000 Bourget custom, inspired by Shadow the Hedgehog, also known as the Dark Rider. It was the go-to choice due to how much Luca loved the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. After Sylvain approached Sega about using Sonic the Hedgehog on his leathers for the London Marathon, the company offered to do even more and donated the motorcycle. But no one knew how successful the auction would be.
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Sylvain arranged for the ‘Dark Rider — Year of Shadow’ motorcycle to be auctioned at Bonhams Autumn Stafford sale on October 11, expecting it to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000 ($13,328 and $19,992). Instead, the bike sold for £210,000 ($279,888). Those figures mean that the Dark Rider was the second-highest-selling motorcycle at the auction, after a Brough Superior SS100, which went for £327,750 ($436,825).
The Luca Guintoli Foundation promotes and protects the physical and mental health of children affected by cancer or autism, along with their families in England and Wales. If you thought we couldn’t like Sylvain any more, you were wrong.
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