Scarce set of three documents from the “State of New York—Department of Motor Vehicles,” relating to Bob Dylan’s motorcycle accident on July 29, 1966, when he crashed his 500 cc Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle near his home in Woodstock, New York. The unsigned documents, each one page, 7.5 x 3.25, filled out in type or in the hand of a DMV employee, include: a “Certificate of Insurance” with a “Re-Register” explanation, issued to “Robert Dylan, Box 125, Bearsville, New York,” policy number “30-12054,” from January 17, 1967 until May 4, 1967, for the following motor vehicle: Year “1964,” Make of Vehicle “Triumph,” and ID or Serial No. “M32539.” The second document, which is also a “Certificate of Insurance” and features much of the same information, is for “To register” with a date from June 28, 1967 until May 4, 1968. The third document is a “Report of Lost or Stolen Plates,” issued to the Woodstock Police Department, which reads: “This is to certify that on June 29, 1967 Robert Dylan…has reported the loss (or theft) of 1 Registration Plate…#3923838 for 1967 on 1-30-67.” Each document is signed at the conclusion by an officer or DMV representative. In overall fine condition.
The story of Dylan’s purported Woodstock motorcycle accident has since become a part of music legend. As it goes, on July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his 500 cc Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle near his home in Woodstock, New York, an accident that resulted in Dylan suffering lacerations to the face and scalp, a concussion, and breaking several vertebrae. No ambulance was ever called, but, by many accounts, Dylan ended up at the home of his friend Dr. Edward Thaler to recuperate, while in others, he was driven to Middletown Hospital, where, according to Dylan himself, he spent a week. Two other popular theories exist: the motorcycle accident was minor, a mere driveway tip-over, and the crash never happened, both of which feed into the belief that Dylan fabricated the story to exit his current mad rush lifestyle. Crash or no crash, Dylan withdrew from the public and, apart from a few appearances, he did not tour again for almost eight years.
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