1-21-24 Update: Two years later, this bike is still up for sale and the asking price has dropped by $10k – find it in Greenwich, Connecticut with a BIN of $19,950 or best offer here on eBay. One of the most collectible Commandos was the John Player, a distinctive endurance-inspired Norton with unique bodywork surrounding a completely stock Mark 2A …
1 of 89 – 1963 Greeves Starmaker 24ME
Sometimes a bike is rare because it’s limited production, and sometimes it’s rare because consumers weren’t particularly interested so sales were low. But the Starmaker is rare because Greeves – the company who made it – only made 89 as they didn’t think it would be successful. They weren’t wrong.
1951 Vincent Black Shadow
The Black Shadow might just be the most famous motorcycle ever built, with an iconic history thanks to moments like Rollie Free’s bathing suit speed run on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Black Shadows were handmade, and less than 1,700 were built in total. In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, “If you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for …
Tickle Manx Norton
In 1969, John Tickle acquired the rights to build Manx Nortons from Colin Seeley, and he immediately redesigned the frame and offered up 350cc, 500cc, and 650cc variants. Per Cyber Motorcycle, “some of these were very similar to the original Manx apart from the high-level exhaust and Tickle frame. Others bore only a remote resemblance to the originals with a …
“NorStar” – 2004 Norton Manx Frame with BSA Goldstar Engine
We’ve shared all kinds of hybrids with fun names here on Bike-urious beyond the usual “Triton” – Norvin (Norton frame, Vincent motor), Esquire (Norton frame, Ariel Square Four motor), a Narley (Norton/Harley) and even a Burton (Norton/Buell). But here’s a first on these pages – a combination of a Norton frame and BSA Gold Star engine called the NorStar.
1953 AJS Model 20
When Triumph introduced the Speed Twin in 1938, every other English manufacturer knew they had to offer two-cylinder motors of their own. AJS was the last of the major Brit builders to join the party (that pesky World War got in the way) when they released the Model 20 (and its Matchless twin, the G9) ten years later. Designed by …
1966 Triton
Two days ago I shared a Norton frame with an unexpected engine inside of it – today we’ve got something a bit more traditional: a Norton slimline featherbed frame that’s been stuffed with the 650cc engine from a Triumph T120R Bonneville.
1954 Norton Manx Kit with KLR650 Engine
Now that’s a headline I never thought I’d type before! The seller of this bike built it after falling in love with the Norton Manx while watching an AHRMA race, but he wanted to ride on the streets. He had just bought a KLR650, and…well, you can guess the rest.
1939 Triumph Tiger 70
When Edward Turner was moved from Ariel to become the General Manager and Chief Designer of Triumph, one of the sweeping changes he made was to update the naming of the 250, 350, and 500cc Mk.5 singles. There were other changes but the bikes got an actual name of “Tiger”, which a suffix hinting at the what the claimed top …
1948 BSA B31
BSA’s first new model after WWII, the B31 was a single-cylinder four-stroke designed to be used as basic transport. The 17 horsepower engine was sufficient to get the bike up about 70 miles per hour.
BSA Framed – 1964 Velocette MSS 500 Custom
First released in 1935, the Velocette MSS was a semi-stalwart that was built until 1968. The long production run is a little misleading, as the MSS was interrupted by World War II. The model was relaunched in 1954 with the same name but a complete redesign – it featured a MAC frame, optional bags, and sidecar mounting lugs on the …
Trackmaster Framed – 1960 BSA Rocket Gold Star
This gorgeous street tracker combines a Trackmaster 4130 chromoly frame with a BSA Rocket engine: at one point the seller calls it a Rocket Gold Star motor and at another point he calls it a Super Rocket, are you able to confirm?
1970 Triumph Trackmaster 750
Trackmaster frames can trace their roots back to the 1960s, when Triumph Motorcycles approached Ray Hensley and commissioned the famed race tuner and engineer to build a handful of bespoke chassis to be used in competition. Henley’s earliest frames were chromoly steel units with much more race-oriented geometry compared to the stock Bonneville chassis of the era. In the years …
1954 Royal Enfield Meteor
Nowadays, Royal Enfield offers up a parallel twin engine in their Continental GT and INT650 models, but back in the company’s heyday the p-twin of record was the Meteor (and its successor, the Super Meteor). It was introduced in the early 50s because the US market wanted bigger engines – RE responded with a 692cc OHV twin that was basically …
1938 Brough Superior SS80 Deluxe With Petrol Tube Sidecar
The SS80 was named because Brough Superior guaranteed that each model would be able to top 80 miles per hour. Motor Cycle magazine had a different name for it – they called it the “Rolls-Royce of Motor Cycles.” Some people just consider it to be the predecessor to the SS100 – but no matter what you call it, it’s an …