In 1909, Giuseppe Gilera was just 22 when he started Moto Gilera. Over time, Gilera grew into a marquee manufacturer. World War II got in the way but in the 50s, riders on Gileras won the 500cc World Championship 6 times in 8 years. To help pay racing bills, the company sold a series of small street bikes, like this …
Auction Preview – Mecum Chicago 2016
View PostGuess That Bike – Reader Acquisition Edition
Reader David N just acquired this oddball motorcycle and thought it would make a good Guess THat Bike segment. I agree – so can you guess this bike?
Pristine & Original — 1984 Honda VF1000F
Sometimes it seems the dark alleys of Craigslist are home to as many ghastly creatures as a 90-minute finale of The Walking Dead. This, however, is not one of the undead.
Ending Soon – 1979 Yamaha RD400F Daytona Special
The last in the long line of Yamaha’s RD series, the RD400F (also known as the Daytona Special) is considered by many to be the best of the model line. The press went nuts for it – Cycle magazine called it “Dennis the Menace on Yokohama tires, and…the most fun street motorcycle currently available for sale.”
Virtual Intermission – Tour the Ducati Museum Online
You guys and gals had a bunch of great suggestions for what I should do with my limited time in Italy. One option that came up a few times was a tour of the Ducati Museum. Unfortunately, the museum is currently closed for renovation in preparation of Ducati’s 90th Anniversary celebrations next month. But did you know that you can …
1968 Bridgestone Mountain 90
In 1964, Bridgestone introduced a series of 90cc motorcycles – there were 9 different models based around 4 primary designs. One of the designs was the Mountain, and you can probably guess by the name that this was built to go off-road. Here’s an example with an older restoration that’s been sitting for a decade and a half. Someone needs …
Bikers Helping Bikers – Stevie Bonsey Fund
Stevie Bonsey is a motorcycle racer from Northern California who spent a few years in the 125cc class of MotoGP before that turned into Moto3. Nowadays he’s competing in AMA Flat Track, and on May 29th he crashed pretty badly at the Springfield Mile, and it’s taken him out for at least 2 months. Stevie gets his money worth out …
Rare Project Ending Soon – 1929 La Mondiale
View Post1975 Penton KTM Hare Scrambler 250
Post Sale Update: After 25 bids on eBay, this Penton sold for $5,400. In 1968, John Penton and KTM started their fruitful relationship when they built some prototypes that eventually became the Penton Berkshire, powered by Sachs 100cc engines. In ’73, the Penton Hare Scrambler was introduced with a new 250cc KTM engine, and the rest was history.
May 2016 Result Highlights
View Post1977 Harley-Davidson Super Glide Confederate Edition Replica
Post Listing Update: This Harley did not meet reserve with 3 bids up to $5,908. In 1977, Harley-Davidson built a limited edition of just 631 bikes across 6 models – they dubbed these motorcycles the Confederate Edition and they are some of the rarest Harleys ever built. Presumably due to political correctness, no Confederate Editions are on display at Harley’s …
Picture Intermission – Glen Helen AMA MX National
Last weekend, Glen Helen Raceway hosted an AMA Motocross National event. I’ve featured the work of photographer Joe Bonnello plenty of times before – most recently a Ducati 350 roadracer he photographed that was recently up for sale. Joe’s a legend when it comes to MX photography, and he took some great shos from the weekend – check out a …
2005 Husaberg FE550e
In 1987, Husqvarna was bought by Cagiva and it became part of MV Agusta. Many engineers from Husky’s development team decided to stay in Sweden and they founded Husaberg in 1988. They were competitive in racing but sales were lackluster, and in ’95 the brand was sold to KTM. By 2003, KTM was producing Husabergs themselves. You know KTM’s slogan, …
Needs Some Work – 1958/9 Parilla Olimpia
After World War II, Giovanni Parrilla built his first motorcycle (it was based on a Norton). This evolved into the company of Moto Parilla, which was best known for their “high-cam” engines in the US. Here’s one of their lesser known models, the Olimpia (which is one of the few bikes I know that was offered with 2-stroke and 4-stroke …