View Post

5 Miles – 1995 Ducati 748 SP

In Italy, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

Over on Iconic we’ve got a rare find in the United States – the SP variant of the Ducati 748. A year after the based 748 was introduced, Ducati created the SP for homologation purposes in 600 Supersport. It was never officially sold in America.

View Post

No Reserve – 2001 MZ Skorpion Tour

In Germany, Standard by AbhiLeave a Comment

The Skorpion was an example of what an international economy can achieve – a East German manufacturer brought together Japanese motors (from Yamaha) and a British design firm (called Seymourpowell) to create something that worked well on paper and on the road. It wasn’t a huge commercial success, but nowadays it’s definitely a cult classic.

View Post

1982 Honda Motra CT50

In Dual-Sport, Japan, Small Displacement by AbhiLeave a Comment

In the 80s, Honda offered what they called a “heavy duty” minibike called the Motra. Unlike the Z50 or original Monkey, the Motra was designed to be loaded up with gear and ridden just about anywhere you could imagine. A commonly-shared-but-unverified tale says that “Motra” is a combination of Motorcycle-Truck because the Japanese pronunciation for truck is “Torakku”.

View Post

2013 KTM 990 SMT

In Austria, Sport, Touring by AbhiLeave a Comment

For the second time this week, a prolific commenter on Bike-urious is letting go of one of his bikes. This time it’s Walter Barlow, who not only frequently contributes to the community via comments – he also shared a history of the Norton Commando and his thoughts after riding a Motus MST.

View Post

1971 Rupp Black Widow

In America, Small Displacement by AbhiLeave a Comment

Rupp Industries was based in Mansfield, Ohio, and for nearly 20 years they were able to compete with Honda and other Japanese manufacturers for a share of the lucrative mini bike market. Their top-of-the-line competition bike was the Black Widow, which was based on the Roadster/2. The Black Widow is probably the best-known of Rupp’s creations. It paired a 4 …

View Post

1965 Honda C100 with Roadster Kit

In Japan, Small Displacement by AbhiLeave a Comment

While Honda found success with its small step-through models in most markets, the Japanese marque struggled to sell scooters in the same numbers in the US. Honda looked to change this with the introduction of what it called the “Custom Group”, consisting of four different add-on kits (the Roadster, Rally, Boss, and Student) designed to make little runners like the …

View Post

Help Me Out – Motorcycle Highlights in Rhode Island?

In Blog by AbhiLeave a Comment

Tonight I fly out for the East Coast for a 2-part trip – I’m going to spend some time with my business partner Adam working on Iconic East (our facility in Bristol, Rhode Island), then I’m going to spend some time with my dear mother where I grew up in Andover, Massachusetts. Even though I grew up in MA, I …

View Post

2016 Honda CB500F

In Japan, Less than 5k, Standard by AbhiLeave a Comment

Back in 2015 I mentioned a wonderful blog called Rolling Physics Problem by Greg Shamieh (a frequent commenter here at Bike-urious). He’s selling his CB500F – what he calls “the great grandson of the famous CB450 ‘Black Bomber’ – only with the benefit of more than 50 years of technical evolution.”