View Post

1977 Penton/KR Short Tracker 250

In Austria, Off-Road by AbhiLeave a Comment

This was a submission over on the Iconic auction site, and I had never heard of one before. I enjoyed learning about it, so let me share with you: in February 1977, Penton introduced a new model that had two extra letters in the name: KR. That’s because the Penton/KR short tracker had been designed and tested by none other …

View Post

2007 BMW R1200R

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

For the 2007 model year, BMW updated the R1150R with a significant improvement in the R1200R. The new motor featured four valves per cylinder and (obviously) a displacement bump to 1,170cc. That increased power to 109, but BMW claimed that the new bike saved 44 pounds over its predecessor – resulting in a 40% increase in power-to-weight!

View Post

1991 Suzuki Bandit GSF400

In Japan, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

Post Sale Update: This Bandit sold for $2,600 after 25 bids on eBay in Whittier, California. In the US, the Suzuki Bandit was most commonly sold in 1,200 or 600cc variants. But Suzuki also brought a 400cc model to America for a couple of years!

View Post

In Norway – 2003 Vertemati SM570e

In Italy, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

Brothers Guideo and Alvaro Vertemati founded a motorcycle company after winning several European and International titles with Husqvarna Italy and Husaberg Italy. They were the first company to go with four-strokes in off-roading (Dirt Bike magazine says they “changed the world” in this story) and went on to evolve their enduros and MX bikes into supermotos that were race bikes …

View Post

1974 Yamaha RD60

In Japan, Small Displacement by AbhiLeave a Comment

Post Sale Update: This RD60 sold for $3,550 after 23 bids on eBay in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania. The baby RD, the RD60 was a tiny two-stroker that was built just between ’73-’75. This bike has more gears in the transmission than horses out of the engine (5 vs. 4). Weird fact of the day – in the owner’s manual, Yamaha claimed …

View Post

1951 Norton ES2

In England, Standard by AbhiLeave a Comment

Post Sale Update: This ES2 sold for $10,200 after 24 bids on eBay in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The ES2 was introduced in 1927 and was originally sold as a sports bike, though by the time production stopped in 1964, it wasn’t particularly competitive in the world of fast motorcycles. Still, an almost 40 year long production run is damned impressive, and …

View Post

What Do You Want To Know? 2021 Aprilia RSV4

In Blog by AbhiLeave a Comment

It’s a good time to work for Aprilia – they’ve recently released the RS600 and the Tuono 660, and they’re about to release updated versions of the RSV4 and the Tuono V4. It’s also a good time to be me – Aprilia has asked me to test the new RSV4 for a day at Laguna Seca next Wednesday. Will I …