There are an elite few in the motorcycle world whose influence will be felt for generations to come. In the same way the vast majority of modern sportbikes were influenced by the designs of Massimo Tamburini, most of today’s racing frames bare some noticeable resemblance to Jeff Cole’s C&J frames.
Ending Soon – 2009 Kawasaki KLR650 M1030M1
Post Sale Update: This diesel KLR sold for $7,113 after 20 bids on eBay. KLR fans, take a close look at that motor. If it looks different than what you’re used to, it’s because this is a diesel-powered Kawasaki built by Hayes Diversified Technologies for the US Marine Corps. Hayes actually built 3 military Kawis – a gas-powered bike based …
1974 Penton Mudlark
The Penton Mudlark is one of the rare flops from John Penton and his now defunct manufacturing firm. Originally designed as a trials bike, it was even called the “Penton Trials” when it was released. Almost immediately, it was met with poor reviews.
119 Miles – 1971 Rockford Taka 100
Following up on the Bridgestone Hurricane also available today, it seems appropriate to mention Rockford Motors. They were the American importer for Bridgestone, but when the Japanese firm stopped selling bikes in 1971, Rockford had a bit of an issue. They made a deal with Bridgestone to take over manufacturing rights for the 3 smallest bikes – two 60cc models …
2003 Cannondale E440
The swansong of the Cannondale motorcycles (a short-lived subsidiary of the American bicycle company) was the E440, an enduro twin of the X440 motocrosser. It was a disaster, the culmination of an $80 million investment that bankrupted the motorcycle division.
Sold by Radio Shack – 1961 Briggs & Stratton Powered Scooter
Most of you are familiar with the foreign-made bikes sold by US catalog dealers such as Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards back in the 60’s. Well, Radio Shack also jumped on that bandwagon, selling powered vehicles in their catalogs. Not foreign, but here is a 1961 motor scooter powered by the ubiquitous Briggs and Stratton lawnmower engine.
Never Started – 1970 Indian Velo 500
In 1967, the former West Coast distributor of Indian Motorcycles (Floyd Clymer) bought the rights to the company’s name and tried to bring it back. He initially tried to partner with some German companies to create the new Indian’ but that never got past prototypes. It wasn’t until he partnered with Velocette that he was able to release the Indian …
Electric Conversion – 1985 Trihawk
Designed by Lou Richards, the Trihawk 304 (3 wheels, 4 cylinders) was an interesting trike that was capable of cornering forces similar to a Lamborghini Countach (.91G) thanks to the wide front wheelbase and the low center of gravity. Introduced in 1982, the company was able to produce 96 units before Harley-Davidson bought them out in 1985 and stopped production. …
1938 Harley-Davidson EL
Post Sale Update: This EL sold for a cool $100,000 after 75 bids on eBay. Harley introduced the Knucklehead in 1936 as a 1,000cc V-Twin. While H-D had been using overhead valves in race bikes previously, this was their first usage of the technology in a production motor. It’s a beautiful motor that has stood the test of time, even …
1972 Harley-Davidson FLH Police Sidecar
Post Sale Update: This sidecar did not meet reserve with 2 bids up to $15,100, but it was relisted and then sold for $19,280 on eBay. 12-12-2018 Update: 6 months later, this bike is now on the East Coast – looks like the current seller made the previous one a good offer. Now, the current seller is moving and he …
Yamaha Promotional Custom – 1972 Yamaha XS650
Post Sale Update: This custom Yamaha sold for $13,556 after 14 bids on eBay. Last time I featured a custom Yamaha by Greg Hageman, it was a XSR700 inspired by the XT500. This time around, it’s a XS650 that was created as a partner to another XSR700. Yamaha’s slogan for their line of retro bikes is “Faster Sons” – the …
1997 Buell Thunderbolt S3T
Post Listing Update: This Buell did not get any interest at the BIN of $4,500. Based on the S3 Thunderbolt sport-tourer, the “S3T” gained some extra touring bits to go with the extra T – taller bars, lower fairings, and color-matched hard bags.
1978 Harley-Davidson XLCR
Post Sale Update: This XLCR sold for $8,700 after 7 bids on eBay. Under the control of Willie G. Davidson, grandson of William A. Davidson, a project to revamp the original Sportster design was born. With two other engineers, Haubert and Moderow, the project started in April 1974. Moderow had to draw and Haubert had to develop from there. After …
Baby Harley – 1974 Harley-Davidson X-90
In the early 60s, Harley-Davidson had to make changes to resist advancements from the Japanese. Indeed, specialized in big V-twins only, Harley did not have any bikes to get into the small-size engine market. To fix that, the American brand decided to outsource their production of small cc bikes to the Italian manufacturer Aermacchi. Among the various bikes built in …
2002 Vincent Black Eagle Prototype
11-20-18 Update: It’s been nearly four years, but Tim Huber notes that this bike is back up for sale. Find it with a BIN of $65,000 or best offer (add $2,000 for shipping to the US) here on eBay. In 1994, Bernard Li (founder of Eagle One car care products) started acquiring the trademarks of the Vincent motorcycle company. He …