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 …
Apogee “Raffale” SuperBobber — 2009 Ducati 1098R Custom
Ducati places enormous importance on the aesthetics of its machines, leading to the marque delivering some of the most gorgeous production two-wheelers available. For this reason, stripping down and customizing what’s already an objectively good-looking bike can be a bit of a controversial (if not sacrilegious) move. However this hasn’t gotten in the way of Gustavo Pena of Apogee Motorworks …
Replica Frame, Original Motor – 1911 Pierce Four
Post Listing Update: This Pierce did not meet reserve despite 15 bids up to $44,667. The first four-cylinder motorcycle built in the US, the Pierce Four showed up other American brands that still looked like bicycles with motors. The Four emphasized the “motor” in motorcycle with a 696cc engine that pushed 7 horsepower through a 2-speed transmission. The hefty frame …
Pipeburn Featured in Canada – 2004 Buell XB12R Firebolt Custom
Post Listing Update: This custom Buell did not get any interest at the asking price of $12,000. Built by Sylvain Carignan, this Buell Firebolt started as a project with a broken transmission and it evolved into a cafe racer that’s dripping with carbon fiber.
Nice Price – 2017 Victory Octane Street Tracker
Post Listing Update: This Octane did not get any interest at the asking price of $5,500. Flat tracking has enjoyed a strong resurgence in California and the rest of the US. Whether or not you have the balls to ride flat out on dirt with little to no brakes (I do not), there is no denying that the unique style …
German Style – 1948 Harley-Davidson Hummer S-125
Post Listing Update: This Hummer did not get any interest at the opening bid of $4,000. Following the end of WWII and the Allies’ victory, the Germans saw many of their factories and blueprints taken as reparations. These German intellectual properties included rockets, submarine research and even motorcycles. In fact, the DKW factory created in 1919 notably produced some lightweight …
“Triple Trouble” – 1980 Yamaha XS850 Restomod
Built by Brick House Builds (a one man shop run by BJ English), this custom XS850 was built to be a ‘cafe racer with some muscle to it’.