Introduced in 1982, the Sonic was Can-Am’s first four-stroke bike. It utilized an impressive 45 horsepower Rotax engine but it was a case of too little, too late. Can-Am’s parent company, Bombardier was just about ready to kill their dirt bike arm after the Sonic had been out for just one year, so by ’83 the production of Can-Am’s had …
Suitcase Cycle – 1973 Honda CL100
You can probably guess by the title of this post that there’s something special about this Honda CL100. Thanks to an ex-United Airlines pilot named Lawrence Shapiro, this bike could be fit into a suitcase so that you could take it with you on your private plane.
1970 Speedway Silver Shadow
Post Listing Update: This Speedway was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. In the world of minibikes, the Speedway Silver Shadow may be the most collectible of them all. I’ve featured one in the past that did not meet reserve despite bidding up to $7,500.
Still in Crate – 1970 Rockford Tora 60
Post Sale Update: This Tora sold for $3,000 after 20 bids on eBay – but it keeps getting relisted… Rockford Motors of Rockford, Illinois was the final chapter of the Bridgestone Cycle Company, which eventually morphed into today’s Bridgestone Corporation, the well-known tire manufacturer. The history we’re concerned with began after WWII with the production of small motorbikes and exports …
Unusual Engine – 2007 Honda RC51 Chopper
Post Sale Update: This RC51 chopper sold for $7,000. 6-28-16 Update: Contributor Joe N notes that this bike is back up for sale, but this time it’s got a $1,500 price cut. If you’re interested, find it for sale in Hamilton, Virginia here on eBay. Normally, choppers are packing a V-Twin engine…just not the V-Twin from Honda’s RC51 sportbike! But …
Cannonball Participant – 1929 Henderson KJ
Post Sale Update: After 20 bids, this Henderson sold for $45,100. In 1928, Henderson stole Arthur Constantine away from Harley-Davidson and put him in charge of redesigning their DeLuxe. The next year, Henderson released the KJ, also known as the Streamline. This example has been with the same family for years and ran in the Cannonball Rally in 2012.
First Year Factory-Made – 1948 Whizzer Pacemaker
A few years before WWII erupted, airplane parts maker Breene-Taylor Engineering designed and marketed a 1.4 HP four-stroke motor and fuel tank kit which a customer would mount on his or her bicycle frame, creating a usable motorbike. They christened the product “Whizzer” and sold a few thousand kits for $54.95. After the war the company grew quickly and in …
Panhead Custom – 1949 Harley-Davidson EL
Post Listing Update: 45 bids on eBay got this bike up to $13,000 – that wasn’t enough to meet reserve. Harley introduced the Panhead motor in 1948 – one year later they also introduced the telescopic Hydra Glide front forks. The EL featured a 61 cubic inch motor, and none of these facts really matter with this fun custom. Change …
1 Owner – 1973 Penton Jackpiner
Post Sale Update: After a hefty 50 bids, this Jackpiner sold for $7,000. The Jackpiner is a very important motorcycle in KTMs history of expansion to the US – this was the first Penton to utilize a KTM motor. ’73 was the first year of the model and KTM considered it to be so iconic that in 1997 that released …
Ending Soon – 1980 Yankee Engineuity “XRCR”
Post Listing Update: 25 bids up to $11,601 were not enough to meet reserve for this ‘XRCR’. Back in 1980, Yankee Engineuity apparently created a run of 10 Harley-Davidson XLCRs with XR750 frames and a host of other modifications. Here’s one of the 10, which has been at Garage Company since at least 2004, according to this article from Street …
1915 Indian Big Twin
6-18-16: This Big Twin is back up for sale, find it with bidding up to $34,100 here on eBay. The last Indian to feature the F-head engine in a cradle-spring frame, the Big Twin is one of the milestone bikes of Indian’s long history. 1915 was the last year of production before Indian stopped racing efforts to help with the …
153 Miles – 1994 Harley-Davidson VR1000 Superbike
Post Listing Update: This VR did not get any interest at the opening bid of $65,000. In the late 80s, Harley-Davidson decided that they wanted to take a crack at AMA Superbike, where they’d be allowed to compete against 750cc fours with 1,000cc twins (just like Ducati). Homologation rules required the production of 50 bikes around the world, so Harley …
No Reserve – 1972 Hodaka Ace 100
Post Sale Update: After 36 bids on eBay, this Ace sold for $1,030. The Ace was Hodaka’s first motorcycle, the result of a partnership between Hodaka in Japan and the Pacific Basin Trading Company (Pabatco) of Athena, Oregon. It started off as a 90cc trail bike when introduced in 1964, but by ’68 the Ace was up to 100cc – …
Restored Flathead – 1949 Harley-Davidson WL
Post Listing Update: Despite 45 bids on eBay, bidding only got up to $16,155. Not sure why it was so low, but that was clearly not enough to meet reserve. In ’37, Harley-Davidson introduced their “W” family of motorcycles, which got a 45 ci engine and a recirculating oil system. The WL was the high compression version (the base W …
Restored – 1966 Bearkat with Trailer
Post Listing Update: This Bearkat has been relisted a few times (including a weird situation where it “sold” at a BIN of $3,250, but it was relisted again and did not meet reserve at $1,575. Built by the Bearkat Manufacturing Company out of San Diego, California, this scoot was similar to other trail bikes like the Tote Gote, Trail Tractor, …