Founded in England in 1959 by Derek and Don Rickman, Metisse Motorcycles quickly developed a name for off-road excellence with their custom frame designs for British engines that led to wins in the Moto Cross des Nations as well as 250cc and 500cc GP motocross championships. Their success soon expanded into road racing as well, but they were best known …
Rare Project with No Reserve – 1951 Vincent Rapide
The baby brother to the legendary Black Shadow, the Vincent Rapide was sold from 1936-55 in 3 distinct ‘Series’. The final run was the Series C, which commenced in 1949. It offered the Rapide as a base model and the Black Shadow as the higher state of tune. Here’s one that’s going to need some work, but it’s offered at …
No Reserve – 1937 Norton Model 50
With a staggering 30 year production run (1933-1963), Norton’s Model 50 featured a 350cc single and would eventually get a Featherbed frame in 1959. The model was initially designed by Edgar Franks, who would also go on to create Norton’s oil bath primary chain case, Norton’s first telescopic forks, their famous aforementioned Featherbed frame, and even the legendary Manx model.
2016 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Flat Tracker
Starting off with a Royal Enfield, the customizer of this flat tracker implemented custom bodywork and rear suspension to create something unique. But do you like it?
2000 Harley-Davidson MT500
One of the rarest bikes ever built by Harley-Davidson, the MT500 was originally built by the British in the 80s. Rights to the design were sold by Armstrong-CCM to HD, who sold just 355 copies of the MT500 in 1999, and a few more the following year. Only select HD dealerships were allowed to sell these bikes.
1973 Colorado Norton Works Commando
In the world of Norton Commandos, there’s very few modern legends that owners will trust to hop-up their bikes. Kenny Dreer and his VR880 is high up there, as is the firm of Colorado Norton Works, one of the best restorers out there. Here’s your chance to get one of their jewels.
2000 Triumph Speed Triple T595 Custom
In partnership with Accossato Racing, MetalBike Garage created the MBG_001 concept out of a Triumph T595 Speed Triple. Metalbike was founded by Simone Lecca, former member of storied Italian design firm Bertone.
Ending Soon – 1969 Greeves Ranger
Founded by Bert Greeves, the Greeves motorcycle company started when Bert was mowing his lawn and thought of mounting a lawnmower engine to the wheelchair of his disabled cousin to help with mobility. That led to a government contract, and Bert was inspired by his success to start building motorcycles as well. The company was quite successful with exports – …
2014 Triumph Daytona 675R Eslick Edition
To commemorate Danny Eslick’s victory of the 2014 Daytona 200 on the #69 Riders Discount Racing team, Triumph created a limited edition of their excellent Daytona 675R. 47 examples were produced, as it had been 47 years since they previously won the Daytona 200 (Gary Nixon, 1967).
Bodywork Only – 1955 Vincent Black Knight
Yesterday’s Vincent Black Knight post turned out to be exceedingly popular, so let’s have some fun with just the bodywork…
1955 Vincent Black Knight
Designer Phil Vincent called this “a two-wheeled Bentley“, but when Shane A submitted this to me just now he said that “it’s kinda like if Darth Vader had a head-on with a 50’s motorcycle.” That’s an amusing summation of the Vincent Black Knight, which was built to be the ultimate sports tourer – a Black Rapide with ample bodywork to …
1964 Triumph T100SC Jack Pine
While desert racers of the 60s flocked to Triumph’s 650 twins, enduro riders were typically found on the British firm’s nimbler 500s. The T100SC was a popular mount for competitors and Triumph embraced that, even referring it to the “Jack Pine” model in brochures – the Jack Pine was a well-known enduro in the forests of Michigan where the T100 …
The Yamando
Called the Yamando, this hybrid features a Yamaha XS650 motor (bored out to 750) in a Norton Commando frame and it’s a multiple-time winner in the Canadian vintage road racing P2 Heavyweight class.
Needs Some Work – 1935 Triumph Model 3
After a “nut and bolt” restoration in 2012, this bike has been sitting – the seller uses my favorite phrase, “ran great when parked” and notes that it will now need the “usual recommissioning and put oil, gas, battery, test the brakes, adjust the primary, adjust the clutch, etc.” But in this case, it should be worth it!
1951 Norton ES2
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 …