Post Listing Update: The BIN was lowered to $999 but that still wasn’t enough to entice anyone to pick up this rare Laverda project. As you’ll note in the comments, however, afterwards one of John McCormack’s sons bought this American Eagle! I’ve featured a few American Eagle models in the past – the brand was John McCormack’s attempt at importing …
1 of 400 – 2008 Ducati Monster S4RS Tricolore
Post Listing Update: This Monster did not get any interest at the BIN of $10,500. Even though it was basically a parts-bin special, the Monster has become one of Ducati’s most successful motorcycles of all time. In 2006, Ducati went a little crazy with their naked sport bike and stuffed it with a 998 superbike motor, radial-mounted Brembo brakes, and …
670 Miles – 1995 Bimota SB6
Post Sale Update: This SB6 sold for $10,300 after 16 bids on eBay. In the early years, Bimota’s formula was to take a powerful and reliable Japanese engine and then replace the adequate frame and suspension with a bespoke Italian chassis and quality components. Some reviewers argue that the SB6 is the last of the old-school Bimotas because around this …
Multi-Purpose Racer – 1975 Moto Guzzi Custom
Post Listing Update: The seller of this Guzzi lowered his asking price to $7,500 but that wasn’t enough to get any interest. The seller of this Guzzi racer built this bike and he’s got a wonderful story to go with it. He originally built it as a racer around 1990 to compete in AMA-CCS, WERA Vintage, and AMA Pro Twins. …
Ending Soon – 1998 Ducati 900SS Final Edition
Post Sale Update: This 900SS/FE sold for the BIN of $9,995. The Ducati Supersport is back, but nearly two decades ago the iconic air-cooled SS line came to a halt with a one-year run of 800 bikes. Ducati called it the FE, for Final Edition. All of the bikes got silver paint as well as a couple of treats like …
Mike Hailwood Replica – 1985 Ducati 900 MHR Mille
Post Sale Update: This MHR sold for $20,701 after 24 bids on eBay. Built to celebrate Mike the Bike’s comeback triumph at the ’78 Isle of Man TT, the Ducati 900 MHR (Mike Hailwood Replica) was initially produced solely for homolgation purposes. As such, just 200 were built in 1979. But demand was so high that Ducati decided to keep …
Old-School Italian Favorite – 1949 Moto Guzzi Airone
Moto Guzzi was founded by three friends who met while serving together in the Corpo Aeronautico Militare (the Italian Air Corps) during the first World War. Two of the three men were pilots – Carlo Guzzi and Giovanni Ravelli – and the third – Giorgio Parodi – served as an aero-mechanic. The trio were stationed just outside of Venice and …
1986 Moto Guzzi LeMans 1000
Post Sale Update: This LeMans sold for $4,650 after 21 bids in Miami Beach, Florida. As 1984 wrapped up, Moto Guzzi introduced the next generation of their iconic Le Mans with a bigger motor, Lario-inspired styling, and a 16″ front wheel. The front wheel change was polarizing as the frame had been designed around the 18″ front wheel of the …
Many Upgrades, Few Miles – 2000 Ducati 996
The Ducati 996 was the Italian marque’s flagship super bike from from 1999-2002, replacing the legendary 916 before eventually being replaced by the 998. Aside from the raw performance and sexy Tamburini-designed aesthetics, many love these bikes as they were the last all-mechanical Ducati’s, possessing no electronic riding aids – not including the fuel-injection. Like Ducati’s offerings from today, the …
Ex-Steve Williams TT F1 – 1988 Bimota YB4-R
Post Listing Update: This Bimota did not meet reserve with 18 bids up to $6,455. The YB4 was Bimota’s fourth Yamaha-based bike, built around the FZ750 (2MG series). The machine was developed for the ’87 season of the prestigious Formula TT World Championship. It first premiered at the French Bol d’Or Endurance Race of ’86 but after homologation rules forced …
47cc Folding Moped – 1975 Carnielli Motograziella
Post Listing Update: This Motograziella did not get any interest at the unmet opening bid of $2,400. I’ve featured all kinds of folding scooters over the years, but this just might be the most stylish of them all. “This” is the Motograziella, a 47cc folding moped built by Carnielli of Vittorio Veneto, Italy. Carnielli was founded in the 1920s, but …
Restomod Italimerican – 1970 Harley-Davidson Sprint SS350
In response to the sales success of smaller Japanese bikes in the 1960’s, Harley-Davidson formed a plan to offer a new small-displacement machine to compete as its own small-engined Hummer model left a lot to be desired. Around this same time Aermacchi was interested in focusing more resources on its aeronautical division and allowed Harley to grab a 50 percent …
No Reserve – 1954 Moto Guzzi Zigolo 98 Turismo
Post Sale Update: This Zigolo sold for $4,500 after 29 bids on eBay. Introduced in 1953, the Zigolo was Guzzi’s first partially-enclosed motorcycle. It was designed to be cheap transportation for the masses and it featured a 98cc two-stroke engine.
Rare OHC Duck – 1958 Ducati Sport 100
Founded by brothers Adriano and Bruno Cavalieri as well as Marcello Ducati, what we now call “Ducati” first started out as “Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati” back in 1926. The Bologna-based company got its start by manufacturing radio components, mostly for the Italian military. Unfortunately this made the company’s factory a target for being bombed in WW2 – something that …
Restored – 1979 Fantic Chopper 125
Post Listing Update: Despite 9 bids on eBay up to $4,600, this Fantic did not meet reserve. In 1971, the Conservative Party in England introduced legislation known as the “Sixteeners Laws” – it banned 16 year olds from riding bikes that were 250cc and up. European and Japanese manufacturers responded with a wave of 50-125cc mopeds that were informally called …