I’ve always thought Gilera’s 150 Sport was one of the prettiest motorcycles to come out of Italy at the time, so I’m excited to share this restored example (though it’s sat for a little bit). Plus, more bikes should have pedestrian slicers.
Rare Italian – 1955 Monviso 150 Sport
Post Listing Update: This Monviso did not meet reserve after 26 bids up to $2,324. Monviso is a barely-known Italian manufacturer that produced bikes between 1951-1956, utilizing Sachs engines. Here’s a 147cc (150) Sport, which definitely shows its 60 years of age, but I adore it. It’s been quite a challenge to find details on Monviso – have you ever …
Tricolore Hot Rod – 1995 Ducati 900SS/SP
Before the desmoquattro, there was the desmodue, or two-valve, belt-drive, air-cooled engines powering the Ducati Supersports. The 900SS series, produced from 1991-1998, used the 904cc air/oil-cooled engine derived from the Ducati Paso and available with a full-fairing or the half-faired -CR. The North American market was also blessed with a low production model designated the -SP, or “Sport Production.”
1 of 150 – 2007 Ducati 999S Team USA Replica
Ducati has a habit of adding cosmetic packages to their “R” bikes (typically the top of the line) and making race reps out of them – like the Xerox, Bayliss, or Fila replicas. When they decided to commemorate their participation in AMA Superbike, they weirdly decided to use the 999S instead of the R as the base of the Team …
Moto Giro Racer – 1966 Ducati Monza 250
Starting with a square-fendered Monza 250 he acquired in 2007, this seller converted a stock bike into a Moto Giro competitor. While I don’t enjoy the overall aesthetic package, it looks like the seller did a good job upgrading the mechanics of this bike for competition.
Final Edition – 1998 Ducati Supersport 900FE
To mark the end of its badass Supersport line, Ducati released a one-year run of 800 bikes around the world. They called it the Final Edition, painted it silver, and threw on a couple of goodies like 41mm FCR carbs and Ohlins rear shock. 300 of the 800 examples made it over the US – here’s number 15.
1983 Laverda RGS 1000
Post Sale Update: This Laverda RGS sold for $11,601 after 6 bids on eBay. A true sport tourer, the Laverda RGS one of the last manifestations of the big triple, though it was much tamer than the beloved Jota unit thanks to different crankshaft timing and rubber engine mounts. Some felt that the engine lost a bit of character in …
1955 Moto Rumi Junior Corsa
Post-Listing Update: Unfortunately, this Moto Rumi was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. I’ve featured some Moto Rumi scooters before, but this Junior Corsa is a first on Bike-urious. As a reminder, Moto Rumi decided to build small motorbikes in Italy after World War II to provide transportation for the masses, and they built everything around a 125cc …
Guzzino – 1950 Moto Guzzi Motoleggera
2-8 Update: I featured this bike only a month ago, but it’s back up for sale and with bidding just $350 shy of the BIN price, I expect this Guzzino will be selling in the next day or two. Thanks to Rob B for bringing it back to my attention. Find this little Guzzi for sale with bidding up to …
Who Needs a Budget? 1998 Bimota SB6-R
The SB6 was Bimota’s best selling bike – the R was even cooler thanks to upgraded specifications. The seller says this bike has had $65,000 invested into it, $35,000 of which was presumably the crazy-expensive original MSRP of this motorcycle when it was sold.
Factory Racer – 2001 Aprilia RSW 250
Post Listing Update: This RSW is incredibly cool, but apparently not $65,000 cool. It did not get any action at that BIN number. Plenty of riders are familiar with the Aprilia RS250, what some consider to be the best 250 street bike you can get. But Aprilia also offered the RSV/RSW250, the true factory race bike designed to compete in …
“Monster Killer” – 2004 Benelli TnT 1130
TnT stands for Tornado Nuda Tre, which should give you a few ideas about this bike. It’s naked, it’s fast, and it’s powered by an awesome triple engine. If you’re a patient rider, you’ll be rewarded by what MCN called “one of the best ever incarnations of the naked motorcycle.”
In England – 1990 Moto Morini Dart
When the Dart was introduced, Moto Morini was owned by Cagiva – at the time the latter had no mid-sized bike in their model range. They decided to remedy that by taking the frame of their Freccia 125, and then shoving in a Morini 350cc V-Twin. It’s odd to see an air-cooled engine surrounded in plastic, but hey, this was …
Not a Jota – 1977 Laverda Jarama 1000 3CL
In America, Laverda offered the 3CL (and the up-spec Jota), but they renamed the former the Jarama in 1978 after the racetrack in Spain. It didn’t sell particularly well in the United States, so some dealers converted the base Jaramas to Jotas (and some people call these “Jarotas!) With all that said, here’s a decent example of this hard to …
1977 Ducati 500 Sport Desmo
Ducati introduced the 500cc parallel twin in 1975, and it was a commercial failure. To try and shake things up, the Italian company asked Fabio Taglioni to give the engine desmodromic valves. The result was the Sport Desmo, which had a significant jump in power but didn’t do much to shake the engine’s reputation for reliability issues.