Spoiler Alert: I think this is a W1SS which isn’t so rare as the seller seems to think. There has been a great discussion on the W1 here on Bike-urious. 1968 was the beginning of the end for the Kawasaki W series. Part of the Kawasaki takeover of Meguro motorcycles was a licensing agreement with BSA that resulted in the …
1978 Kawasaki Z1-R
Post Sale Update: After 16 bids on eBay, this Z1-R sold for $11,099. Wayne Moulton has had quite a career in the motorcycling industry, including roles as President for Triumph Motorcycles America and Vetter Fairings, as well as Vice President of Kawasaki. He was known for a philosophy that “a popular motorcycle can have four different variations – a standard, …
Kenny Roberts Framed – 1978 Yamaha TT500 Flattracker
Post Listing Update: This Yamaha flat tracker got no interest at the opening bid of $3,395. The legendary Kenny Roberts put his name on a few frames back in the day – here’s serial number 5. It’s filled up by a Yamaha TT500 engine and the bike has racing history in the Northeast.
Rare Pair – 2x 1999 Yamaha R7
Post Listing Updates: Both bikes were pulled off of eBay because they had an “error in the listing.” Yamaha released just 500 examples of the homologation special R7 (also known was the OWO2). Only 31 of them were sold through US dealers, while another three were imported directly by Yamaha’s US division. Someone in Southern California has two example – …
1987 Honda NSR250R MC16
Honda NSR250R is a legendary two-stroke race replica – and it all starts with the MC16 generation from 1987. Honda sold 18,798 examples of this instant success and production would continue on until 1996.
Nice Price – 1988 Honda NX125
I have very fond memories of my Honda NX650, which means I got excited when Zack B sent over this cheap-as-chips baby NX – a NX125 for about $10/cc.
1969 Yamaha Trailmaster 100 L5T
By 1969 the race to the American dirt market was in full swing. All the manufacturers that relied on the US had dirt and dual sport offerings. Yamaha was no exception. They brought out the Trailmaster series in 1967, but in ‘69 they really cracked the egg. Not only was the LT5 a good looking example of the genre, it …
1982 Honda MB5
“You meet the nicest people on a Honda.”
1974 Kawasaki F11 250
By 1973 Kawasaki decided that another warmed over trails bike wouldn’t cut it with the American dirt market. They brought a very limited (250 made) F11M to the market which was based roughly on their existing F11 and proved to be very fast and a good competitor. In ‘74 they brought out the F11 250 which had lights and could …
Factory Race Bike Project – 1969 Yamaha TD2
In the middle 60s English singles dominated the European racing world. 125, 250, 350, and 500 class were ruled by English singles. Several Italian manufacturers took a run at the 125 and 250 CC classes, and in 1968 Yamaha brought out the TD1 a 250 class two stroke twin. The two stroke was light and blazingly fast, but had some …
1969 Honda CL90
The ‘69 Honda CL90 was essentially an S90 that was ‘scramblerized’ to take advantage of America’s lust for off road motorcycles. In Honda terms that meant wide, braced handlebars, a ‘high rise’ exhaust with burn shield, increased height, ribbed tires and improved fender clearance front and rear. The rear clearance was more than adequate but I can tell you that …
1979 Honda CBX
In 1978, Honda came out with their first production 6-cylinder bike, the CBX 1000. They had previously built 6 cylinder RC-series racing bikes, competing very successfully in the 60’s in the hands of racers like Mike Hailwood in GP racing and at the Isle of Man.
Black Bomber – 1967 Honda CB450
Post-Sale Update: This Black Bomber sold for $6,600 after 19 bids on eBay. The CB450 was Honda’s first “large displacement” bike, and it ended up becoming one of the most important Japanese motorcycles of all time. It was also quite upsetting to the British motorcycle industry, and they were put on the defensive by the Black Bomber. According to Motorcycle …
Restored Racer – 2003 Honda CR250R
Honda started building the CR250R in the 70s, but in 1997 they switched to an aluminum frame. Over a 34 year period, the CR became a legendary dirt bike – in fact, it is the winningest dirt bike in US history, in terms of championships.