Yesterday we showed off a “Midnight Special” – today we’re going back to daylight, I guess. In varying forms, the Yamaha XS650 was built between 1968–1985. In 1978, Yamaha introduced a “Special” variant that was more of a cruiser, as well as a Special II that had less chrome, decals instead of plastic on the side covers, and for some …
Unexpected Hybrid – 1984 Yamaha RZ350 with BSA B50 Engine
The seller sums this bike up better than I probably could: “This is the answer to a question nobody asked. Its a BSA B50 single in a Yamaha RZ350 chassis. I can say with 100% certainty you will never find another, and you will be the only person out there with one in the entire world.”
99 Miles – 1980 Yamaha XS1100 Midnight Special
Like most Japanese manufacturers, Yamaha offered a “Special” variant of their UJM to appeal to American consumers – these typically offered pullback bars, extra chrome/polished covers, different exhausts, wider rear tires, stepped seats, and different paint jobs. Yamaha also offered a “Midnight Special” version across several models (even on the tiny RX50 cruiser!), including the XS750, XS850, and XS1100. Here’s …
Factory (?) Flat Tracker – 1984 Honda RS600
Jeff Blackmore of Blackmore Ranch has a hell of a bike collection (and a facility), though it looks like he’s selling one of flat trackers.
1993 Yamaha Seca II
I have a bit of a soft spot for the Seca II – I bought one for $600 to start riding again after some time away from riding during school. It wasn’t particularly great at anything, but the riding posture was much better suited for commuting that the average 600cc ‘sport’ bike. The relative lack of excitement around the model …
Super Single Racer – 1986 Yamaha SRX600
The Yamaha SRX600 is a cult classic, but it started as a commercial flop. In the US, it sold for just one year, and it was during a time when American riders valued power above everything else. A relatively light weight bike with a 41 horsepower motor just didn’t cut it – but for riders who can appreciate the styling, …
First Year – 1981 Yamaha PW50
Yamaha’s PW50 has been the first motorcycle for generations of dirt bikers over the years, so it’s cool to see a nice example from the first full year of production that started it all.
1986 Honda VFR750F
Piggybacking off the success of the race-oriented VF750, the VFR750 Interceptor was Honda’s decision to appeal to the masses with a more approachable roadster. As named on the fairings, the VFR offered gear driven cams.
1981 Honda CX500 Custom
We go from a turbocharged CX to a custom naturally-aspirated model with this 500 built by Bexton Craft Motorcycles.
110 Miles – 1982 Honda CX500 Turbo
Depending on how you define “production”, Kawasaki was the first motorcycle manufacturer to roll out a turbocharged motorcycle. But as this excellent article on OddBike points out, Kawasaki’s effort was more of a quasi-aftermarket creation, and it wasn’t well-thought out either. Honda’s CX500 Turbo is more deserving of the ‘first production turbo bike’ title, as it truly started the forced …
Restored – 1991 Yamaha YZ250
Yamaha’s YZ250 is one of the most important MX bikes in history – and it happens to be the longest-running production dirt bike in the world, as you can still buy a new one from Yamaha today. Here we’ve got a restored example of the 1991 model, in which Yamaha debuted all-new rear bodywork, “bold new graphics” (not in the …
Race Bike in France – Nico Bakker Barracuda
3-4-26 Update: 18 months later, this bike is still up for sale (though it’s moved back to its home in the Netherlands and the asking price has gone up a surprising amount). I’m resharing it as Kickstart magazine did a story on it with a video since the last posting and I thought it was worth watching for those of …
Power-Dyne Vehicles – 1974 PDV Gringo 360
Power-Dyne Vehicles (also known as PDV) produced several motorcycles in the early 70s, nearly all of which were copies of something else on the market. The PDV Gringo was a knock-off of Yamaha motocross engines and Champion frames – the story is that PDV was put out of business because Champion sued for infringement.
Restomod – 1979 Suzuki GS1000
Suzuki’s GS1000S “Wes Cooley Replica” has always been a popular machine thanks to its rarity and connection to racing – over on Iconic we recently sold one on behalf of Nick Ienatsch that got a fair bit of attention, so it’s cool to me to see this non-S model that’s been done up as a restomodded tribute!
In England – 1982 Moto Martin Honda CB1100
Created in France by Georges Martin in the 1970s, Moto Martin quickly made a name for themselves by developing high-spec frames to be used with production motors of the time – similar to what the folks at Bimota were doing in Italy. Most of his work was designed around Japanese motors, starting with a Honda CB750 and including other famous …