Every year, retired master tech Kevin Murphy takes decent examples of Honda’s CX platform and restores them. He also takes bad examples and turns them into customs. He’s got an annual tradition of building a Honda CX custom for Daytona Bike Week, and each year a reader sends me a link when he puts up another bike for sale. This …
2003 Honda RC51 RVT1000R SP2
Post Sale Update: This RC51 sold for $5,000 after 1 bid on eBay. The RC51 combined Honda reliability with the joy of a V-Twin engine, beating Ducati at its own game with multiple World Superbike Championships and a AMA Championship. In 2002, Honda made some revisions to create the SP2 variant.
Serial #1 in Canada – 1990 Yamaha TDR250
Post Listing Update: This TDR was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. With a retuned TZR250 two-stroke motor good for nearly 50 horsepower in a dual-sport frame, Yamaha’s TDR250 was unlike anything available in the US at the time – especially because Yamaha never officially sold it here! A few were sold to our northerly neighbor of Canada, …
1982 Honda CX500 Turbo
Who doesn’t love turbos? They just make everything better. Why? Because as Jeremy Clarkson once famously said, “exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster“. I would strap one onto just about anything with an engine, including a motorcycle. But turbocharging bikes isn’t anything new, in fact several manufacturers beat me to it. …
1977 Kawasaki KV75
Post Listing Update: this KV75 did not get any interest at the opening ask of $2,100. At the end of the 60s, Honda released a reduced size machine called the Monkey. These baby motorcycles immediately gained popularity among American families and society thanks to their ease of use. Seeing the success of the Monkey, Honda developed another small-size bike, the …
1987 Yamaha SDR 200
Originally sold only in the Japanese Domestic Market, Yamaha’s SDR200 can now occasionally be found in Europe and the US thanks to the grey-market. Reminiscent of a tiny Ducati monster, the SDR features a distinctive trellis frame.
1994 Honda XR650L
Introduced as a 1993 model, the XR650L was a revelation that was considered by many to be the best dual-sport ever. Impressively (or depressingly, depending on your outlook), the bike has just about stayed the same as it’s still offered new from Honda with the tagline of “Post-Apocalyptic Reliability“. It’s still a capable explorer – Nathan did LA-Barstow-Vegas on one …
1969 Suzuki AC100 Wolf
Suzuki’s little bike lineup in the late 60s consisted of the 125cc street-based Stinger, the 120cc off-road Trail Cat, and the dual-purpose 100cc Wolf.
1993 Honda CBR900RR
The first generation of the Honda CBR900RR, affectionately known as the Fireblade, was a revolution in the large displacement sport bike market. Despite a 50% larger engine, this bike weighed just 4 pounds more than the CBR600F2. Just as important, this bike was a whopping 76 pounds lighter than its lightest competition!
No Reserve – 1984 Suzuki RM500
Post Sale Update: This RM sold for $3,000 after 26 bids on eBay. The RM500 was Suzuki’s big open class 2 stroker, and while it wasn’t much faster than the 465, the revised Full Floater suspension was a bit of a revelation. In the US it only sold for two years – 1984 was the last year and the engine …
Restomod – 1983 Honda CB1100F
An evolution on the CB900F, Honda’s CB1100F was a fast standard that was sold for just one year – but for that year it was king of the hill. Cycle World called it the fastest stock bike they had ever tested in a review in January 1983.
1994 Honda CB1000
Post Listing Update: This CB did not meet reserve despite 28 bids up to $2,985. 11-3-18 Update: This CB1000 is back up for sale with bidding up to $1,225 and the reserve not yet met here on eBay. Post Listing Update: This CB did not meet reserve despite 26 bids up to $3,035. In the early 90s, Suzuki and Kawasaki …
1990 Kawasaki Zephyr 550
Before Kawasaki emulated the Z1 with the new Z900RS, they had the “Zephyr”. It was a standard that vaguely pulled styling cues from the Z1, and it was offered in 550, 750, and 1,100cc options. A 400 was also built but that was solely for Japan.
Water Buffalo – 1972 Suzuki GT750
When Honda released the CB750, the other Japanese manufacturers had no other choice but to respond. Kawasaki made the choice to develop a little bit more power than the CB750 with the Z1, but Suzuki chose to stay with their specialty of two-strokes and in 1972 they released the GT750 “Le Mans”.
643 Miles – 1990 Honda RC30
Post Listing Update: This RC30 did not meet reserve despite 17 bids up to $39,100. Also known as the VFR750R, the RC30 was created so that Honda could race in the World Superbike Championship. Between 1987 and 1990, 4,782 examples were produced, 316 of which were originally sold in the US.