The history of the Rokon Company is riddled with rumors and falsehoods involving a particularly clever gas station attendant and a few hunting trips to Kenya that never actually happened. In a nutshell, the real story is that the original machine was invented by one Charlie Fehn in Southern California. Fehn’s bike, dubbed the Trail-Breaker, boasted two particularly nifty features, …
Bevel Drive Single – 1965 Ducati 160 Monza Junior
Brothers Joseph and Michael Berliner played a highly influential role in the motorcycle industry for several decades starting in the 1950s. Their company, the Berliner Motor Corporation, was the US distributor for a number of European marques such as Norton, Moto Guzzi, Zundapp, and Ducati. With the American moto market being one of the world’s biggest purchasers of bikes, the …
RSD X Buffalo Chip Moto Stampede – Indian Scout Sixty Custom
7-11-18 Update: Two months later, Tim Huber notes that this bike is back up for sale with a ~50% discount. Find it here on Craigslist in Sacramento, California for $18,000 (down from the original ask of $35,000). Built by Roland Sands, this was the very bike he used to compete at the Hooligan Race at the 2017 Buffalo Chip. It …
Thersby Special – Ducati TT2 Tribute
Post Listing Update: This Thersby build did not meet reserve with 15 bids up to $8,500. It was later relisted at a lower price of $17,500 but it did not sell. Built by Scot Wilson of Italian Iron Classics, this custom Ducati combines a Roy Thersby frame, Tom Hull motor, and a drool-worthy set of Hella lights (among other excellent …
1981 BMW R80G/S Paris Dakar
Post Listing Update: This GS did not get any interest at the asking price of $14,979. In 1978, a French man named Thierry Sabine created one of the toughest and rally raids in the world: the Paris-Dakar. Racers have to find their way in arid and sandy deserts, making repairs when necessary. It is a test not just of pilot …
Vance & Hines Supersport Replica – 1992 Yamaha FZR 600
In 1992, Yamaha offered 600 examples of a limited edition replica of their Vance & Hines AMA Supersport bike. This is #505, and it’s nicest example I’ve seen offered of a model that rarely comes up for sale.
What Do You Want To Know? 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 + 900 GT
UPDATE: Here’s my review! Yamaha USA’s quest to copy model names from the rest of the world continues as the FZ-09 sport-tourer is being replaced with the “Tracer 900”. You may remember that the same thing happened earlier this year with naked FZ-07, which became the MT-07. The Tracer gets some decent updates, better-looking bodywork, and a new up-spec “GT” …
Time Traveler – 1991 BMW R100GS
Post Listing Update: This BMW did not meet reserve despite 2 bids up to $5,100 on eBay. This interesting build is what the seller calls a “retro-ification”. What do you think of this R100GS that’s been given some dashes of the 70s?
1982 Honda CBX1000
Having more than 4 cylinders on a bike is not just a recent pursuit for manufacturers. Aviation was the principal influence in doing multi-cylinder motors, using radial engines like “La Millet” in 1887, a French motorcycle made with a 5-cylinder radial engine located in the back wheel. Obviously, this “more than 4 cylinders” path was not the easiest to follow …
Interesting History – 1959 Ducati 200 MotoCross
Post Listing Update: this Ducati did not meet reserve despite 25 bids up to $12,065. I’m going to need some Ducati experts to chime in here, because I find this bike fascinating but I don’t know enough about classic Ducatis to know if the seller’s description is accurate. This is claimed to be one of 20 to 25 early “scramblers” …
Six Cylinder ELR Tribute – 1979 Kawasaki KZ1300
Kawasaki found a major recipe for success when it released its H1 at the tail-end of the ’60s. Though the bar had been set pretty high with the 500, Team Green managed to outdo themselves and deliver an even more iconic, game-changing machine with the H2 in the early ‘70s. So when a few years passed, the Z1 came and …
1971 Bultaco Matador 250
In the post war world of enduro motorcycling, a few brands have earned legendary status: the Swedish Husqvarna and three famous Spanish brands: Ossa, Montesa, and Bultaco. Bultaco was founded in 1959 by famous Spanish road racing champion, Francisco Xavier Bulto. It was not Francisco’s first shot, as he created Bultaco right after he resigned from Montesa (which he co-founded …
One Owner -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 …
721 Miles – 2012 Ducati Multistrada Pikes Peak
Ducati has just won Pikes Peak with a race version of their Multistrada model that’s named after the mountain itself. Here’s a previous gen Pikes Peak Multi that’s barely been used due to a sad story – the seller’s husband passed away two years ago so this has just been waiting for a new owner.
What Do You Want To Know? 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder
Vy and I are headed down to San Diego this weekend so that I can meet a Bike-urious reader and check out his collection and so she can take a tour of the San Diego Zoo. Our steed for this trip is Yamaha’s Star Eluder, a bagger version of the Star Venture (so Vy will have to make do without …