The early 1970’s saw an innovative period of motorcycle development. It was an era of evolution, with engineers building on previously proven models and increasingly refining each manufacturer’s respective two-wheeled offerings. Triumph’s TR6 shares its lineage with the majority of its vertical-twin powered machines, tracing back to the ’38 500cc cast iron Speed Twin. After things calmed down a bit …
Rebirth – 2017 Brough Superior SS100 in England
In 2013, the legendary Brough Superior name was brought back to life by Mark Upham and he’s recently released a new SS100 for a select few to enjoy. Typically, each bike is built to order but this is a demo bike that you can snag immediately.
Rebuilt Ex-Racer – 1965 Ducati Mark 3 250
When the seller of this Ducati acquired this bike 44 years ago, he got it as “an ex-racer in several boxes.” Fast forward to last year, and he decided to give it a refresh. In his words, it’s not a 100 point bike, rather it’s “a nice example of one of Ducati’s most beloved and sought-after supersport bevel singles.” Whatever …
Gulf Livery – 2002 Ducati 748 Custom
One of my favorite racing liveries of all time is the powder blue and marigold orange of Gulf Oil. Yet for varying reasons, I’ve usually been underwhelmed when custom bikes wear the iconic colors. This striking 748 custom is an exception to the rule, as I think it looks great.
RC31 Racer – 1988 Honda Hawk GT
Post Listing Update: This Hawk got no interest at the opening ask of $4,200. It was relisted with a similar fate at $3,700. Offered by the second owner, this race bike only gets ridden two or three times a year so the seller wants it to go to someone else who will enjoy it more frequently. The Honda Hawk GT …
Rare in the US – 1955 Express Werke Radex 175S
Express Werke AG (AG = Aktiengesellschaft: a type of German corporation that’s owned by shareholders and is often publicly traded) had a 75 year history of producing bicycles, mopeds and small-displacement motorcycles, starting all the way back in 1884. Express Werke utilized engines produced by ILO and Sachs to power its lightweight scoots for a good deal of its time …
1 of 1,470 – 1980 Harley-Davidson FXB Sturgis
The FXB Sturgis is probably best known as a limited production model built to honor the legendary annual rally, but it may actually be notable for another reason – the “B” in FXB. That denoted the use of a belt drive, as this was Harley’s first application of the technology. The other letters of FX tell you that this was …
18,500 RPM Redline – 1993 Yamaha FZR250R
Post Sale Update: After 10 bids on eBay, this little Fizzer sold for $2,800. Officially sold only in Japan, Yamaha’s FZR250R was a little screamer that offered joy to riders that preferred momentum and high entry speeds to face-melting acceleration. The horsepower figure wasn’t bad (45 hp) though the torque was underwhelming (18 lb-ft), but both of those numbers pale …
Blast From The (Not-So) Distant Past – 2004 Triumph Daytona 600
In the early 2000’s, when Triumph was being referred to as an “upstart moco”, the iconic revived British manufacturer surprised the world by entering the wildly competitive and state-of-the-art supersport 600 market. Japan was dominating in this class and with sales booming the technological arms race was at full steam, so it was seemingly a questionable – or bold, depending …
Frame #1 – 1975 Sparton 500
In the latter-half of the 1970’s, manufacturers were pouring massive amounts of funds into the R&D of race machines. Yet for a time, the most powerful racer was a machine built in a chapel’s workshop in Caernarvonshire in the UK. Sparton Motorcycles was a collaborative effort between Spondon Engineering and Barton Motors. From 1974 to 1982, the engineering companies joined …
Ur-Tuono – 2001 Aprilia Falco Street Fighter
The Aprilia Tuono has been a truly amazing motorcycle since its introduction in 2002 – frankly, I constantly have thoughts of selling a couple of my bikes and picking up a new Factory because it’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had on two wheels. But before the Tuono was born, Aprilia tested the naked bike concept by pulling …
200 Miles – 1976 Harley-Davidson SS175
One of the several models offered by Harley during the dark days of the AMF partnership, the SS175 is never going to be high up on the collectibility scale of two-wheelers with the Harley-Davidson logo on the tank. Despite that, this example stands out as it is in impressive condition – it has only done 200 miles over the last …
Fully Restored – 1987 Yamaha YZ250
Yamaha’s YZ series – more than any other bike – has arguably had the most profound impact on American motocross in the last couple decades. The YZ boasts a laundry-list of firsts for production MXers, including reed valves, single-shock suspension, and power valves. To the best of my knowledge, the YZ250 is the longest running production dirt bike. Interestingly, the …
AHRMA Champion – 1967 Rickman Triumph Metisse 500
A Rickman Metisse with a 500cc Triumph motor is already pretty special – particularly when it’s adorned in British Racing Green. But this example truly stands out as it has been ridden to multiple AHRMA championships by Chad McIntosh.
<1,000 Miles - 1978 Honda CB750 Hondamatic
In 1976, Honda introduced the “Hondamatic” variant of the immensely popular CB750. The model was known as the CB750A and it featured a two-speed torque converter that allowed a rider to switch between Low or Drive (shown on the dash as 1 or 2) while stopped. It wasn’t very popular, and after 1978 the model was killed off. Only 1,700 …