Nowadays it’s easy to spot an Africa Twin on the roads, but back in the early 2000s your only hope to see one was if someone had imported an example through the gray market. Here’s a RD07-generation AT that stands out slightly as it has a California title.
Turbonique Powered – The Warbike
Claiming 6,000 horsepower (no, not 600), the Warbike was the creation of Bill Wildt. The name was actually WARbike, as it was a partial acronym for Wildt’s Astro Racer bike, and it was built to race against top fuel dragsters.
Evan Wilcox Bodywork – 1973 Moto Guzzi V7 Sport
Nowadays, Moto Guzzi offers several variants of the modern V7. They don’t sell particularly well, but they do hark back to one of Guzzi’s prettiest motorcycles of all time – the original V7 Sport. It was an instant classic that was created by Tonti to honor the Italian firm’s racing history. This one’s even cooler than the usual as it’s …
2000 Harley-Davidson MT500 With 15 Miles
One of the rarest bikes ever built by Harley-Davidson, the MT500 was originally built by the British in the 80s. Rights to the design were sold by Armstrong-CCM to HD, who sold just 355 copies of the MT500 in 1999, and a few more the following year. Only select HD dealerships were allowed to sell these bikes.
Zero Miles – 2003 Bimota V-Due
The V-Due is one of the most interesting things that ever came out of Bimota. It came out to tremendous fan-fare as the first two-stroke with fuel injection – yielding a greater power to weight ratio than anything else available on the market.
Road Racer – 1982 Honda Ascot FT500
Named after Ascot Park, a former flat-track raceway in Los Angeles, the Honda Ascot (also known as the VT500) was a V-Twin standard that was styled after flat-track bikes. But this one’s been customized to tackle a different form of competition – road racing!
1967 Bultaco Matador MK3
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 in 1946). Bultaco’s first competition success came early in 1962 with a motorcycle adapted from the 175cc Sherpa trial bike. It won two gold medals at the …
1 of 33 – 1975 Rokon FT340 Automatic Flat Tracker
10-19-22 Update: Three and a half years later, this bike is back up on eBay from the same seller. Now it’s just got a BIN price – find it with an asking price of $14,900 or best offer here on eBay. Post Listing Update: This Rokon did not meet reserve despite 9 bids up to $6,802 on eBay. In the …
2002 Yoshimura Tornado S1
In 2001, Suzuki unveiled the all-new GSX-R1000, and journalists felt it was the first bike to compete with Yamaha’s revolutionary R1 of 1998 because Suzuki was able to top the R1 with less weight and more power (374 pound dry weight, 160 hp/81 lb-ft at the crank). Yoshimura then took the already-impressive Suzuki to the next level by creating their …
My Old Beater – 1983 Honda XR350R With No Reserve
Back when I hosted the Beater Olympics, I bought three $500 bikes and recruited some friends to join to make sure we had a few teams and the event was a total bust. One of those bikes was a ’83 Honda XR350R which performed admirably, but I’ve been neglecting it and it needs a new home. Do you want to …
No Reserve – 1983 Suzuki XN85 Turbo
Of all the Japanese turbo wonder bikes of the 80s, Suzuki’s effort was the rarest. Just 1,153 examples of the XN85 Turbo were built, and it had the distinction of being the first production motorcycle with a 16″ front wheel. When paired with the Full Floater rear suspension, that resulted in a machine that Motorcyclist magazine described as such: “Nothing …
2003 Buell XB12R Firebolt Race Bike
This Buell competed in the Championship Cup Series (CCS), winning a few Championship Cups, some national titles, and the 2008 Race of Champions XXV Championship. It was then retired and put in storage, and now (as the seller says) it “would make an awesome street bike conversion!”
2022 Yamaha R7 World GP 60th Anniversary Edition with Zero Miles
This year, Yamaha brought back the R7 name – though this time around it’s for a tamer, cheaper way to get into the world of supersports. I had an absolute blast with it at the launch at Atlanta Motorsports Park and it’s high on my list to replace my Ninja 400 as my go-to track bike. For 2022, Yamaha’s offering …
Custom Trike – 1987 Honda Hawk Hondamatic
Here’s an amusing oddball for you – half of an automatic Hawk that’s been grafted to…something crazy.
1973 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV
A couple of days ago I featured an interesting H2 Mach IV custom and the consensus seemed to be that stock was the way to go. Well, here’s that stock bike for you!