BMW’s R1200GS is a wonderfully competent adventure mount, though beyond bolstering its off-road and/or touring capabilities, the GS doesn’t much lend itself to customization. Still, that didn’t stop London’s Original Cafe Racer Co. from stripping down the popular dual-sport and giving it the cafe treatment.
1969 Kawasaki C2TR
Post Sale Update: This C2TR sold for the BIN of $2,650. Nowadays with “dual-purpose” bikes we see imposing bikes with high-power engines, but this was not the case a few decades ago. Indeed, the image of dual-purpose bikes changed in 1984 with the release of the R80G/S, first all-road bike with such a big engine. Before that, these kinds of …
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, …
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 …
Bumblebee – 1988 BMW R100GS
In 1980, BMW released the R80GS, the first dual-sport motorcycle with a large engine that was comfortable and could perform in the city as well as in the dirt. It still stands as a reference today. In 1987, BMW went one step further in the development of their most successful trail model and released the R100GS.
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.
2001 KTM 640 LC4 Enduro
Post Listing Update: This KTM did not get any interest at the asking price of $4,500. My research for the KTM 640 LC4 Enduro led me to the conclusion that KTM took their race bike, put blinkers on, and sent them to showrooms. Spotty reliability before 2004 and rough vibrations lead to some second thoughts when commuting to an off-road …
26 Miles – 1966 Suzuki Bearcat B105P
Post Listing Update: This Bearcat did not get any interest at the opening bid of $3,000. Suzuki’s Bearcat was a small dual sport that was marketed as a “thrifty swifty” – go anywhere and carry anything for cheap. At 25 miles per hour with the touring sprocket, the Bearcat returned 153 miles per gallon. This example has just 26 miles …
Upgraded Wee-Strom – 2009 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Affectionately known as the Wee-Strom as it is the smaller of two V-Strom models, this model was introduced by Suzuki in 2004. The bigger brother V-Strom 1000 had already been out for a couple of years, but Suzuki created a new bike by pulling out and slightly tweaking the V-Twin from the SV650, then surrounding it in the street-oriented adventure …
78 Miles – 2013 Yamaha TW200
Post Sale Update: This TW sold for $3,150 after 46 bids on eBay. Buried somewhere in the long list of questions I never thought I’d ask myself is “how much is a basically-new Yamaha TW200 worth?” Looks like we’re about to find out.
Venier Customs ADV Build “VX Traveler” – 1999 Cagiva Gran Canyon
Custom adventure motorcycles are a rare breed in the bespoke bike world. While one might think one-off ADV builds would be immensely popular considering the rise in scrambler style builds, the reality is a lot of adventure bikes don’t lend themselves particularly well to extensive customization. But with a little patience and creativity, these on/off-road tourers can make for fantastic …
1969 and 1970 Suzuki TS250 Savage
The TS250 was known by a few names across the globe – it was called the Hustler in Japan, though we called it the Savage. No matter the name, it was a dual-sport with 23 horsepower, 5-speed transmission, and a top speed of about 80 miles per hour. A seller in Santa Barbara has two of them in nice original …
2 Miles – 2009 BMW G450X
The seller of this bike owns two examples of the G450X, and he or she only put miles on one of them. That’s why this bike has just 2 miles, has never been ridden, and is probably the closest thing to a new BMW G450X that you’ll ever find. The question is…does that matter?
BikeEXIF Featured in France – Bad Winners’s 1991 Yamaha XT600
If you follow the modern customs scene, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Bad Winners. The Paris-based shop churns out bespoke machines that are routinely featured on elite sites like BikeEXIF. The French outfit’s latest one-off two-wheeler is a 1991 Yamaha XT600E that’s been transformed into an urban supermoto toy.