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 …
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 …
<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 …
Why Buy New? 1989 Yamaha TW200
Post Sale Update: This TW200 sold for $1,526 after 28 bids on eBay. Over the years, Yamaha’s TW200 has barely changed – they just announced the specifications for the 2018 model a couple of months ago and it’s still going to be rocking carbs instead of fuel injection. In fact, over a 30+ year model run Yamaha has only given …
A Variety of Minimotos
For the majority of the today’s fastest Grand Prix racers, their racing careers began on pocket bikes, or as they’re better known around the world: minimotos. Some riders started as tots on micro-displacement dirt machines, but most of today’s champions all honed their skills by dragging their knees in local parking lots that served as impromptu circuits thanks to a …
Honda vs. Kawasaki – 1982 250cc MX Racers
For decades, two-stroke MXers were big business. Production versions of factory competition machines became desirable off-roaders, leading to some of the most iconic quarter-liter off-road racers of all time. Two of those machines are undeniably the Honda CR250R and Kawasaki KX250. Both bikes were “out of the box racers” that were instant classics, receiving various updates over the years in …
Harley MXer – 1975 Harley-Davidson SX250
In 1969 Yamaha released its wildly popular 250cc DT-1, selling around 50,000 units in its first couple years of production. Other manufacturers took notice of this, including Harley-Davidson. They would toss their hat in the MX-ring the following year in an effort to nab a piece of the lucrative late-’60’s/early-’70’s off-road segment. Harley had recently purchased a large stake in …
1985 Moto Guzzi LeMans 1000 Mk. IV
The fourth of five generations of Guzzi’s iconic LeMans, the Mark IV got a bit of a reputation as a weird handler due to the 16″ front wheel. Part of the problem was that Guzzi didn’t change any other aspects of the steering geometry of the bike to compensate for the two-inch reduction in front wheel diameter. This example has …
Original Owner – 1971 Honda CL450 Scrambler
The dual-sport cousin of the Black Bomber, Honda’s CL450 was the best selling of the scramblers of the day. Because of this, you can find one with relative ease even though they haven’t been made in 40+ years. With that said, this one stands out from the rest as it’s impressively being offered by the original owner.
Project Woodstock – Honda Z50 Custom
Winner of Planet Minis’ 2014 Classic Mini of the Year, this is one of the best Z50 builds I’ve ever seen. In the seller’s words, this bike “will eat a Grom for breakfast and laugh at its sillyness.” It could be argued that a bright yellow mini bike isn’t very far on the “sillyness” scale, but this bike is nothing …
All Terrain Cycles – 1986 Yamaha BW200 and Honda TR200
A lot of unconventional motorcycles were built in the 1980’s, especially in Japan. When one manufacturer released an unorthodox scoot, another manufacturer would often follow suit, just in case one of these novel gambles worked. Forced induction is a good example of this, but the factory ATV-wheeled dirt bikes of the new-wave and cocaine-fueled decade may be the best example. …
Fleet of 5 – DiBlasi Express Folding Scooters
I’ve featured one of these in the past, and my reasons for featuring it now still apply – folding vehicles are cool, and their website is still adorably out of date. But this time, we have a fleet of 5 that’s up for sale. They’ll need a little work, but with a fleet like this you can start your own …
1 Year Only – 2007 BMW G650 Xmoto
A decade ago, BMW played around with its G650 series and created three variants in the process: the Challenge, Country, and the Xmoto. All three models utilized a reworked G650 power plant that was slightly more powerful than the stock engine while also tuned for lower emissions, as well as being a little bit lighter than the standard G650 motor. …
Needs Some Work – 2006 Yamaha YZF-R1 M1 Tribute
Most “custom” sportbikes aren’t much more than a handful of bolt-on aftermarket parts fitted to a super-bike/sport, but this fascinating YZR M1 “replica” is truly a custom sport build. This unique one-off R1 was used at Superbike-Coach by Can Akkaya. Superbike-Coach is based out of Elk Grove, California and it features courses for street and track riders of all skill …