Post Listing Update: This Nova was pulled off of eBay “because the item was lost or broken”. Based in Gardena, CA, “Nova Products of Calif.” called themselves a “developer of recreational vehicles” with a lineup of mini-bikes and even a mini-boat called the Guppie. One of their five mini-bikes was a trail model called the Ruff Rider, itself available in …
1 of 500 – 1995 Aprilia RS250 Loris Reggiani Replica
Post Listing Update: This RS250 did not get any interest at the BIN of $11,995 on eBay. Take one of the world’s best small sportbikes, and then add an air of exclusivity to it. That’s what Aprilia did with their legendary RS250 by honoring Loris Reggiani, the first racer who won a Grand Prix for the Italian brand. Aprilia created …
1986 Honda Interceptor VF500F
Post Sale Update: did not sell on Craigslist, then (as noted in the comments) went to Bring a Trailer with no reserve where it sold for $3,200 after 14 bids in Portland, Oregon. The smallest of the Interceptors, the VF500 is claimed by some to be the best, thanks to absolutely incredible handling.
No Reserve and 89 Miles – 1966 Honda 50
Post Sale Update: This nifty fifty sold for $5,005 after 42 bids in Fresno, California. The most produced motor vehicle in history, Honda’s Super Cub is still in production (and just got a 125cc facelift with the powertrain from the Grom). These wonderful bikes, which changed the face of motorcycling in the United States in conjunction with the famous marketing …
Well-Loved – 2007 BMW R1200S
4-6-20 Update: Two and a half years later, this bike is back up for sale. It’s now on the third owner, it’s moved to Los Angeles, and the mileage is up to 97,000 and change. It’s recently had the 96k mile service and it’s got nearly new Pirelli Angel tires. The price has also dropped significantly – you can find …
1979 Yamaha RD400F Daytona Special
The last in the long line of Yamaha’s RD series, the RD400F (also known as the Daytona Special) is considered by many to be the best of the model line. The press went nuts for it – Cycle magazine called it “Dennis the Menace on Yokohama tires, and…the most fun street motorcycle currently available for sale.” Compared to the RD350, …
1994 Yamaha FZR1000
Here’s a slice of the 90s in one paint job, found on the Yamaha FZR1000 – predecessor to the now-ubiquitous Yamaha R1. The Fizzer was an instant classic when it was introduced in 1987. Just two years later, Cycle World named it the “Bike of the Decade”, thanks in part to a 0-60 time of 2.9 seconds and a top …
Retro Custom in Belgium – 2002 Ducati 900SS
We’re seeing a lot of OEMs build modern bikes designed to look like old ones – here’s a custom effort that tries the same thing, taking a 900SS ie and trying to make it look like the black/gold Darmah stunner from 1978. This generation of Ducati’s air-cooled SuperSports wasn’t particularly loved by the public from a styling standpoint. Does this …
3 Miles – 1987 Yamaha FZR750RT
Post Sale Update: This FZR750RT did not meet reserve in the auction, but it quickly sold after for $13,800 on classifieds. To homologate the FZR for AMA Superbike racing, Yamaha was obligated to produced 200 examples of their 750cc sportbike in 1987 – so that’s all they built. At the time, the FZR750 sold for $4,599. But the homologation RT …
Ex-Racer in Italy – 1994 Ducati 916 SP
The Ducati 916 was an instant classic when it was released in 1994 – as Mick Walker put it, “the 916 changed the face of sports bikes in a way that only the original Suzuki GSX-R750 had managed a decade earlier.” Even the “base” Strada model, if you could call it such as thing, was spectacular, but Ducati also released …
Restored with 890ccs – 1982 Honda CB750F
Post Listing Update: This custom CB750F did not get any interest at the opening bid of $6,000 on eBay. Did Honda’s CB-F prototype get you hankering for the original? Here’s a CB750F that’s been slightly restomodded to give you a bit of old and new.
1992 Yamaha TDM850
The Yamaha TDM 850 is definitely an oddball…a well-rounded bike in a US market that seems to prefer hyper-specialization. Sold in the US for only two years (1992-1993), there aren’t very many of these bikes still around, but the TDM definitely has a cult following. Well suited for tall riders, Yamaha designed this bike to enjoy mountain roads and also …
Vintage Bicycle Pacer in Holland – 1935 Meier-BAC
Louis Bac was an aircraft engineer at Peugeot who had an interesting side project in 1925 – he built approximately 50 examples of a pacing machine to be used at bicycle tracks. The second generation was released in 1932 – it was called the Meier and just 30 of those were built.
New Old Stock – 1958 Capriolo TV 75
Post Listing Update: This Capriolo did not meet reserve despite 13 bids up to $1,711.66 on eBay in Escondido, California. 3-29-20 Update: Almost six years later, this bike is back up for sale. The seller (who is a Tom Cruise impersonator) acquired it the last time I featured it and has bumped the mileage up from 2 to 16, typically …
1996 Ducati 900SS/SP
SP = Sport Production, and it was a variant of the 900 SuperSport that was only available in North America.