Small-displacement customs are some of the most fun builds. Their lower-price makes them smaller investments and therefor more accessible to your average rider or builder, when the donor-bike is dramatically less-expensive, you have more funds to play with. There have also been some particularly interesting collaborative builds between custom moto-shops and various (non-moto-industry) companies such as the TW Steel X …
“Bike” Review – 2018 Polaris Slingshot SLR LE
View Post1 of 11 – 1974 Moto Carrera Del Mar Yamaha RD350 Street Tracker
Based out of North Hollywood, California, Moto Carrera was a specialty shop for 2-stroke sportbikes. They were probably best known for the development of some aftermarket parts (especially for Yamaha RDs) like their rearsets and Millenium GP exhausts, but their most significant accomplishment was the creation of the “Del Mar”, a limited production run of RD350-based street trackers. 11 were …
Factory Racer – 2012 KTM XC-F 250
KTM has built a gang of race-winning machinery and though its current MotoGP racer (RC16) has some “room for improvement”, when it comes to producing top-of-the-podium off-road competition bikes, KTM kills it. Even when factory machines are five to ten years old, they’re still wildly competent when compared to today’s production offerings. They’re also always decked out in trick high-end …
1 of 200 – 1987 Ducati F1 Laguna Seca
The Ducati F1 750 is a machine of historical significance as it’s widely considered to be the last “true Ducati” prior to Cagiva taking over. The F1 was a street-legal updated version of the mid-’80’s TT1. From ’86 to ’88 Ducati would release a trio of special edition F1’s in celebration of the machine’s various successes around the world – …
2017 Magni MV Filo Rosso
Modern-retro sport bikes rarely get it right. Often times the mix of old and new results in a cool vintage looking machine with poor performance. Though this is far from your regular modern-retro, the Magni MV Agusta Filo Rosso gets it right, and then some. The beautiful Italian triples are handmade by Giovanni Magni in the Moto Magni factory just …
Still New – 1983 Ducati 900 Mike Hailwood Replica
Ducati Mike Hailwood replicas are some of the most coveted motorcycles in the last half-century. Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood is an objective legend, with 10 world championship titles, 76 GP championship races, and 14 TT wins, all in a career that spanned roughly two decades. A little over a decade after he passed away, Sport Rider magazine called him “ …
Exotic Italian in Switzerland – 2003 Benelli Tornado Novecento Tre
Yesterday Abhi featured a 1974 Benelli Tornado, so when I came across a pristine first-year Tornado Tre example from 2003 I just couldn’t resist. The Tornado failed to garner the same level of attention that its fellow Italian sport bikes of the early-2000’s did (like the MV F4 and Ducati 916) but it’s nonetheless a stellar motorcycle. The model was …
2012 Martin Conquest 1200 Wheelchair Trike
Trikes have the unique ability of empowering and enabling people to ride who otherwise couldn’t due to age, injury, handicap, or plenty of other reasons. Enter Martin Conquest, a UK-based moco who wanted to give the gift of riding to those bound to wheelchairs, creating the world’s first – as the creators call it – “Wheelchair Motorcycle” that can be …
1974 Benelli Tornado 650S
Post Sale Update: After being relisted, this Tornado sold for a BIN of $3,800 on eBay. While Benelli had some good success with small displacement bikes, they knew that many American and British riders were only throwing their money at big bikes, and the Italian firm had nothing to attract those dollars. They decided to target these riders with a …
Ex-Ben Bostrom Racer – 2007 Graves Yamaha R1 AMA Superstock
Ben Bostrom was born in 1974 in Redding, California into a family of moto nuts. Ben’s father was Dave Bostrom, whose brother was Paul Bostrom, both of whom were successful dirt racers. Like his father and uncle, Ben sharpened his skills aboard an MXer, winning the 1993 AMA National dirt championship before making the switch to tarmac in 1995. In …
Euro Model – 1984 Kawasaki KZ1100R
For some reason, the seller of this KZ keeps calling it a Eddie Lawson replica (even though he admits that’s not the case at the end of the listing), but I still think this is interesting because it’s a West German model that was originally acquired by a member of the US Army who brought it back to California after …
1989 Yamaha TDR250
I didn’t feature a TDR250 for years, but now this is the third one I’ve seen in the last month! Considering how unique it is, I’m OK with that – a dual-sport frame with a retuned two-stroke motor from a TZR250 sportbike is a recipe for success in my book. Yamaha called it “Ultimate Dual”. I call it weird. Whatever …
1968 Gilera 124 5V
Post Listing Update: This Gilera did not get any interest at the BIN of $5,750. Also offered under the “Sears” brand, Gilera’s 124 5V was just about the last bike the Italian brand made before they were bought by Piaggio in 1969.
1965 Skat Kitty Minibike
The Skat Kitty was one of many American minibikes of the 60s, but it stands out as it was the first production “scooter” with a cast aluminum frame and fender assembly. It was sold by Projects Unlimited out of Dayton, Ohio, and this is probably only going to appeal to someone who either had one themselves as a kid (or …