Post Listing Update: This Z90 did not meet reserve with 15 bids up to $2,650 on eBay in Park Ridge, Illinois. Built between 1973 and 1975, the Z90 was one of a series of small Harleys built by Aermacchi in the 70s. The bike may actually be best known as the ride of Kelly Leak (played by Jackie Earle Haley) …
2004 Honda NSR50R
Post Sale Update: This NSR50R sold for $5,243 on Iconic Motorbike Auctions in Santa Monica, California. The NSR50 was in Honda’s lineup for decades before they blessed the USA with a chance to officially try it for ourselves in 2004. Before that year, Americans had to either order one directly from HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) or try to import one …
1975 Benelli Sei 750 by Manfred Demharter
The German importer for Benelli in the 1980s was a gentleman named Manfred Demharter. Manfred didn’t just sell bikes – he liked to race them, too! Because of that, he often built (or sourced) custom frames to stuff Benelli six-cylinder engines into.
Tony Serra’s Championship Winner – 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250
At the age of 81, Tony Serra retired from roadracing in November of last year – right after he won his sixth club level class championship at Willow Springs. That concluded a career that covered seven decades, and it made him the world’s oldest club racing champion. His championship-winning bike is now up for sale for the very reasonable price …
1986 Ducati 750 F1A
Post Sale Update: This F1A sold for $11,800 after 41 bids on eBay in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Ducati’s last stand before being sold to the Castiglioni brothers, the 750F1A featured hand made aluminum tanks, floating rotors, and other features designed to make it a race bike for the street. Raw and uncompromising, it was slightly down on power but an excellent …
1954 Vincent Rapide Series C
The baby brother to the legendary Black Shadow, the Vincent Rapide was sold from 1936-55 in 3 distinct ‘Series’. The final run was the Series C, which commenced in 1949. It offered the Rapide as a base model and the Black Shadow as the higher state of tune. The Rapide’s 998cc V-twin was good for 45 horsepower – the Black …
Custom Flat Tracker – 1947 AJS Model 18
Producing just 28 horsepower, the Model 18 was never designed to be quick, but it was easy to ride, comfortable up to about 60 miles per hour, and returned excellent gas mileage. Here’s one that sacrifices a little bit of comfort for a whole lot of style.
2 Miles – 1983 Hesketh V1000
By 1981, England was almost irrelevant in the international game of motorcycle production. So Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh (how’s that for a name?), an actual Lord and Baron who had already started a racing team, decided to start his own motorcycle company. You can guess where he got the name from – enter the Hesketh V1000.
1958 Maserati 50/T2/SS
Over on the auction site, we’ve got a beautiful little motorcycle I had never heard of before. If you haven’t either, let me share some of my research with you!
Factory Racer – 1972 CZ 250
Post Listing Update: This CZ did not meet reserve with 31 bids up to $23,036.65 on eBay in Jamul, California. In 1972, serious off-road racers had few options, all of which were in Europe. Realistically, you were looking at one of the Spanish brands, a Penton, Husqvarna, Maico, or CZ. CZ had a reputation for building rugged and simple machines, …
1939 Peugeot P135 HL
Post Sale Update: This P135 sold for a BIN of $17,000 on eBay in Oceanside, California. In 1936, Peugeot introduced the P135 (350cc) as a lower-cost variant to their 350/500 “Grande Puissance” (“high power”) lineup, which was quite expensive to make, and therefore sell. A HL (Haute Luxe or High Luxury) option added extra chrome on the tank and tool …
Still New – 2007 Bimota DB6
One of the better model names in Bimota history, the DB6 Delirio is a naked standard that was part of Bimota’s rebirth once Roberto Comini acquired the firm in 2003. It was the “cheapest” Bimota in the lineup, though it’s hard to call any bike cheap when the MSRP was just under $30,000.
1934 Harley-Davidson VLD
Post Sale Update: This VLD sold for $28,600 after 19 bids on eBay in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. When the stock market crashed in ’29, most American motorcycle manufacturing firms went out of business. H-D, of course, was one of the few that survived. With only a little bit of money to play with (thanks to Harley’s bottoming out of sales in …
1983 Suzuki GR650D Tempter
This Suzuki is rarely seen in the US as it was only offered here in ’83 and ’84. In other markets it was called the GR650 (and available until ’89), for some reason it was called the Tempter in America. It’s a fairly straightforward UJM but it featured one interesting innovation: a ‘dual-stage’ flywheel with an centrifugal clutch that would …
422 Miles – 2020 Suzuki Katana
Post Listing Update: This Katana did not get any action at the BIN of $9,999. I enjoyed my time with the new Suzuki Katana (did you see my First Ride Review), though I had serious reservations about the fuel range and the price. The range might be tough to fix, but here’s a barely-used example that you can pick up …