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. …
Ending Soon – 3 Tiny Restored Hondas
You all know I love the Honda S90 (probably irrationally so), but it’s the CL90 that really gets my attention in this trio of 3 Honda 90s that were restored by South Brooklyn Moto.
Restored – 1987 Yamaha YSR50
This YSR is in impressive shape thanks to a recent restoration to what the seller calls “show quality” in a bit of exaggeration. Since the work was done it’s had a few miles put on it, but this is still one of the nicer YSR’s I’ve seen in a long time. Most examples spend their lives getting beat up and …
1957 Moto Guzzi Cardellino
Built between 1954 and 1962, the Cardellino (Italian for Goldfinch) was the successor to the Guzzino. Initially, it had a 65cc motor but in 1957 Guzzi bored out the motor to 73cc. Other changes in ’57 included a change from hand shifter to foot shifter and the inclusion of a horn.
Vintage Folding Scooter – 1955 Argyle Cub
Designed to be stowed in your car, boat, or airplane, the Argyle Cub weighed about 50 pounds and could fold up in 15 seconds. Over time, the rights were sold to a manufacturer that sold the Cub to a variety of distributors who sold it under their own names like Argyle Cub, Dinky-Cycle or JoyRide. Whatever brand you bought, you …
Rare in the US – 1977 Honda CT125 Trail
In Australia, Honda sells a series of Agricultural bikes with features like front and rear racks, comfier seats, backup kickstarters, and even a clutch lock so you can leave your bike in gear and hop off to open a gate. Back in the 70s, Honda sold a farm version of the XL125 off-roader. It was called the CT125 Trail and …
Vintage Converted Racer – 1979 Kawasaki KH125
The seller refers to this example as a “time capsule” and it’s a genuinely adequate term to describe this all original unrestored machine. These old Kawi’s are just booming with character with their unique bodywork and this ’79 125 example is certainly no exception. Despite the KH125 obviously being designed as a commuter bike, it nonetheless made for one hell …
Production Racer – 1977 Honda MT125R
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Honda created a multitude of beloved Grand Prix bikes (not to say that its recent RC machines haven’t been pretty legendary too). But two-and-a-half decades before two strokes would be phased off of the main racing stages, Honda introduced the MT125R which was a production track-only machine that Honda made available to the public directly …
Production Racer – 1962 Honda CR110
Despite Honda’s RC110’s lack of success during competition, it nonetheless went on to become a highly prized machine. Honda also released a slightly lesser-known toned-down production version of the little racer – the CR110 – that was available to the public. Different sources make different claims but ultimately I’m confident saying around 210-230 CR’s were sold globally. Though I imagine …
One-Off Custom – 1964 Jacobsen Motorbike
Post Sale Update: After being relisted, this Jacobsen sold for $920 after 6 bids on eBay. According to the seller, this was a one-off built by a community hardware store and Jacobsen lawnmower dealer in Rolla, Missouri that was considering selling motorized bicycles. They did not go through with the idea, but this prototype eventually ended up in a collection …
Two-Wheeled Threesome – 1948 Whizzers
In contrast to the heavy-weight, large displacement American motorcycles of the mid-twentieth-century, Whizzer bicycles were as lightweight and small displacement as two wheelers get, being nothing more than small power plants mounted to your average bicycle of the era. Most were sold as kits that customers would fix to a bicycle themselves but as time went on several companies started …
New In Box – 2004 Honda CB50R Dream
The micro-displacement CB50R is a rare little racer. According to the seller of this example that has never been uncrated from its original box, only 440 units of these early 2000’s CB’s were produced, (other sources confirm this) making these surprisingly rare for how relatively new they are. These stripped down racers are extremely lightweight are at the bottom end …
Needs Some Work – 1981 Honda Motra
Post Sale Update: After 45 bids on eBay, this Motra sold for $1,775. Built in the early 80s, the Motra was a quirky minibike. Honda advertised it as “Heavy Duty” (mini)bike that you could load up with gear and take across the back country. In fact, as the Japanese pronunciation for truck is “Torakku”, it’s said that “Motra” is a …
Harley or Indian? Early 1900’s American Board Track Racer “Replicas”
From the 1910’s to the 1920’s board track racing in the US was thriving. The races were exciting as the wooden tracks were wide enough to allow for ample overtaking and banked to enable high speeds while stadium-style seating was easily placed around the ovals (or sometimes circles) so audiences could enjoy all of the action. Unfortunately the Great Depression …