Known as the Beagle in the UK, this little 75cc BSA commuter was marketed as the Starlite in America.
1994 Benelli Devil 80
Here’s a little Italian I’ve never heard of, let alone seen: a Benelli Devil!
1967 Suzuki K15 Hillbilly
Introduced in 1965, the Suzuki K15 (also known as the Hillbilly) was a 2-stroker for the trail with features like a skid plate, luggage rack, and swappable sprockets.
457 Miles – 1979 Yamaha GT80
Debuting in 1973, the Yamaha GT80 was the first kid for many a youngster – here’s a chance to relive your youth!
1965 Montgomery Wards Riverside 450SS
Post Sale Update: This MW sold for a best offer under $1,100 (eBay does not confirm the final number). Despite the “450” name, this bike (a rebadged Benelli Fireball sold out of Montgomery Wards stores) has a 49cc engine. Maybe the name translates to “4” – number of gears in the transmission and “50” – displacement?
1971 Suzuki Trailhopper MT50
Also known as the Trailhopper, the Suzuki MT-50 was a mini bike designed to fit in the trunk of your car with swing-in handlebars and a removable front wheel.
1982 Honda Motra CT50
In the 80s, Honda offered what they called a “heavy duty” minibike called the Motra. Unlike the Z50 or original Monkey, the Motra was designed to be loaded up with gear and ridden just about anywhere you could imagine. A commonly-shared-but-unverified tale says that “Motra” is a combination of Motorcycle-Truck because the Japanese pronunciation for truck is “Torakku”.
1971 Rupp Black Widow
Rupp Industries was based in Mansfield, Ohio, and for nearly 20 years they were able to compete with Honda and other Japanese manufacturers for a share of the lucrative mini bike market. Their top-of-the-line competition bike was the Black Widow, which was based on the Roadster/2. The Black Widow is probably the best-known of Rupp’s creations. It paired a 4 …
1965 Honda C100 with Roadster Kit
While Honda found success with its small step-through models in most markets, the Japanese marque struggled to sell scooters in the same numbers in the US. Honda looked to change this with the introduction of what it called the “Custom Group”, consisting of four different add-on kits (the Roadster, Rally, Boss, and Student) designed to make little runners like the …
Teaching Project – 1990 Honda CB125T
For just one year, Honda made 2,000 examples of a 125cc twin specifically designed for US rider’s education schools. The bike itself isn’t really anything special, but there are some fascinating lights on the front and rear that should be explained.
Owned By The Petersen Museum – 1948 Famous James ML 125
Over at Iconic we’re helping the Petersen Museum sell some of their collection – one of the bikes that will be finding a new home is a Famous James that’s offered with no reserve! ML stands for Military Lightweight, as this bike was originally designed to be utilized by airborne British and Canadian troops in WW2. A civilian version was …
Buy My Bike With No Reserve – 1965 Honda CB160
Post Sale Update: My CB160 sold for $3,005 plus a $250 buyer’s fee after 25 bids on Iconic. The bike was bought for $3,250 so that was basically a wash and I lost a few hundred on the parts I ordered. Life moves on! As you may have seen over the last couple of weeks here on Bike-urious, I’m planning …
Street Legal – 2009 Aprilia RS125
American fans of Aprilia rejoiced when the Italian firm announced that they would export the RS125 to the US, though it wasn’t all good news – due to EPA emissions standards, the baby RS was exclusively for closed-course riding even though it came with lights, mirrors, a horn, and everything else you’d expect to see on a street-legal machine. With …
Pichler Fairing – 1982 Honda MB5
I’ve featured a few bikes with Pichler fairings in the past, but they’ve generally been large-displacement BMWs. Today I learned that Pichler also made a full fairing for something much smaller – a Honda MB5!
The First Ducati – 1948 Ducati 60
Post Sale Update: This Ducati 60 sold for $3,570 via Buy it Now on eBay. I’m sure I’ll get someone who wants to say that the Cucciolo was actually Ducati’s first motorcycle – but that was really just a bicycle with a mounted engine. The evolution of the Cucciolo (which translated to “little puppy”) was the Ducati 60, what the …