Post-Listing Update: Unfortunately, this Moto Rumi was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. I’ve featured some Moto Rumi scooters before, but this Junior Corsa is a first on Bike-urious. As a reminder, Moto Rumi decided to build small motorbikes in Italy after World War II to provide transportation for the masses, and they built everything around a 125cc …
Who Needs a Budget? 1998 Bimota SB6-R
The SB6 was Bimota’s best selling bike – the R was even cooler thanks to upgraded specifications. The seller says this bike has had $65,000 invested into it, $35,000 of which was presumably the crazy-expensive original MSRP of this motorcycle when it was sold.
“Monster Killer” – 2004 Benelli TnT 1130
TnT stands for Tornado Nuda Tre, which should give you a few ideas about this bike. It’s naked, it’s fast, and it’s powered by an awesome triple engine. If you’re a patient rider, you’ll be rewarded by what MCN called “one of the best ever incarnations of the naked motorcycle.”
In England – 1990 Moto Morini Dart
When the Dart was introduced, Moto Morini was owned by Cagiva – at the time the latter had no mid-sized bike in their model range. They decided to remedy that by taking the frame of their Freccia 125, and then shoving in a Morini 350cc V-Twin. It’s odd to see an air-cooled engine surrounded in plastic, but hey, this was …
1985 Suzuki RG400 Walter Wolf
Introduced in 1983, the RG-Gamma series spanned displacements between 250 and 500cc – but the cream of the crop was the Suzuki RG400 Gamma Walter Wolf – a bike made for just two years and only sold in Suzuki’s home market of Japan. None of them were officially exported. A replica of the race bike, it was full of the …
Do You Believe? Pre-Production Suzuki RG500
Post Listing Update: This Suzuki was relisted and then pulled off of eBay because the bike is “no longer available.” The seller of this bike claims it is the only known no-mileage (though there’s 9 kilometers on the odometer) pre-production RG500 in the world, complete with a letter of authenticity from Suzuki that says this bike “is a pre-production motorcycle …
1967 Montesa Impala 250 Sport
Post-Sale Update: After 40 bids on eBay, this Impala Sport sold for $7,200. The Impala 175 was introduced in 1962 and produced just 10.5 horsepower because Montesa wanted to ensure the bike was reliable – the factory decided to prove that by sending three bikes through Africa, covering 12,500 miles in the process. A Sport version was released, which pushed …
1978 BMW R100S
I have an R90/6 that I’ve been putting a lot of miles on lately. The other night I was walking out to my bike from a pizza place in a shopping center and a drunk 25-year-old came running out of a TGI Fridays yelling at me. I have a soft spot in my heart for immature drunk guys in their …
1976 Yamaha RD400
This is a first year example of the big RD – an excellent example of a hooligan bike. The 399cc engine was an evolution of the powerplant from the RD350, and it was good for 44 horsepower and a top speed of about 105 miles per hour. Thanks to a repaint and some storage, this is one of the cleaner …
Not a Jota – 1977 Laverda Jarama 1000 3CL
In America, Laverda offered the 3CL (and the up-spec Jota), but they renamed the former the Jarama in 1978 after the racetrack in Spain. It didn’t sell particularly well in the United States, so some dealers converted the base Jaramas to Jotas (and some people call these “Jarotas!) With all that said, here’s a decent example of this hard to …
1973 Triumph Rickman TR7
It’s hard to go wrong with a Rickman Triumph – and this one’s even better than usual thanks to the beautiful blue and 825cc big bore kit!
1977 Ducati 500 Sport Desmo
Ducati introduced the 500cc parallel twin in 1975, and it was a commercial failure. To try and shake things up, the Italian company asked Fabio Taglioni to give the engine desmodromic valves. The result was the Sport Desmo, which had a significant jump in power but didn’t do much to shake the engine’s reputation for reliability issues.
Back Door RC30 – Honda VFR750R in Canada
Perhaps the most iconic of Honda’s homologation specials (or maybe any manufacturer’s), the VFR750R, colloquially known as the RC30, was produced from 1988-1990, with worldwide production totaling 4782 units. Only 316 of these made it to the U.S. as 1990 models due to the EPA dragging their bureaucratic feet. In some European markets the bike was named the Bol D’or …
23 Miles – 2008 Aprilia Bol D’Or RSV1000R
The Aprilia Bol D’Or was a very limited production bike built to commemorate Aprilia’s participation in the Bol D’Or, a 24 hour endurance race that occurs every spring at Le Mans. Normally we get special edition to honor a victory as opposed to just participating, but I’ll take the excuse for a bike that combine performance, exclusivity, and a dash …
25th Anniversary – 2007 Honda VFR800
In 2007, Honda celebrated the 25th Anniversary of their venerable sport tourer with a special red/white/blue paint job. I always thought this paint scheme looked amazing, though the stock black wheels were a mistake – they should have been white! This example is in great shape and comes with some modifications that every sixth gen viffer should have.