The Yamaha XJ650 Turbo was one of the quintessential examples of the 1980s Japanese movement to bring turbochargers to motorcycles. Right after Honda brought out the CX Turbo (an example of which is found here on Bike-urious), Yamaha brought out a turbocharged variant of their 650 Seca. In my opinion, this was the best looking of the 80s turbo bikes, …
1983 Suzuki XN85 Turbo
Post Sale Update: This XN sold for the opening bid of $8,500. On the market for less than a year, Suzuki XN85 was the first factory bike to feature a 16-inch front wheel – previously reserved for race bikes. That wheel, combined with low clip-ons and a Suzuki Full Floater rear suspension made it a nearly peerless handler for the …
6 Miles – 2004 Ducati 998 Matrix Reloaded Edition
As a vehicle aficionado, I thought the best part of the Matrix Reloaded was the incredible chase scene which was basically a GM ad. Just for the movie, production crews built a 1.5 mile freeway on old runways of a decommissioned Naval Air Station. At some point in the scene, a Ducati 996 is featured for some high-speed lane splitting:
1999 Ducati Monster Cromo
In 1999, Ducati released a special edition of the Monster. They called it the Cromo, and it was obviously named due to the distinctive tank, which was complemented by a carbon fiber rear seat cover and rear fender. It also got adjustable front forks and the high-po 74 horsepower engine. The next year, Ducati added fuel injection to the Monster …
Unexpected -1990 BMW K1 with Uni-Go Trailer
The BMW K1 is a polarizing bike with very distinctive styling. This example stands out even more thanks to a color-matched Uni-Go motorcycling touring trailer.
Norton Commando 961 Trifecta
Looks like Gold Coast Motorsports has themselves a triumvirate of the new Norton Commando 961s. Some people have been on the waiting list for years, so here’s your chance to stop waiting and ride.
Non-US Model – 1987 Cagiva Alazzurra 650
Produced for just three years, the Cagiva Alazzurra 650 was a rebadged Ducati street bike. Cagiva purchased Ducati in 1985, and was looking to grow their market share in larger-displacement bikes. Instead of building one from scratch, they used a 650cc version of the Pantah engine for both the Alazzurra and the Elefant.
“Hot KLR” – 1995 Kawasaki KLR650 Supermoto
Post-Sale Update: This KLR sold for $4,200 after 12 bids on eBay. If you take the seller’s story at face value, it seems that some employees at White Brothers Exhaust decided to get a little crazy and build a tricked-out supermoto based on the KLR. After Vance & Hines bought White Brothers, this project stalled, so the seller picked it …
1982 Bimota HB2
The successor of the uber-limited HB1 (one of which just sold at Bonhams Grand Palais for $72,103), the Bimota HB2 replicated the formula of Honda engine inside a Bimota frame. This time Bimota used the engine from the CB900F, and produced a much more reasonable number of examples – 193 of them.
1975 Kawasaki Z1
Before Honda released the instant classic CB750, Kawasaki was also working on a a four-cylinder, 750cc sportbike – except Kawi thought it was going to be first to market. They were thus shocked when Honda released the CB750, forcing them to go back to the drawing board until they could bump up displacement to 903cc. When Kawi was developing the …
Street Tracker – 1975 Harley XL1000 Sportster
2-11 Update: This Harley XL1000 Sportster is back up for sale here on Craigslist, this time for $500 off. The most recent build from the One Down Four Up garage, this Harley XL1000 Sportster has been custom built into a street tracker.
In the UK – Rickman Honda CR750
The Rickman brothers made a name for themselves by building incredible frames to put (usually) Triumph motors in, but in the 70s they also expanded to building frames for Japanese bikes like the Kawasaki Z1 and the Honda CB750. This is one of the latter, which can be summarized from a quote from the Rickman brothers themselves:
1990 Yamaha TZR250SP
Post-Sale Update: This Yamaha TZR250SP sold for the BIN of $8,800. Some would say the 3MA version of Yamaha TZR250SP was a full-on racer that came with lights. A limited number were built for homologation purposes, and it even took features from the factory TZ250W racer to make a sportbike that can still take on the newcomers.
Like a Vincent – 1977 Ducati 860GT
Post Sale Update: After being relisted a hefty 13 times, the price on this custom 860 finally came down low enough for someone to show interest. It sold for a BIN of $9,995. Here’s a 860GT that’s been given a paint scheme to look sort of like a Vincent. Cute homage or tacky aftermarket paint – you tell me. The …
One Owner – 1994 Ducati 900SS/SP
Here’s a lovely example of the 900SS/SP that’s being offered by the original owner, who apparently had a difficult decision deciding between this or a 916. He correctly decided that this would be much more comfortable for street riding duty, and it’s destined to be a future classic (if it isn’t already one now.)