Post Sale Update: This Phil Read Replica sold off eBay for an unknown amount…to Bike-urious reader John B! Honda Britain commissioned 400 examples of a Phil Read Replica from Colin Seeley to celebrate Phil’s victory at the ’77 Isle of Man TT, but only 150 were built before Colin and Honda had a disagreement.
1954 Victoria Bergmeister V35 Sport
Originally a bicycle manufacturer, Victoria produced motorcycles from about 1901 to 1966. One of their most well known models was the Victoria Bergmeister, as it was well-engineered. Unfortunately, the excellent design was very expensive to produce, and Victoria ran out of money after only 3 years of selling this bike. In ’58 they merged with another group.
1985 Suzuki GS700ES
In 1985, Suzuki offered a slightly downsized 700 version of their popular GS750 to get around newly-implemented tariffs for motorcycles of 750cc and above. But by that point the GS750/700 was basically at the end of its run – the next year Americans would get to enjoy the game-changing GSX-R750 anyway.
In The Crate In Germany – 2021 Aprilia Tuono V4 X
In 2020, Aprilia created the ultimate version of their RSV4 sportbike. They called it the “X” and made just 10 examples, which sold out immediately and for hefty prices. Soon after, they recreated the magic with their naked bike, the Tuono. This time they made 30, and they sold them for $41,667.
165 Miles – 2002 Ghezzi-Brian Furia
Ghezzi-Brian is an interesting shop that produces Guzzi-powered specials. Their debut model was the SuperTwin, a production version of the racer they won the 1996 Italian SuperTwin championship with. Their second model was what you see in front of you, a naked variant called the Furia. It had the same drivetrain and proprietary frame, plus Paioli forks, Ohlins shock, OZ …
525 Miles – 2001 Honda CBR929RR Erion Racing
Erion Racing has had a long line of success flying around racetracks in AMA competition as Honda’s premier support team. Back when Honda released the 929 version of the Fireblade, Honda honored Erion’s work with the Honda CRB929RR Erion Racing Edition. Mechanically, it was the same as the stock bike, though the cosmetics were exclusive and a Erion Racing pipe …
2001 Ghezzi-Brian 1100 Supertwin
Ghezzi-Brian was founded in 1995 by Giuseppe Ghezzi and Bruno Saturno. Within a year they won the Italian SuperTwin championship, thanks to first place finishes in 9 of the 32 races. They took their SuperTwin and built a small run of road-legal replicas with the drivetrain from a Moto Guzzi Sport 1100i. Most of the production run stayed in Italy, …
No Reserve – 2007 Honda VFR800 25th Anniversary With 963 Miles
Post Sale Update: This VFR sold for $7,276 after 42 bids on Iconic Motorbike Auctions. In 2007, Honda celebrated the 25th Anniversary of their venerable sport tourer with a special red/white/blue paint job. I always maintained this paint scheme looked amazing, though the stock black wheels were a mistake…they should have been white! But this one’s got gold powdercoated wheels …
TZ Tribute – 1978 Yamaha RD400
Starting with a stock bike, the owner had this RD turned into a tribute of Yamaha’s 1970s TZ racers. it’s street legal with a California plate but it gives off some classic racer vibes.
322 Miles – 2004 Honda RC51 Nicky Hayden
Honda built the RC51 to compete in World Superbike, and the bike earned titles in 2000 and 2002. The latter year, the RC51 also won the AMA Superbike championship with Nicky Hayden, and Honda responded in 2004 by producing a “Nicky Hayden Edition.” The changes were cosmetic only – a sticker kit, white number plates on the upper fairing and …
Rare Project with No Reserve – 1951 Vincent Rapide
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. Here’s one that’s going to need some work, but it’s offered at …
2002 Ducati 748RS
Ducati built between 1994 and 2002, the 748 was Ducati’s mid-sized superbike which traded a bit of top end power for lighter weight and quicker revs. It also obviously kept the 916’s defining style, as well. The ultimate offering of the 748 was the non-street-legal RS, a homologation special built in very limited numbers that featured carbon fiber bodywork, 54mm …
1999 BMW R1100S
Post Sale Update: This R11S sold for $3,300 after 5 bids on eBay in Little River, South Carolina. I’d say that’s a steal. In 1999, BMW took the most powerful boxer engine it had at the time and made their most aggressive looking bike so far, the BMW R1100S. Over time the used market has considered it more of a …
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”).
2004 MV Agusta 750 Brutale America
Introduced in 2001, the wonderfully-named MV Agusta Brutale debuted with a 750cc inline four engine. As they offered with some other models, MV made some upgrade kits available for the Brutale – one of which was the America. Just 300 were made worldwide – here’s #30.