Post Sale Update: After 9 bids on eBay, this BMW sidecar combo sold for $16,400. I love my K1200R, but the last thing I’d consider is bolting up a hack to it. The seller of this combination has answered a question I’ve never considered asking with his combination of a K12R and a Hannigan Bandito sidecar.
1986 Moto Guzzi LeMans 1000
Post Sale Update: This LeMans sold for $4,650 after 21 bids in Miami Beach, Florida. As 1984 wrapped up, Moto Guzzi introduced the next generation of their iconic Le Mans with a bigger motor, Lario-inspired styling, and a 16″ front wheel. The front wheel change was polarizing as the frame had been designed around the 18″ front wheel of the …
Many Upgrades, Few Miles – 2000 Ducati 996
The Ducati 996 was the Italian marque’s flagship super bike from from 1999-2002, replacing the legendary 916 before eventually being replaced by the 998. Aside from the raw performance and sexy Tamburini-designed aesthetics, many love these bikes as they were the last all-mechanical Ducati’s, possessing no electronic riding aids – not including the fuel-injection. Like Ducati’s offerings from today, the …
Restored Matching Numbers Classic – 1967 BMW R69S
BMW’s R69S is one of its most beloved models of all time, and when it was first released it was a fairly groundbreaking sport bike. The German manufacturer would first introduce the 35 hp R69 in 1955, but by 1960 it would be replaced by the improved R69S. The S-version would remain BMW’s flagship sport bike throughout the 1960’s, during …
Limited Edition – 1976 Honda Gold Wing GL1000 LTD
Post Listing Update: This Gold Wing was pulled off of eBay due to “an error in the listing.” I assume the seller got an offer that he/she liked, final sale price unknown. In just the second year of production, Honda decided to release a limited edition of its instant classic Gold Wing for the American market. It was said to …
Unexpected Custom – 1987 Yamaha SDR200
Post Sale Update: After 36 bids on eBay, this SDR200 sold for $2,925. Originally built just for the Japanese market, the SDR200 was a small cafe racer that predated the Ducati Monster with a trellis frame, naked styling, and the three-spoke wheels. It was only offered for one year, and a tiny amount of them found their way in to …
Nourish Weslake Project – 1974 Norton Commando Custom
Post Listing Update: This Norton only saw one bid at the original ask of $8,000. It did not meet reserve. During the heyday of the Rickman brothers, they asked Harry Weslake to design a 8-valve head for the Triumph Bonneville. In conjunction with a small displacement increase, power was bumped up 20%. That sounds great but the idea was dropped. …
Rare OHC Duck – 1958 Ducati Sport 100
Founded by brothers Adriano and Bruno Cavalieri as well as Marcello Ducati, what we now call “Ducati” first started out as “Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati” back in 1926. The Bologna-based company got its start by manufacturing radio components, mostly for the Italian military. Unfortunately this made the company’s factory a target for being bombed in WW2 – something that …
1968 Bultaco Metralla
Post Sale Update: This Metralla sold for $6,100 after 46 bids on eBay. One of the definitive Spanish street bikes of all time, the Bultaco Metralla (Spanish for “shrapnel”) was appropriately named as it when it was the world’s fastest production 2-stroke bike when it debuted. In the seller’s words, this example “is the culmination of 7 years of work …
Gaudy and Rare Italimerican – 2006 Ecosse Moto Works Heretic
Ecosse Moto Works’ Heretic X3 is the epitome of an elite exotic motorcycle. The high-dollar two-wheeler is a combination of raw American muscle, Italian framework, and top-shelf Swedish suspension that all add up to a rather unusual sum that straddles the line between several genres of motorcycle. Only 100 of these bikes were produced, though “EMW” would go on to …
Purple People Eater – 1975 Kawasaki H2C 750
Kawasaki’s two-stroke triples were some of the company’s greatest bikes of all time. The legendary H2 750’s earned their “Widow Maker” nickname and were the fastest production bikes in the world upon their release. The H2C was the final version of the model and the so called “Purple People Eater” livery is reportedly the rarest of the H2’s factory color …
1967 Royal Enfield Interceptor Mk. 1A
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of Royal Enfield, as they’ve just announced three new motorcycles for the US next year. I’m most interested in the 400cc Himalayan adventure bike, but for the first time in decades RE is production a twin cylinder motor. Said motor is an air/oil-cooled 650cc parallel twin and it will power a bigger …
No Reserve – 1975 Honda CB400F Super Sport
Post Listing Update: This bike was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. More of an evolution rather than a revolution, the Honda CB400F has one of the most distinctive exhaust systems ever produced – known by some as the “waterfall pipes”. Though it wasn’t as fast as its competition, this little four cylinder was smoother, quieter, and gave …
Fact or Fiction – 1972 Yamaha GS650
11-30-2017 Update – 3 years later, commenter “Say what???” notes that this bike is back up for sale with a significant discount down to $8,500 from $15,000. If that price makes more sense to you, find this GS650 for sale here on Cycle Trader, still in Midlothian, Virginia. Here’s an interesting footnote in Yamaha’s history – the question is if …
Little, Rare, and Italian – 1991 Gilera CX125
The Gilera CX125 is a really unique little avant-garde motorcycle. Obviously its unorthodox front wheel setup is its most predominant feature, but its space-age full bodywork definitely furthers the adventurousness of the design. The small-bore scoot was built by Gilera, an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded more than a century ago that was eventually bought by the Piaggio Group. The Arcore-based …