The Bultaco Mercurio (Mercury) debuted in 1960 as a 125cc, though by ’64 it had grown to a 175 for the Model 13, a motorcycle that was exclusively sold as an export to the US.
Restored – 1973 Honda CB750 K3
As prices for the sandcast and other early CB’s start to get out of control, it’s starting to make more financial sense to look into later (but still pre-’75) models. Honda made approximately 38,000 examples of the K3, and this lovely Flake Sunrise Orange example is claimed to have been restored to “as produced at the factory”.
Restored – 1969 BSA Rocket 3
From the seller of Monday’s Gold Star comes another classic BSA – the Rocket 3. The motor was a 750cc triple that was designed to extend the model line beyond 650 twins and it was specifically built for the US market (which wanted larger displacements and less vibrations). BSA’s financials suffered with the production of this bike, but nearly 27,500 …
No Reserve – 1966 Honda CB160
Also known as the Mini Hawk, the Honda CB160 featured an over-bored CB125 that produced 16.5 horsepower at 10,500 rpm. Light, nimble, and beautiful, they’ve become a favorite in small displacement vintage racing – AHRMA’s even got a CB160-specific class where the racing commences with a Le Mans start!
558 Miles in Canada – 2005 Ducati Multistrada 1000S DS
Introduced in 2003, the Ducati Multistrada 1000 was quickly complemented by a smaller (620) model. Multistrada translates to “many roads’, and the idea was that you’d get ADV comfort for all day riding without the pretensions of going off-road with a heavy beast. The initial run had some teething problems – not in terms of reliability but in terms of …
596 Miles – 1971 Harley-Davidson Sprint SX350
By the time Harley-Davidson introduced the Aermacchi-built SX, it was already outdated from a performance standpoint. They took the SS street bike, gussied it up with a few parts to make it a street scrambler, and the SX was born. Like most of the street scramblers of the day, it had off-road pretensions without real off-road performance. Despite all that, …
German Military – 1944 DKW NZ 350-1
In 1938, DKW released the NZ 350, and it was instantly a popular motorcycle. Almost immediately, the German Wehrmacht asked DKW to start prototyping a military version, which came to be known as the NZ 350-1 when it was released in the early 40s. 12,000 units were built between 1943 and 1945 – here’s one of the few examples that …
1991 BMW K75S
Those of you that have read some of my older travel reports probably know that I have a soft spot for the BMW K75. It’s not a particularly exciting motorcycle but I’m biased because a K75C showed naive young me what motorcycle touring was all about after 4 years and 75,000 miles with only one issue (which was my fault). …
1962 Velocette Venom Endurance
Post Sale Update: This Venom Endurance sold for $9,875 after 27 bids on eBay. The last time I featured a Velocette Venom Endurance, Paul d’Orleans got right to the point:
60s & 70s Japanese Collection
Someone’s got quite a collection of classic Japanese motorcycles and he’s letting it go. Honda fans will be especially excited, ut there’s plenty of Yamahas and Kawasakis as well.
1972 BSA Thunderbolt
Post Listing Update: this Thunderbolt did not meet reserve despite 16 bids up to $2,950 on eBay. BSA is probably best known for the Lightning, but they also had a similarly-named touring complement known as the Thunderbolt.
1949 Triumph Speed Twin 5T
Post Listing Update: this Speed Twin did not meet reserve despite 14 bids up to $9,700 on eBay. Triumph introduced the 5T Speed Twin in 1938, and it immediately set the standard for other English manufacturers when it came to parallel twins. It was one of Edward Turner’s most notable designs, and it had a long production life – it …
New in Crate – 1977 Triumph Bonneville Silver Jubilee
Post Sale Update: This Silver Jubilee sold for $24,100 after 15 bids on eBay. To celebrate the 25th year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, Triumph built a limited edition of 2,400 Bonnevilles with silver/red/blue paint, a blue seat with red piping, some chrome, and decals on the sidecovers. Of the 2,400 bikes, 1,000 went to the US, 1,000 stayed home in …
1993 Kawasaki ZR1100
Post Sale Update: This ZR1100 sold for $2,710 after 7 bids on eBay. In the early 90s, Kawasaki introduced the Zephyr, a retro-styled bike which emulated the legendary Z1. It was available in a wide variety of displacements but the big boy was the 1100, which utilized an evolution of the 8V DOHC air-cooled unit from the GPz1100. The hope …
Nighthawk Tourer – 1996 Honda CB750
Post Sale Update: Per the seller, this Nighthawk sold for $2,700. A Bike-urious reader is letting go of beloved Nighthawk and it presents an interesting opportunity for those of you that want to tour on a budget – assuming you like yellow!