In 1909, Giuseppe Gilera was just 22 when he started Moto Gilera. Over time, Gilera grew into a marquee manufacturer. World War II got in the way but in the 50s, riders on Gileras won the 500cc World Championship 6 times in 8 years. To help pay racing bills, the company sold a series of small street bikes, like this …
Rare Project Ending Soon – 1929 La Mondiale
View Post1964 Pointer Super Lassie
Post Sale Update: This Super Lassie sold for the opening bid of $2,500. A Japanese aircraft manufacturer, Kawanishi (eventually rebranded as Shin Meiwa) was looking to expand their product portfolio so they got into motorcycles. I’ve really struggled to find good information on the brand, but it seems that they started motorcycle producion in 1946, called themselves Pointer in the …
Rare in the US – 1983 Suzuki Tempter GR650D
This Suzuki is rarely seen in the US as it was only offered here in ’83 and ’84. In other markets it was called the GR650 (and available until ’89), for some reason it was called the Tempter in America. It’s a fairly straightforward UJM but it featured one interesting innovation: a ‘dual-stage’ flywheel with an centrifugal clutch that would …
Award Winning Restoration – 1955 BMW R50
This R50 was given a ‘ground-up restoration’ in 2008 and it has 3,500 miles on the odometer since the work was performed. The bike won Best in Class and Best in Show at the 2012 Dayton Concours d’Elegance and followed that up with an “Award of Excellence” at the same show the next year.
1922/3 Ner-a-Car Model A
Designed by Carl Neracher in 1918, the Ner-A-Car was sold as a cheap automobile alternative. Approximately 10,000 were built and sold in the US, and another 6,500 were built and sold in England under license. I’ve featured one of the latter before – here’s one of the former.
1951 Nimbus Model C Sport
Do you remember Travis Scott, the Nimbus Nut? Well, it looks like he’s been able to import yet another Nimbus to the United States, and this time it’s one of the rare Sport versions.
Rare Project – Gilera Gina Macho
5-10 Update: This Gilera is back up for sale, but the opening bid is $1.00 and there’s no reserve! Someone’s getting a new project – find it here on eBay. Post-Listing Update: This rare Argentinian did not meet reserve with bidding up to $600. Gina is a combination of GIlera and ArgentiNA, as this bike was a partnership between “Italy’s …
Well Preserved – 1974 Yamaha RD250A
Post Sale Update: After being relisted, this RD250A sold for a best offer of $4,900. A little bit of trivia for you – Yamaha’s RD250 had 6 gears in the transmission, but you could only access 5. Removing a blanking plate allowed you to get the 6th gear. The asking price on this example is steep ($5,800) but they seller …
Restored – 1955 BSA Bantam D3
Post-Sale Update: Well, that was quick. Within a few hours, this Bantam sold for the BIN oF $5,500. After World War II, Germany was scheduled to pay the Allies $23 billion as part of reparations. A very small part of this compensation was DKW’s design for the RT125, which ended up becoming one of the most copied motorcycles in history. …
Restored – 1968 Wards Riverside Benelli 350
Sold through Montgomery Wards department stores in the ’60s, Benelli bikes were made available in varying displacements. Here’s a 350cc example that’s claimed to have been completely restored with NOS parts.
The Zephyr – 1993 Kawasaki ZR1100
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 was that you’d get modern convenience with classic looks, though the seat of …
1975 Yamaha XS650
Built between 1970 and 1983, the XS650 had a production run of approximately half a million. When it was introduced, it was the biggest motorcycle Yamaha offered. It aped the styling of classic British twins but these Yammies developed a solid reputation for reliability.
Cheap Runner – 1977 Kawasaki KZ400
It’s always nice to break up posts of expensive exotica with cheap bikes that run or could be restored. In that spirit, here’s a straightforward Kawi KZ400.
1914 Fabrique National (FN) Single
Gun enthusiasts will recognize FN as a Belgian manufacturer of a wide variety of guns – my favorite of which is probably the F2000 bullpup assault rifle. But between 1901 and 1967, they also made some motorcycles, including the world’s first four-cylinder bike, and the single you see here in front of you.