In 1960 Kawasaki Aircraft acquired part of the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan, Meguro. Meguro had a license to produce the BSA A7 and Kawasaki’s money allowed them to introduce it to the world. In 1963 Kawasaki completed the takeover of Meguro and by 1966 had brought out the W1.
1937 DKW RT100
Just another rare bike from a once large manufacturer? No particular significance? Not exactly.
1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone 500 Sport
Despite the fact it was built between 1950 and 1963s, the design of the Falcone is impressively similar to the first production Guzzi from back in 1921. The 499cc single produced 23 horsepower, good for a top speed of about 85 miles per hour.
1953 Hoffman Gouverneur
Best known for bicycles and Vespa Scooters (60,000 from 1949 to 1954) the firm Hoffmann-Werke Lintorf hired a noted designer to develop this bike and brought the Gouverneur to market in 1951.
1968 Sears Allstate Puch 250 Twingle
Post Listing Update: This Twingle did not get any interest at the BIN of $1,850. It’s early March 1967. Our basketball team had qualified for the State Tournament and I had 4 days in the big city with nothing to do except one game per day. Much of my ‘unsupervised’ time was spent looking at motorcycles (I was already hopeless). …
Advanced in France – 1931 Peugeot P108
The 1931 Peugeot P108 is not only a beautiful piece, it boasted several innovative features. Prime among them is no separate primary drive and gearbox, but everything tucked into one neat case. The lines and look are very elegant. The P108 is driven by an air cooled 249 cc single side valve motor. Considered a lightweight, the 108 had full …
English Beauty – 1966 Norton Atlas
Every rider of a certain age remembers the noise from the Norton single. That was a distinctive wail that you never, ever forget. The king of the road for Norton in 1966 was the Atlas. A 750 (745cc) parallel twin this bike was a very large specimen from an English manufacturer in ‘66. Good suspension and an extraordinary frame made …
1949 Fabrique Nationale de Herstal M13
FN is certainly well known for it’s guns and ammunition manufacturing, but it also made high quality motorcycles from 1901 to 1967. FN didn’t just make motorcycles, they raced them right from the start with notable success at Isle of Mann and European Motocross championships.
$1,200 – 1976 Honda CB200T
In 1973, Honda introduced the CB200T, and it was very popular as cheap transportation. Here’s an example that’s survived for nearly 4 decades in a Halloween paint scheme.
1949 Universal B50
Once in a while I see a motorcycle that is so beautiful it just stops me cold. I went to find out more about this one and the only page I could find is in French.
Pre-Import – 1956 Honda Dream 250 Project
Honda Motor Company’s invasion of America began in 1959 in a small storefront in west Los Angeles and featured three models; the step-through 50, the diminutive Benly and their “big bike” offering, the ME250 Dream. When the two larger bikes proved to have, uh, less than stellar reliability, the little Super Cub carried the company forward. Nonetheless, the 250 Dream …
Guess That Bike Revealed – 1988 Norton Classic Rotary
Congratulations to Laurence Wynn, who was the first to identify yesterday’s “Guess That Bike”: a Norton Classic. It was a rare bike – Norton’s first rotary-powered bike made available to the public (they had first offered a prototype to the police), but I’m glad to be able to feature one for sale right now. It became an instant collectible thanks …
Restored Beauty – 1967 Ducati 250 Monza
View Post294 Miles – 1975 Hercules Wankel 2000
In the early 70s, Suzuki made headlines for bringing a rotary-powered bike to market, but DKW did it first. Outside of the UK, it was sold as the Hercules Wankel 2000 (W2000), and while the engine was unconventional, everything else was as you’d expect. Bike magazine called it “an outstanding machine in its own right”, even ignoring the novel powerplant. …
Wookiee Approved – 1954 Jawa Perak
Warning: My girlfriend is a giant Star Wars fan (she took me to see the new one this weekend), and she was delighted to learn that there used to be a motorcycle manufacturer called Jawa. She then started ripping off Star Wars/Motorcycling wordplay off so fast I couldn’t keep up…so I just wrote up some basics and had her edit …