Daye Kon was a British motorcycle, car, and boat racer who set a Speedboat World Record in 1930. After a sad accident in an MG race car on the Isle of Man (where the passenger died and Don went to prison for a few months), he created Ambassador Motorcycles. The company originally was created to import American cars into England, …
1 of 371 – 1983 Triumph TSX
1-25-2014 Update: 4 months later, this Triumph TSX is back up for sale, and for some reason the opening bid is $1,000 higher. Find it here on eBay with an opening bid of $7,500 here on eBay. The Triumph TSX was designed as a custom ‘West-Coast’ styled Bonneville. A last ditch effort to boost lagging sales, this custom bike took the …
1959 Indian Lance
Between 1955 and 1960, the Indian marque was owned by an English firm called Brockhouse Engineering. During this time, they imported Royal Enfield bikes under the Indian name. This 1959 Indian Lance was a variant of the Royal Enfield Ensign, a 148cc descendant of the Flying Flea, a tiny motorcycle designed to be air-dropped to British soldiers in WWII.
1969 BMW R50
With 68k on the clock, this numbers matching BMW R50 (#644839) has lived a good life so far, and there should be plenty left. It’s claimed to still be a first kick bike, and it’s relatively original, though some parts have been repainted. Find it for sale in Richmond, Virginia for $8,500 here on eBay.
1971 American Eagle 350
Post-Listing Update: This American Eagle 350 did not meet reserve as bidding only got up to $1,851. The story of Jack McCormack is an interesting one, starting as a 16 year-old racer and ending with the formation of American Eagle, a motorcycle company that outsourced all of its manufacturing. Somewhere in the middle, he was one of the most important …
1957 MV Agusta Super Pullman
Post Sale Update: After 39 bids on eBay, this MV Agusta Super Pullman sold for $3,350. Though MV Agusta is typically known for large-displacement super sports, they focused plenty of their efforts on small two-strokes in the 50s and 60s. The MV Agusta Super Pullman, despite the name, was not simply an upgrade of the 125cc Pullman model. A completely …
Paralzyed Twin – 1977 Ducati 500 GTL
Post-Sale Update: This Ducati 500 GTL was pulled off eBay. Final sale price is unknown. In the early 70’s, Ducati’s management felt that the future of their mid-sized bikes was going to be with parallel twin engines. Despite the fact that Ducati had previous unsuccessful experience with such an engine type, the Italians decided to go for it, their first …
BMW Power – 2007 GG Quad
Powered by the drivetrain from the BMW R1150 series, the guys over at Gruter und Gut created the GG Quad, which makes the Can-Am Spyder seem cheap…and good looking. But with a MSRP of $70,000 and the fact that only 29 were sold in the US, this isn’t a quad you’ll see very often, or ever. Then again, based on …
1948 Sunbeam S7
After WWII, as part of reparations, BMW gave up its designs of the BMW R75. Bikes like Chang Jiang and Ural used these designs, but England’s take was the Sunbeam S7. You can see the BMW influence when you look at a side profile, but Sunbeam wanted to differentiate themselves by utilizing a inline vertical twin instead of the German …
1974 Yamaha TX750
Post Sale Update – This TX750 sold for the opening bid of $1,400 – not a bad deal! Made only for two years, the TX750 was Yamaha’s attempt of creating a parallel twin with the smoothness of an inline four engine. Using a pair of balancers (called Omni-Phase), it eliminated vibration to a level never seen before in a twin. …
1974 Benelli Tornado 650S
Benelli is one of the very few motorcycles that has been around for over 100 years. An Italian company that has a great history in small displacement racing, the firm decided to specifically target the US and British markets with a vertical twin – the Benelli Tornado 650S that you see in front of you today. At the time of …
1999 Corbin Sparrow
Post-Sale Update: After 9 bids on eBay, this Corbin Sparrow sold for $6,256.56. Alright, it might be a stretch to call this a motorcycle, but as it was developed by Mike Corbin (of Corbin seat fame), we’ll let this one slide. In addition to his famous aftermarket seat company, Corbin pursued electric vehicle development for many years. In fact, he …
Beetle Power – 1964 “VMW” Willis 4
We start off this listing by apologizing for the picture quality, but this bike is just too interesting not to share. In the 1960’s, two men named Jack Pruett and Bruce Butterfield owned a motorcycle dealership named Jack’s in Fresno, California. The two combined forces with a Mr. Willis and built adapters that allowed them to put VW 1600cc 4-cylinder …
1973 Honda CB350
Produced from ’68 to ’73, the Honda CB350 was one of the world’s most popular motorcycles. At the time, it was Honda’s best-selling model, and in 1968 – its first year it was the best-selling motorcycle all over the world. Today we feature an excellent final year example which illustrates what made this bike so desirable. Constantly evolving, this bike …
Featured First – 1950 BMW R51/2
Post-listing Update: This BMW R51/2 did not meet reserve at $18,900. Nowadays, BMW is well known for their “R” series of bikes, featuring a boxer engine (where you see opposed cylinders sticking outwards from the engine). All of those bikes can trace their heritage back to the BMW R51/2, BMW’s first post-war boxer. The Allies initially did not allow Germany …