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#248 of 250 – 1998 Triumph Daytona 1200 SE

In England, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

In the early 90s, most major motorcycle manufacturers entered a gentlemen’s agreement to cap horsepower at 125. Triumph decided that when they were going to bring the bikes back from the new plant in Hinckley, that the best way for them to get attention was to ignore said agreement: enter the 147 horsepower Triumph Daytona 1200. A year after the …

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1986 Honda Reflex TLR200

In Dual-Sport, Japan by AbhiLeave a Comment

In 1986, Honda offered two trials machines to the public. The “RTL” was built by HRC and was the version for riders who were looking to compete and didn’t mind spending plenty in the process. But Honda also offered the “TLR”, which was the easier to buy (and easier to ride) option. The latter was solely built for the 1986 …

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5 Miles – 1995 Ducati 748 SP

In Italy, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

Over on Iconic we’ve got a rare find in the United States – the SP variant of the Ducati 748. A year after the based 748 was introduced, Ducati created the SP for homologation purposes in 600 Supersport. It was never officially sold in America.

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No Reserve – 2001 MZ Skorpion Tour

In Germany, Standard by AbhiLeave a Comment

The Skorpion was an example of what an international economy can achieve – a East German manufacturer brought together Japanese motors (from Yamaha) and a British design firm (called Seymourpowell) to create something that worked well on paper and on the road. It wasn’t a huge commercial success, but nowadays it’s definitely a cult classic.

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1982 Honda Motra CT50

In Dual-Sport, Japan, Small Displacement by AbhiLeave a Comment

In the 80s, Honda offered what they called a “heavy duty” minibike called the Motra. Unlike the Z50 or original Monkey, the Motra was designed to be loaded up with gear and ridden just about anywhere you could imagine. A commonly-shared-but-unverified tale says that “Motra” is a combination of Motorcycle-Truck because the Japanese pronunciation for truck is “Torakku”.

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2013 KTM 990 SMT

In Austria, Sport, Touring by AbhiLeave a Comment

For the second time this week, a prolific commenter on Bike-urious is letting go of one of his bikes. This time it’s Walter Barlow, who not only frequently contributes to the community via comments – he also shared a history of the Norton Commando and his thoughts after riding a Motus MST.

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1971 Rupp Black Widow

In America, Small Displacement by AbhiLeave a Comment

Rupp Industries was based in Mansfield, Ohio, and for nearly 20 years they were able to compete with Honda and other Japanese manufacturers for a share of the lucrative mini bike market. Their top-of-the-line competition bike was the Black Widow, which was based on the Roadster/2. The Black Widow is probably the best-known of Rupp’s creations. It paired a 4 …