Post Listing Update: This Valmobile was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. Some little scoots in the 60s had foldable handlebars, but very few could compare to the Valmobile. The entire front assembly folded into the body, and an integrated handle allowed you to drag the box by hand as it rolls on the rear wheel! This led …
Video Intermission – The Road Is Life
A buddy of mine is currently shopping for a Honda Ruckus, and he just shared an older video with me that I hadn’t seen before. It’s about a gentleman named Mike Saunders, who quit his job in May of 2014 to tour the US on a Honda Ruckus. At the time of this video (April 2015) he had done over …
Auction Preview – Artcurial’s MV Agusta Collection
View Post2009 Kawasaki KLR650 M1030M1
Post Listing Update: This diesel KLR did not get any interest at the asking price of $14,000. It was later relisted at the same price with the same result. In 1997, the US Navy announced that it was consolidating the various types of fuel it provided for military vehicles. Diesel motorcycle research at Hayes Diesel Technology (HDT) was already underway, …
1986 Suzuki RG500 Walter Wolf
Post Listing Update: This RG500 did not get any interest at the BIN of $32,000. In 1974, Suzuki brought a square four cylinder two stroke screamer to the Grand Prix grid and gave us a taste of the future. The RG500 went on to have an illustrious career in the 500cc GP class. Luckily, manufacturers at the time saw a …
Touring Blackbird – 2000 Honda CBR1100XX
From 1990 to 1996, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11 was the world’s fastest production motorcycle, and Team Green benefitted from all sorts of press and rider excitement about that fact. Honda decided to steal the crown, and their weapon of choice was the CBR1100XX. It was also known as the Super Blackbird outside of the US – the name was an …
2000 Honda RS125
Post Listing Update: This heavily-modified RS125 did not meet reserve despite 26 bids up to $3,200 on eBay. Anyone who’s serious about Grand Prix road racing knows about the Honda RS125. Originally developed in 1980 for the Grand Prix 125cc class, the RS125 has enjoyed minor updates ever since, and is still widely raced today. Riders like Capirossi, Pedrosa, and …
Rare Project – 1947 Turner Rixi
Post Listing Update: This Rixi did not meet reserve despite 40 bids up to $3,050 on eBay. The Turner Manufacturing Company was founded in 1859 under the name of Thomas Turner & Sons. They built a wide variety of products: cars, machine tools, aircraft landing systems, diesel engines, recovery winches, truck gearboxes…the list goes on. They also made light delivery …
Picture Intermission – History of the KTM Logo
While doing some research on yesterday’s MC5 feature, I found a short piece by KTM on the history of their logo and figured it was worth sharing:
2013 Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron 883
The Art Director of Hot Bike (which, sadly, was recently killed off) is selling off his little Sporty, and it’s one of the better-modified examples I’ve ever seen.
1977 Penton/KTM MC5 250
KTM’s early success in the US was due to John Penton, which is why Penton’s name could be found on US-sold KTMs through 1977. Here’s one of the last bikes with John’s name on the tank, and it’s just gone through a restoration.
1958 Poirier Voiturette XW5 Monoto
Post Sale Update: This Poirier sold for $2,350 after 13 bids on eBay. Quite a discount from the last sale price four years ago! 1-31-2019 Update: Over four years later, this Poirier has been imported to the US and it’s now back up for sale in Tipton, Iowa. Considering that it sold for $5,555 last time in Belgium and that …
Rare Project – 1983 Honda Gyro X
Post Sale Update: This Gyro X sold for $1,894.13 after 21 bids on eBay. I’ve featured several examples of Honda’s quirky 3-wheeler called the GYRO (which is apparently an acronym for “Great Your Recreation Original.”) The US only got one of the versions, a “S” model that was focused on just carrying a rider around. But Japan got multiple variants …
1982 Honda XL500R
Post Sale Update: This XL500R sold for $1,750 after 29 bids on eBay. 1982 was the last year of the XL500R, before Honda replaced it with the 600. It was a dual-sport that was well-suited for the street and for light off-road work. Dual-counterbalancers kept vibrations in check so that you would be relatively comfortable while riding on pavement out …
Picture Intermission – Living with a Honda CB77 in the 1960s
Bob Kelly recently sent me a few photos of his buddy Steve, who clearly had some adventures in the 60s on his Honda CB77 Superhawk. Read on for a short reminder of what riding used to be like.