7-28-18 Update: I love this bike, but I also know the original asking price was on the steep side. How about a 50% discount? 5 months later, Tim Huber notes that this bike is back up for sale – find it here on The Bike Shed. Now all you need is $6,450 to put it in your garage, assuming you …
Rare Running Project – 1985 Pulse Autocycle
Post Sale Update: This Autocycle sold for $8,600 after 71 bids on eBay. It probably comes as no surprise to learn the Pulse Autocycle was the brainchild of an aircraft designer. Jim Bede is best known for bringing the world the BD-4 and BD-5 aircraft kits — the latter of which made an appearance in the 1983 James Bond movie …
T is for Trunk – 1980 Yamaha Exciter 250T
Known outside the US as the SR250, the Yamaha Exciter was available in two versions: the 250 and the 250T, where T stood for trunk! That’s right, from the factory the Exciter had a large, lockable trunk that replaced the rear seat. In Yamaha’s words, “just flip a latch and the 250T’s trunk goes with you as conveniently as a …
1984 Kawasaki Ninja GPZ900R
Post Listing Update: This Ninja did not meet reserve despite 48 bids up to $3,700 on eBay. Produced from 1984 to 2003, the GPZ900R was the first bike to bear the “Ninja” name. A revolutionary design when it came out, some would argue that it was the predecessor of what we consider today to be a modern sport bike. It …
1979 Kawasaki Z650
Based on the success of the Z1 that put Kawasaki at the top of the large displacement motorcycle market, the Japanese manufacturer decided to update their offering in the mid-size engine market. But unlike the big bikes – where the Z1 was nearly by itself at 900+ cubic centimeters, the mid-size market was already full of models: the Honda CB400, …
Wolfgang Haerter Build – 1972 Laverda SFC Replica
Post Listing Update: This Laverda replica was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. Laverda expert Wolfgang Haerter of Columbia Car & Cycle in British Columbia is a renowned Laverda expert that has built a few SFC replicas over the years. Here’s another one, which features several true SFC parts and hopefully gives you a taste of the riding …
Ending Soon – 1977 BMW R100RS
Post Listing Update: Despite 75 bids up to $10,900, this RS did not meet reserve. The first year of BMW’s class-defining R100RS was 1977. Bikes built in the first model year was also known as the “RS77”, and they worth the distinction due to year-specific features like silver/blue paint, blue anodized calipers, and blue pinstriping. They’re rare enough, but this …
1983 Yamaha XJ900RK Seca
Post Sale Update: This Seca sold for $3,850 after 44 bids on eBay. Offered in the US for just one year, the XJ900RK Seca is now a rare find. You might be asking, why was the bike only produced for one year? Two reasons: First, in ’84, Yamaha released the FJ1100, which was much better suited for the needs of …
Carey Hart Custom – 2017 Indian Chieftain
Post Listing Update: This custom Chieftain did not get any interest at the opening ask of $31,999. Among many things in the world of motorcycling, Carey Hart is probably best known for being the first person to land a backflip in competition on a 250cc bike. Carey’s been tightly involved with Indian over the last few years, and this was …
Creme De La Creme in England – 2016 Honda RC213V-S With Race Kit
I always felt like Honda’s road-going RC213V-S got an undeservedly bad wrap. Despite the machine being touted as the best-handling sportbike in existence and boasting top-of-the-line, well, everything, many seemingly honed in on the elite two-wheeler’s surprisingly underwhelming horsepower output. The reality is that the RC213V-S isn’t a road bike that borrows DNA from the company’s race program, it is …
Video Intermission – World’s Largest Production Motorcycle For Sale
Jim Gesto is a trucker who said that he was sick of seeing cars run over motorcycles, so his solution was to “build a motorcycle big enough to run over a car”. I’m not making that up. Per his reading of the law, this is the biggest “trike” he could build that would still be legally designated as a motorcycle, …
IRL TRON Bike – 2018 Parker Brothers Concepts Neutron
Post Listing Update: This crazy custom got no interest at the asking price of $65,000. There’s no shortage of atrocious Hollywood remakes being churned out year after year, however from time to time revamped movies get it right. 2010’s TRON LEGACY was able to utilize modern computer generated animation and special effects to better create the world initially laid out …
1969 Honda Z50A “Monkey”
In 1961, at the Tama Tech Park in Japan, a Honda-owned motorsport theme park, one of the attractions included the use of kid-size bikes called the Z100. Due to the way people looked while riding it – with arms and legs stuck out at sharp angles – the name of “Monkey” was quickly given to the bike. Seeing the success …
1978 Yamaha SR500
Thanks to the end of the WWII and the development of a globalized motorcycle market, more and more British motorcycles started to cross the Atlantic and reach the US. One type of motorcycle in particular was quite successful, the big single-cylinder bike. This is something the American market didn’t really have, but Americans started to like it. So, we started …