During the 1970s, America was suffering through an oil embargo. Lots of small companies tried to enter the automotive market by focusing on gas mileage. Bob Keyes of Ventura, California looked at a study that found “93% of the vehicles on the freeways in Southern California were being driven with only a single occupant, the driver.” His thought that having …
Video Intermission – Ice Racing in the Upper Midwest
Reader Michael L sent over this video of a group of Minnesotans that don’t let winter get in the way of having fun on motorcycles. Watching this makes me want to ride a bike on ice. Hopefully it gets you in the same mood.
1951 Nimbus Model C with Sidecar
Fisker and Nielsen of Copenhagen, Denmark made their first motorcycle in 1919, a 750 CC inline four cylinder cleverly known as the Model A. An improved Model B followed and was produced until 1926 with 1,300 total units sold.
“Frank” – 1977 Honda CB550 Custom
2-12-17 Update – Reader Bob K notes that this bike is back up for sale. You can find it for sale here on Craigslist outside of Dallas, Texas for $13,500. Post Listing Update: Frank got a healthy 74 bids on eBay, but the final result of $7,000 was not enough to meet reserve. Called “Frank” because it’s a ‘Frankenstein’ build, …
Custom Paint – 1985 Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo
Sold for two model years, the GPZ750 Turbo from Kawasaki is generally considered to be the best of the 80s Japanese turbo bikes that had a brief impact in the marketplace. 112 horsepower was good enough for a 10.7 second quarter mile – consider that a Kawasaki ZX-11 did the quarter in 10.26! This example was originally purchased by a …
1969 CZ 360 Motocross
When Paul Friedrichs won his third consecutive 500CC World Motocross Championship on a CZ 360 Motocross in 1968 it pretty much guaranteed that the 1969 model would be in high demand worldwide. The big thing about CZ was that you could go to your dealer and buy what Paul Friedrichs and the rest of the big name crew was riding. …
Ending Soon – 1992 Yamaha FZR 600 Supersport Replica
In the early 90s, Yamaha’s primary sponsor for their AMA Supersport bike was Vance & Hines. In ’92, the Japanese manufacturer celebrated this relationship with a limited production run of FZR600s adorned with the V&H purple/yellow paint. Depending on who you ask, Yamaha made between 500-650 of these, though I can’t find an official production number anywhere.
Sorry!
It finally happened – my lack of internet service in Mexico caught up with me and I have fallen behind on bike postings like I warned might happen. All I can do to atone now is to share a few photos with you for the time being…
2001 Honda CBR929RR
The 929 was the fifth generation of Honda’s CBR900. It was a solid improvement on a legendary motorcycle but by this point Yamaha and Suzuki had released new versions of the R1 and GSX-R 1000, leaving Honda lagging behind. The CBR929RR didn’t sell nearly as well as the Yamaha or Suzuki, and Honda updated the model one last time (with …
2002 Ducati 998S Ben Bostrom Replica – 147/155
When Ben Bostrom competed in AMA Superbike with the Ducati 998S, his number was 155. So in 2002, when Ducati released a limited edition replica of his race bike, they sold 155 in the US and 155 in the UK. Every single one was signed on the tank by Ben himself, and MSRP was $22,695.
1968 Triumph TR6C
The Triumph TR6 was introduced as a 1956 model 650 CC twin aimed squarely at the US market. Bud Ekins said he basically taught Steve McQueen to ride the fire roads of So Cal on a TR6, and there is no doubt that McQueen loved the bike. He owned several over the years. By 1968 the TR6 was unit construction …
1967 Royal Enfield Interceptor Mk. 1A 750
Post Listing Update: This Interceptor did not meet reserve with 8 bids up to $10,100 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. About a week ago, I featured an custom Royal Enfield Interceptor and I noted that it was rare to see a custom Interceptor because they were rare enough that owners usually restored them to like new instead of modifying them. Well, here’s …
1953 Aermacchi 125N Cigno
According to the seller, there are less than 5 of these little Aermacchi scoots in the United States. I have no idea if that’s true, but what I do know is that what looks like the gas tank is actually a storage unit, and you can shift it to make the bike look like a small motorcycle or a step-through …
1953 BSA BB32 Gold Star
The BSA Gold Star famously took it’s name from a race at Brooklands in 1937 when Wal Handley came out of retirement to ride a three lap race for BSA. It was BSA’s first factory competition since 1921, and not only did Handley win the event he had a lap over 100 MPH (107.5 MPH) for which he was awarded …
Auction Preview – Bonhams Paris 2017
Tomorrow, Bonhams is auctioning off a whole bunch of cars and 14 motorcycles in Paris.