This happened just a year ago, but it’s well worth a reminder if you’ve seen it before. Watch as the MAX BMW team builds a brand new BMW R90S from parts ordered right out of their online parts catalog.
1977 Ducati 500 Sport Desmo
Ducati introduced the 500cc parallel twin in 1975, and it was a commercial failure. To try and shake things up, the Italian company asked Fabio Taglioni to give the engine desmodromic valves. The result was the Sport Desmo, which had a significant jump in power but didn’t do much to shake the engine’s reputation for reliability issues.
Needs Some Work – 1979 Chrysler Snorunner
Post Sale Update: This Snorunner sold for $1,065 after 25 bids on eBay. The Chrysler Snorunner has an interesting history, though there isn’t 100% consensus on the origin story. Some people claim that Chrysler built them for the Army, which was looking for light weight snow transport that could carry a soldier for 30 miles. Unfortunately, the finished vehicle was …
Back Door RC30 – Honda VFR750R in Canada
Perhaps the most iconic of Honda’s homologation specials (or maybe any manufacturer’s), the VFR750R, colloquially known as the RC30, was produced from 1988-1990, with worldwide production totaling 4782 units. Only 316 of these made it to the U.S. as 1990 models due to the EPA dragging their bureaucratic feet. In some European markets the bike was named the Bol D’or …
Video Intermission – Vintage Board Track Racing
If only Beverly Hills was still this cool. Here’s a clip of some board track racing (sadly without sound) with the wonderful touch of narration through slides. Follow along as the Indian Powerplus dominates: Shrimp Burns crashes in an early race only to come out of the hospital “swathed in bandages and full of splinters” and win the feature event! …
1983 BMW R80G/S with Paris Dakar Kit
Since I’ve only been doing this a few weeks, I’ve been trying to pay special attention to the comments section of these posts to see what people have to say. While there’s been 2 early GS’ featured in the last few days, I noticed some of the commenters would have preferred to see a totally unmolested GS. While it’s currently …
2013 Janus Halycon 50
Post-Listing Update: This Janus did not meet reserve with 28 bids up to $2,376. The last time I featured a Janus Halycon, the manufacturer was only making a 50cc version. They’re now taking deposits on a 250cc variant (and another model with different styling), but if you want an example of this interesting styling right now, you’ll have to snag …
Honda’s Mini Sports – 1982 MB5
Mr. Honda was never a fan of the two-stroke concept. Nor was he blind to effective marketing, and by the late seventies the emerging market for lightweight sporty motorbikes couldn’t be ignored. In many countries laws limiting engine size for young riders meant a big market for 50cc machines.
ESO Engined – 1965 Rickman Metisse
ESO was a Czech motorcycle manufacturer that is not well known because they ran from 1949 to 1964 and they only built racers. The company was founded by Jaroslav Simandl, a former motorcycle racer who started with JAP engines and then had his company start building their own in 1950.
Custom Build – The CONVERGO
A couple of months ago, I met Danish Zaheer Rizvi, who got a degree in Transportation Design. He’s an avid motorcyclist who came up with a concept for an “adjustable” motorcycle. You’ve seen adjustable handlebars, adjustable footpegs, and maybe some other components, but nothing like this! With a design, one bike can feel like multiple.
Basel Quest Kit – 2013 KTM 690 Enduro R
KTM Basel is a Swiss dealer of Team Orange that created a great piece of kit called the Quest. Designed to turn a KTM 690 Enduro R into the ultimate adventure tourer, it packs all kinds of features – including 8.5 gallons of gas – into a bike that looks like it should be racing Dakar.
Cafe Treatment – 1977 BMW R75/7
Roland’s Airhead Salvage is based out of East Madison, New Hampshire – based on the name you’d expect to be able to find all sorts of parts for air-cooled BMW’s. What you’ll also find are some nice examples of complete bikes, as well. Though he’s currently got a R100GS and a R90S available, today we’re going to focus on a …
Hontang – 1953 Mustang Stallion with Honda 500 Engine
Over the long life of the Mustang (which started as a homemade bike built by an employee of Gladden to commute on during World War II), there were several different models. By the time they hit Model 4, they had evolved a Standard line and a Special line, the latter of which was differentiated with performance upgrades. The Special eventually …
2004 BMW K1200GT
I’ve featured a few high dollar BMW’s lately so I thought it might be time to feature a bike that I still think is dollar for dollar the best bargain on a BMW out there. If you think you know another, put it in the comments section. I’d love to hear your opinion. Another runner-up was the ugly duckling R1200ST.
23 Miles – 2008 Aprilia Bol D’Or RSV1000R
The Aprilia Bol D’Or was a very limited production bike built to commemorate Aprilia’s participation in the Bol D’Or, a 24 hour endurance race that occurs every spring at Le Mans. Normally we get special edition to honor a victory as opposed to just participating, but I’ll take the excuse for a bike that combine performance, exclusivity, and a dash …