In 1972, EJ Potter (also known as the Michigan Madman) showed off an incredible trike in Lakeland, Florida. Doing his best Dr. Strangelove impression, EJ basically straddled a Fairchild J-44 jet engine on wheels. It was a short lived experiment – the 1,200 hp rolling jet engine was claimed to have crested 200 mph before it crashed at 120 mph …
1970 Triumph Bonneville T120R
Considered by many classic Triumph fans as the best year of the Bonneville, the 1970 was the last year before Triumph switched to the oil-in-frame design.
Pantah Body Kit – 2011 Ducati Monster 796
In 2010, Ducati announced an interesting program for Monster owners. The Italian firm released a series of body kits that could be installed very quickly (10 minutes) to change up the look of a Monster 696, 796, 1100, or 1100S. This featured 796 has the “Pantah” kit, which has a livery reminiscient of the classic 1981 Ducati Pantah 500SL.
87 Miles – 1990 Honda NS50F
Just for 1990, America got a taste of Honda’s NSF50F two stroke “sport” bike. Despite the diminutive size, it’s a street legal bike with a claimed top speed of 55 miles per hour. It makes me think of a MB5 that got updated with liquid cooling and then painted by a Miami coke dealer. I want one.
Diesel Power – 2005 Ecorider Hippo
A couple of years ago, I featured an Ecorider Hippo Petrol – and I had to specify petrol as the Ecorider was one of the very few production motorcycles that had an available diesel engine. Well, here’s the diesel-powered variant.
1980 Moto Morini 500 Strada
Most riders think of the 3 1/2 when they hear Moto Morini, but the firm was also known for their 500 Sei-V that was produced a decade later…to very little fanfare. What was once a classically beautiful motorcycle became an odd jumble of plastic and angular lines as the Italian company tried to compete with bikes coming out of Japan.
1972 Seeley Condor G50
Over on the auction site, I had the pleasure of writing up a motorcycle I had never encountered before. I love that kind of thing, and I figured there was a good chance some of you hadn’t heard of it before either so…come learn about the Condor that’s not a bike for the Swiss Army. Also known as the Golden …
2002 Moto Guzzi V11 Scura
Take the Moto Guzzi V11, add some higher spec components, black paint scheme, and limited production numbers, and you get the Scura. Approximately 700 examples of the Scura were built, and they were upgraded with Ohlins suspension (forks, shock, and steering damper), carbon fiber panels, and a single disc clutch/aluminum flywheel that was supposed to be more aggressive, though there …
Resurrecting a Kawasaki KZ650 – Part 4
She lives!
1976 Moto Guzzi Race Bike
Built by Stan and Pearl Friduss, this Guzzi race bike competed in AHRMA Middleweight Superbike for years, though it’s been sitting for some time and it needs to be awoken from a slumber.
1973 Moto Guzzi V7 Sport
Nowadays, Moto Guzzi offers several variants of the modern V7. They don’t sell particularly well, but they do hark back to one of Guzzi’s prettiest motorcycles of all time – the original V7 Sport. It was an instant classic that was created by Tonti to honor the Italian firm’s racing history.
1955 Vincent Black Knight
Designer Phil Vincent called this “a two-wheeled Bentley” – the Vincent Black Knight was built to be the ultimate sports tourer, a Black Rapide with ample bodywork to keep a rider protected from the elements.
855 Miles – 2002 Yamaha V-Max
The name told you all you need to know: when the V-Max debuted in 1985, it was a cruiser dedicated to speed. Reviewers and consumers responded positively – it instantly won Cycle Guide’s “Bike of the Year” award and it barely had any changes for the next 22 years. It was arguably the definitive muscle bike.
1991 Moto Guzzi 1000S
In 1990, Moto Guzzi released the 1000S, styled to look like an update of the ’75 750 S3. It sold poorly but the classic styling has held up over the years and unlike the average Guzzi, the resale values for this model are somewhat staggering.
63 Miles – 1982 Suzuki GS1100E
In the early 80s, Suzuki knocked off the CBX as the superbike du jour. The Suzuki GS1100E came into the market and instantly became the bike of choice for the power hungry. American press mags constantly raved about not just the power, but also the surprising handling abilities for such a large bike.