The Ariel Square Four design goes all the way back to 1931, soon after Edward Turner designed an interesting new four-cylinder motorcycle engine formed from two OHC parallel twins. The design became known as the square four engine, and lent its name to this Ariel motorcycle.
1996 Gas Gas Pampera 370 Enduro
Gas Gas is a Spanish manufacturer of primarily off-road motorcycles, especially their trials bikes. Here’s a hard-to-find example of one of their models, the Gas Gas Pampera 370. Unfortunately, there’s not much information available about this model, unless you speak Spanish. It’s a water-cooled, 237 cc single-cylinder engine that has to motivate a bike that weighs just 187 pounds. This …
1960 Norton Manx 40M
Post Listing Update: This Manx did not meet reserve despite 25 bids up to $29,100.29. Built for a whopping 15 years in long stroke and short stroke variants, the Norton Manx has a long, complicated history – which means that I defer you to The Vintagent to learn more. In recent times there has been a resurgence in its popularity …
1956 MV Agusta 125 TR
Post-Listing Update: Despite being re-listed, this MV Agusta 125 TR did not meet reserve at $3,600. Known as the Turismo Rapido, the MV Agusta 125 TR is a beautiful, small-displacement Italian. This example enjoyed an older restoration, though there’s been recent mechanical work to make it a rider. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the better examples I’ve seen …
OddBike – Authenticity in the Motorcycle World
Jason at OddBike has always put out quality articles, but I found myself constantly nodding my head while reading his most recent editorial, one about the concept of authenticity and what that means in the motorcycling industry, for big companies and individuals building out of their garages.
1957 Velocette Valiant
After World War II, Velocette sold the LE (Little Engine), a completely new design that was all about cheap, efficient transportation who wanted individual transportation. An evolution of the LE, this Velocette Valiant was supposed to be a sportier version, with more power, better styling, an extra gear on the transmission, and more.
Modern Homologation – 2014 Honda CBR1000RR SP
I realize that it’s very rare when I feature a bike built in the last couple of years. But after being inspired by yesterday’s RC45, it’s nice to see a modern homologation bike from Big Red – today’s example is the 2014 Honda CBR1000RR SP.
To the Top of Alaska, Day 10
June 13th, 2014 – Juneau, AK to Tok, AK ~530 miles Finally, a day where we’d spend more than an hour on our motorcycles!
1994 Honda RVF750 RC45
The Honda RVF750, also known as the RC45, was a legendary homologation bike and successor to the popular RC30. Though it was sold between ’94 and ’99, the US only got the ’94 model.
Baby Darmah – 1978 Ducati 350 GTV
Looking like a baby version of the early Darmah, the Ducati 350 GTV was an evolution of the unpopular GTL. Unfortunately, nearly all the Ducati parallel twins suffered from reliability issues, but this one seems to be in good shape…for now.
Ending Soon – 2006 Bimota DB6 Delirio
Post-Listing Update – As expected, this Bimota DB6 Delirio did not sell at the ask of $20,000. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find this bike sooner – regular readers who wait for the email won’t see this bike until after the listing has expired, but I doubt it will sell and I’m sure you can always contact the seller …
1980 BMW R100 Vintage Cafe Racer
Post Sale Update: After being relisted, this R100 sold for $6,000 after 26 bids on eBay. Is it weird that I’m featuring a bike solely because of the fairing? Well, we’re already familiar with the R100, but this bike looks great in Ivory White with black pinstripes, Supertrapp exhaust, and a custom fairing with Zero Gravity windscreen that bolts onto …
Eddie Lawson Rep – 1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR
Post-Listing Update – Despite 26 bids on eBay, this Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR did not meet reserve at $15,200. One of 750 ever built, the Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR (Eddie Lawson Replica) was a limited edition homage to the mount of Eddie Lawson, 4x winner of the World Championship (among many other titles). It was aggressively set up, and with the exception …
To the Top of Alaska, Day 9
June 12th, 2014 – Juneau, AK – 0 road miles Again, I have to stress something that I didn’t know until I started planning this trip: there’s no road out of Juneau. It blows my mind that the capital of a state can only be accessed by sea or by air, but I guess it’s part of the charm? We …
Brand New – 1978 Harley-Davidson MX250
7-27 Update: The seller did not get any offers close to his $18,000 asking price the last time around, so this Harley-Davidson MX250 is back up for sale with bidding up to $14,000 here on eBay. In the late 70s, Harley was in a phase of small-displacement bikes while under the control of AMF. They decided to dabble in the …