Double Header – 1992 Yamaha TZR250R 3XV

If yesterday’s ’91 model year TZR250 in the muted grey colors didn’t quite get your motor running, how about a fresh-from-Japan ’92 model year in the bright and cheery white/red livery? This is a bike that looks like it is going fast even when it isn’t, and as a 250cc v-twin two stroke pushing a…

Euro Chic – 1986 Honda VF1000R Interceptor

One of the classic – yet misunderstood – heavyweights from the 1980s was the Honda VF1000R. Heavily influenced by endurance racing, the big Interceptor was shy of a true Homologation machine but certainly benefitted from Honda’s dedication to the track. From the gear-driven cams made famous by the RC30 to the dual headlights that illuminated…

Napoleon Dynamite – 1984 Yamaha RD500LC

Unlike the geeky and ungainly title character who comes good at the end (#spoileralert), the Yamaha RD500LC has never been anything but cool. The Japanese interpretation of what a street-going, 500cc two-stroke GP machine should be, today’s example appears to have played around in France before being imported into the US and going through a…

Obrut Rides Again – 1983 Suzuki XN85

Ah, the Turbo wars of the early 1980s. The best of the bad old days, when manufactures jumped on the technology bandwagon in the search for 1,000cc HP from a midsized motor. All four of the major Japanese brands offered a Turbo bike for at least 1 or two years, and perhaps the most rare…

Canadian Classic – 2007 Ducati Sport 1000S

The Ducati Sport Classic lineup was an innovative approach to take the tried and true – in this case the tried and true, air-cooled, two valve standard Desmo mill heavily utilized in the Supersport and Monster offerings – but in a different platform called the Sport Classic. That platform was built on nostalgia, and different…

Cheap as Chips – 1998 Bimota SB6R

One time RSBFS contributor and long-term RSBFS friend Marty pointed out this pretty SB6R in the UK with the following note: “Back in the day, the joke on RSBFS was that Bimota SB6’s couldn’t be counted as a Rare Sport Bike because there were always ones for sale on eBay and other sites. Sadly those…