The rebirth of MV Agusta started in 1997 under the Cagiva banner, and was seemingly created with the notion that all models would be limited editions. The concept is not surprising considering Cagiva was the parent company of Ducati, long famed for marketing unlimited numbered and special edition variants. The MV Agusta F4 was the…
The Ducati brand is steeped in competition; much of what we enjoy today on the street was forged in angry battle on the tracks across Europe. So to was it with this 600cc TT2 machine. Listed as a racebike with a penchant for itinerant touring of local European villages in its youth, this twin now…
The term “sportbike” isn’t really one that has an absolute definition. It’s more of a loose set of parameters intended to capture an idea, and while most of us generally understand what we all mean when we use the word, there’s still plenty of room for interpretation. Ducati thinks a sportbike should be something ruthlessly…
Avis car rental used to have an advertising campaign that said “we try harder”. Aprilia is kind of like the Avis of Italian motorcycle brands; they historically have had to try harder, to take the occasional chance on something different. Just before being bought by Piaggio, Aprilia produced several bikes that were representative of this…
I seem to be headed backwards in time with my recent posts… This Yamaha TZ350 is a little bit older than I’d normally write about here, but was too cool to pass up. Yamaha’s water-cooled TZ bikes were pure production roadrace motorcycles with no direct street versions. Weighing in at about 250 pounds [dry] with…
Today we have a very interesting offering. Typically, non-exclusive bike models that are mass produced cannot be considered rare. However celebrity ownership sometimes can make a non-rare bike considerably more notable. It helps if the celebrity in question is related to the motorcycle world. In this case, the owner was well-known AMA Superbike contender Larry…
Just a quick post this time. This is a 1989 Kawasaki ZX7 Ninja H1. This is the 2nd generation of Kawasaski 750cc ZX/Ninja bikes and the slightly hotted-up version of these (the 750R) would be used as the basis for the bikes ridden by Scott Russell in 1990 to win hat won the AMA 750…
Okay, so here’s the thing: all of my early opinions about the 750 F1 were informed by Mick Walker’s Illustrated Ducati Buyer’s guide where the bike got one freaking star. I’m not sure where I put my copy, so don’t crucify me if I got that bit wrong, or if you have an updated edition…