In the US, we may not have been aware of the raging battle for 250cc supremacy that raged overseas through the late 1980s and early 1990s, but we were definitely aware of the competition in the four-stroke 600cc supersport class, with Kawasaki’s ZX-6R Ninja, Honda’s CBR600, Yamaha’s YZF/FZR600, and Suzuki’s GSX-R600 all vying for top…
UPDATESold for $10,000 on December 9, 2023 The Quarter-Liter Sportbike ClassIf you weren’t a dyed-in-the-wool two-stroke fan, or didn’t read British biking magazines back in the 80s and 90s, you might never know that there was a war going on back then between the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers to dominate a category that didn’t even exist…
Today’s Benelli Sei 900 might be pushing the definition of the term “sport bike” a bit: it’s not light, agile, or designed for pure speed. It is more of a gran tourismo, a grandiose pronouncement of Italian style and engineering, even if a few mechanical bits were artfully cribbed from the Japanese… Styling was bold…
British Japanese FusionIt’s an oversimplification but, in some ways, the introduction of the Honda CB750 and the Kawasaki Z1 signaled the beginning of the end for the British bike industry. The engines that powered those bikes were powerful, refined, reliable, and relatively easy to tune for increased power, but the bikes themselves were often heavy…
Sportbike power figures continue to soar ever upward, with top-spec modern literbikes well past the 200hp mark. Sophisticated electronics make that power manageable for mere mortals, but there are very few riders capable of truly exploiting the available performance. At the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find find today’s Moriwaki MH80, possibly the perfect…
The Ducati 900SS/CR was a bread-and-butter model for Ducati throughout the 90s, a more affordable option for Ducatisti who didn’t really need the performance or maintenance headaches of the more exotic four-valve bikes like the 851, 888, and 916. Here in the US, we mostly got the 900cc version, but 750 and 600 examples do…
The original Moto Guzzi V7 Sport was ground zero for a line of Italian sportbikes that stretches in a continuous line to the current day. Yes, it has shaft drive. And yes, the rumors are true: the engine started its life powering an odd, three-wheeled military tractor. But if ever there was a machine that…
Known colloquially as the “Mark IV Le Mans”, the Moto Guzzi Le Mans 1000 was an evolution of the company’s big sporting v-twin motorcycle. By the mid-1980s, Guzzi was definitely struggling against the Japanese manufacturers, and the new bike soldiered on with the same basic frame design the company had been using since the mid-1970s…