The Ducati Pantah 500SL was a watershed moment for the company, a bike that seems a little underwhelming at first, but actually launched them into the modern era, with practical updates to the classic v-twin engine and striking looks that are hard to date, if you’re not familiar with the bike. Compared to most Japanese…
I’m not always a fan of race-replica paint schemes: they’re obviously designed to be as eye-catching as possible, so they’re usually not very subtle… But the Loris Reggiani Replica Aprilia RS250 keeps thing pretty simple, with a distinctive scheme that flatters the bike’s simple good looks. It’s so understated that, for the longest time, I…
Before the introduction of the class-breaking BMW S1000RR, the company wasn’t really associated with cutting-edge sportbikes, unless you go back a few decades to the R90S. After all, an air-cooled, 180° ” flat” twin with shaft drive is a pretty inauspicious foundation for a true performance machine. A flat-twin is obviously very wide, which presents…
Many of the Yamaha-powered Bimotas like today’s YB8 look suspiciously similar, and while I’m sure there are physical differences in the frames and fairings, I’d also bet that many parts are interchangeable between them. The YB8 used an updated YB6 frame, along with Yamaha’s 1002cc, five-valve inline-four and EXUP exhaust system from the FZR1000. During…
This bike has SOLD! Released in 1996 and named after the sinister black SR-71 Cold War spy plane that pioneered stealth technology, today’s Featured Listing Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird was also designed to be very fast, and very black. Also occasionally red and silver. The bike’s top speed of 178.5mph stole the top-speed crown from…
Considering they never sold all that well when they were new, the asking prices for used examples KTM’s RC8 superbike have been pretty shocking. They were always extremely competent bikes, but just a step behind in terms of outright performance, and they lacked the top-shelf tech of Ducati’s 1098 and BMW’s S1000RR and the Japanese…
The DB1 wasn’t Bimota’s first bike, but it perfectly embodies the company’s philosophy of taking a well-developed engine from an outside manufacturer and putting it into a package that was lighter, sleeker, and better-handling. That wasn’t really all that difficult to do when you’re looking at beasts like the Suzuki GSX1100: just take the good…
Update 8.24.2019: This bike has SOLD to an RSBFS reader! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Ducatis tend to evolve gradually, rather than in sudden leaps, and the 916 was no exception. Sure, the wasp-waisted styling was a shocking change but, underneath, much of it had been seen before, in one form or another. Significantly,…