Endurance racing doesn’t have much of a following here in the US, but it’s popular in Japan and Europe, and the French especially seem to love it. If you’re not familiar with the Bol d’Or, it’s a long-running 24-hour race held in France, literally the “golden bowl.” The second-generation of Aprilia’s v-twin superbike managed to…
Ducati’s original “round-case” v-twin may be one of the most beautiful engines of all time but, while tower shafts and bevel gears may be a very precise way to operate valves, they sure aren’t an economical one. Think about the shimming that must be done during assembly; it’s a very labor-intensive way to construct an…
The entire class of 250cc two-stroke sportbikes has alwasy been forbidden fruit for US-based sportbike enthusiasts. The last real road-burning stroker was the RZ350, a bike that can certainly hang with much more modern machines and punch well above its weight, but the 18” wheels and bikini-fairing mark it out clearly as a bike from…
Racebikes are different than other bikes we feature on RSBFS. Where the goal for many collectible roadbikes is absolute originality, or at least limited, period-correct updates, the whole point of a racebike is that it’s a rough-and-tumble artifact, a bit of living history, and battle scars are okay. If the machine in question is historically…
Created to celebrate his 2008 WSBK title win for Ducati, this Troy Bayliss Replica 1098R features the Aussie’s racing number, along with livery matching the bike he rode during the very last race of his career, sans sponsor logos. Ducati’s status as a sort of “Ferrari of Motorcycles” puts them in a tricky position. MV…
This Triumph always makes me think of that classic Donovan song: “I’m just mad about Saffron, she’s just mad about me, they call me Mellow Yellow [quite rightly]” Honestly, it isn’t exactly mellow, but the Daytona 955i does look great in this pretty wild shade of yellow. It helps that the overall styling is simple…
Styled like a Japanese Ducati Monster, Honda’s Hawk GT actually beat that bike to market by several years. It may have lacked a bit of sex appeal, but offered incredible versatility, reliability, and even some steering lock… The Hawk could scratch, commute, do some light-duty touring and, with a bit of work, made a great…
Ducati’s lineup of superbikes has long included three main tiers: the “entry-level” exotic standard version, the S-version that generally includes some trim and suspension updates, and the homologation R-version, that is sometimes a step up from the S, and sometimes an altogether different beast entirely… The most desirable bikes are most often the R-version, but…