Update 7.3.2018: These bikes are sold and headed to their new owner. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Writing for this site, it’s very rare I come across a bike that has me completely at a loss. I’ve got a great memory for weird motorcycles: Swallower-built Moto Guzzi with a girder front end and chain…
Bimota’s formula for success involved plentiful, reliable engines supplied by outside manufacturers, top-shelf braking and suspension components, frames designed with pure performance in mind, all wrapped in sleek, often wildly-styled bodywork. The use of well-developed and widely available engines meant they managed to survive much longer than most other boutique motorcycle manufacturers and their style…
The first generation of Triumph’s new line of motorcycles that followed their resurrection by John Bloor seemed calculated to avoid direct comparison with products from the Japanese manufacturers. They’d obviously learned from their past mistakes trying to match the high performance and low cost of their Big Four rivals, and the new lineup filled in…
An MV Agusta F4 750 Senna “signed by the master” would normally mean that it was signed by its creator, Massimo Tamburini. In this case though, the “master” in question is Giacomo Agostini, the famous rider who rode MVs to victory in so many races during the marque’s heyday. The F4 was to be their…
This time of year, really interesting sportbikes can be a little thin on the ground, so our online searches naturally take us farther afield. In this case, all the way to Japan for a 1983 Suzuki RGB500 that was the Grand Prix racing inspiration for the two-stroke RG500Γ. This Mk8 version was highly-developed, although the…
All right, all right. I know it’s probably not technically a sportbike. But all Confederates are extremely rare by their nature, and the very definition of exotic. The X132 Hellcat is more musclebike in terms of looks and riding position, the components list looks like an exotic owner’s Christmas wish list: BST carbon-fiber wheels, Berringer…
MZ’s history is more significant than the average enthusiast realizes, especially if you’re a fan of this site and/or grey market two-stroke sportbikes. “Why is that?” You might ask. Or more likely, “Who is that?” MZ, formerly MuZ was an East German manufacturer of two stroke motorcycles. Engineer Walter Kaaden actually pioneered the use of…
Look, I need to get this out of the way up front: this Aprilia Tuono 1000R Factory is a very ugly bike. The proportions are strange, the details are overwrought, there are creases and angles everywhere… Honestly, the only really positive thing you can say about the bodywork on the Aprilia Tuono 1000R is that…