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…
Yamaha’s R7 was among the last in a long line of machines from the Age of Homologation Specials, where the manufacturers competing in AMA and World Superbike racing created limited runs of insanely expensive bikes that looked like production models, but were chock full of trick bits like adjustable steering heads and exotic engine internals.…
Update 3.14.2018: Turns out this one sold faster than we could post it. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc A modern literbike is a relatively peaky beast: chasing horsepower without increasing displacement means ever-higher revs are required, and a six-speed box makes sense. It’s telling that bikes like today’s Featured Listing Yamaha’s FZR1000, one of…
Update 4.15.2018: Now listed on eBay for $18,500. Good luck to buyers and seller! -dc These days, Moto Guzzi is pigeonholed as the Piaggio Group’s resident bearer of the sporty retro banner, building the Italian equivalent of Triumph’s classic Thruxton, Speed Twin, and Bobber. Which is a damn shame, given Guzzi’s history of legitimately competitive…
Ducati’s mid to late-80s bikes existed in a kind of limbo: the modern sportbike was taking shape, and the Ducati 750 F1 Laguna Seca was birthed during this transitional period. The 750 F1 and its variations weren’t quite the refined-ish, modern-ish, mass-produced-ish machines of the Cagiva era, but they weren’t the nearly hand-crafted bikes of…
I realize that I’m spoiled. I’m spoiled because my current riding group includes five or six MV Agustas that actually run, a pair of RSV4s, a few Ducatis, a couple Bimotas, and a KTM. I’m spoiled because I live in Southern California, and car and motorcycle exotica are everywhere: I’ve recently come across a few…
Update 3.17.2018: The seller has notified us that the transaction is now complete for this Hurricane and in fact sold quickly after being posted for just 4 hours. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc If Suzuki’s GSX-R codified the sportbike formula for the masses, the Honda CBR600F Hurricane represented the next evolution. Introduced in 1987, and…