Just a quick Sunday post for you folks who can’t get out riding this weekend. Or for those of you on the East Coast, reading this early in the morning before heading out for the day… So here we’ve got a pair of rare homologation specials from the Age of the Seven-Fifty, where this now-forgotten…
This is the first Bimota YB9SR I can remember seeing for sale and the seller unfortunately includes very little information, although the photos are of decent quality. The one detail you might want to keep in mind? The $5,500 asking price which, assuming the bike is mechanically sound, makes it an absolute steal. You probably won’t…
With prices of Suzuki’s RG500Γ “Gamma” through the roof right now, fans of 80s two-stroke exotica have had to look elsewhere for their smoky thrills, and today’s Featured Listing RG400Γ might be just the ticket for collectors seeking two-stroke performance on a less extravagant budget. Certainly, values of the Japanese-market RG400Γ have been below those of…
The modern “superbike” fits a very narrow design brief and, coincidentally, also refers to an actual racing class that includes big-bore sportbikes with full fairings and, typically a four-cylinder engine with an inline or V configuration. But the term was actually coined decades ago, and described big, naked four-cylinder machines with flat handlebars and relatively…
Suzuki has a long-standing relationship with the smaller Italian brands, providing their well-engineered powerplants to the likes of Bimota, Cagiva, and Aprilia. It makes sense: big companies may have excess production capacity, and it’s practical for smaller companies to purchase powerful, reliable, thoroughly-developed engines and transmissions and instead focus on frames and styling. In the…
In the early days of motorcycle design, there were a variety of alternatives to the telescopic forks that have become the standard in an industry evolving towards efficiency but, unfortunately also towards homogeny. Even the S1000RR that followed today’s HP2 Sport as BMW’s flagship sportbike is evidence of this: that striking asymmetrical bodywork is wrapped…
This is it. The end of the line. The last hurrah. The final countdown. The Ducati 900SS FE or “Final Edition.” Well, not really: 1999 saw the introduction of a brand new-ish, fuel-injected, Pierre Terblanche-styled SuperSport that carried over most of this bike’s strengths. But this is the very last of the old-school, carbureted SuperSports…
For connoisseurs, the Ducati 851 is the Bolognese superbike to have: it’s not as obvious or uncomfortable as a 916, and it was the first of the four-valve breed, the speartip of Ducati’s new push to be relevant to the modern sportbike world. The air-cooled, two-valve Pantah may be a classic, charismatic engine, but it…