Although for many, the second-generation Aprilia RS250 captures the essence of lightweight, two-stroke performance, I prefer the earlier versions, like this Chesterfield replica: the later bikes are just a little bit bulbous in the tail, and that techno-futuristic dash just look a little bit too “1980s Dodge Daytona” for me. Not that I’d pass up…
We normally try to post unmolested, rare and exotic motorcycles here on RSBFS. Not customs or kit bikes, no matter how nice. But this little flyweight track-day terror based on a YZF450F seemed like a good excuse to break our own, self-imposed rules. Racing is an expensive hobby, even if you’re doing everything you can…
Introduced in Europe in 1981, the Suzuki GSX1100S “Katana” and its littler siblings like this rare, apparently very late-production GSX400S stunned the motorcycle buying public. A quick glance at bikes available from other manufacturers at the time shows us deep in the era of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle, and the Big Four were clearly following,…
Today’s Yamaha TZR250R hails all the way from South Africa, although that shouldn’t surprise fans here in the US. The USA tragically never officially received any of these 250cc two-strokes that battled it out like tiny, raspy versions of the bikes that endlessly battled for sales in the 600cc and 750cc classes. Frames were trick,…
Today’s very clean Suzuki RG500Γ “Gamma” hails from power-mad Australia, where it seems like there are a disproportionate number of these two-stroke terrors stashed away. With fewer than 10,000 produced for all markets during three years of production, the bike was a true race-replica and shared its wild liquid-cooled square-four engine with no other model…
Most peoples’ basements are filled with boxes of moldering old magazines, holiday ornaments, clothes destined for Goodwill, and maybe the odd dry well for storing kidnapping victims, but at least one individual has a nice vintage Yamaha TA125 racebike hiding in theirs. A relatively inexpensive production racebike, the TA filled a gap in Yamaha’s racing…
A practical, naked standard, the DB6 Delirio is a pretty far cry from Bimota’s roots. The company made its name building barely streetable racebikes with lightweight trellis frames, wild styling, improved suspension, and a raft of racebike details. The DB6 definitely has top-shelf suspension and innovative details, but it was designed as Bimota’s “entry-level” model.…
Grey Market Week continues with another weird and wonderful small-displacement sportbike from Honda, the CBR250RR. At a glance, it might be easy to dismiss this little 250 as a primitive commuter like the current CBR300, since these days, that’s exactly what you’ll get. The CBR, Ninja 300, R3 are all clearly built as budget-friendly…