I’m a huge Laverda fan, so it’s disappointing their attempted resurrection in the 1990s didn’t work out. It wasn’t that bikes like this Ghost Strike weren’t any good: the beam frames were designed by the famed Nico Bakker and handling was generally considered excellent, even superior to Ducatis competing in the same segments. The standard…
Always a gem in original guise, the Yamaha FZR400 stands alone as the smaller-than-middleweight that was officially imported into the United States. Unlike the current crop of small-bore US bikes, these 400cc scoots were often reserved for European countries only; power-hungry America was not seen as a viable market by most manufacturers. This was partially…
Compared to a modern superbike, the fire-breathing performance of vintage two-stroke race replicas maybe isn’t quite as wild as their reputation would suggest. At the time, they were light and very powerful, but weren’t exactly at Grand Prix extremes of either even then. Modern machines have levels of rigidity, suspension response, and electronic assistance an…
The 1976 Yamaha RD400 came out screaming in 1976, a mag-wheeled exclamation point on Yamaha’s range of popular, fast-paced two strokes. To make sure the message landed, Yamaha re-tooled its factory to build the RD400’s parallel twin, which was more than just a rebored version of the RD350’s mill. A longer stroke necessitated new crankcases,…
In 1994 Ducati unleashed the equivalent of a nuclear weapon in the face of a sport bike field full of conventional weaponry. That year Ducati introduced the legendary 916 – and commenced an enviable run of WSBK world titles (four within a five-year span). Simultaneously offering a quantum leap in twin-cylinder performance (horsepower, rev limits,…
Originally conceived as an aviation company, famed motorcycle marque MV Augusta turned to the two-wheeled world after World War II in a move to survive European post war economics. With transportation being a key element and need, the firm began at the small end of the spectrum and only grew from there. From transportation to…
Deep in the vaults of exotic hardware purposely kept from the shores of America include examples such as this magnificent 1988 Honda CBR250R. There were extremely rare in the US during the late 1980s and 1990s – which is amusing since the venerable 250 Ninja was imported during the same period of time. But the…
Moto Guzzi has a long and storied history in the annals of motorcycling. Among the oldest motorcycle manufacturer – and THE oldest if you consider the “…in contiguous operation…” caveat (simultaneously turning a blind eye to the few lean years where they were between owners and technically not in production) – the Guzzi trademark is…