The 1986 Suzuki GSXR-1100 gave the world its first peek into the future of road-going superbikes, showing that big bore engines did not necessitate portly chassis and that outright speed did not preclude sharp handling. Based on the already cutting edge GSXR-750, the 1,100cc Gixxer cut the first mile of trail for today’s featherweight liter-class…
After lagging slightly behind throughout the ’90s with a host of beautiful-but-dated or comfortable and fast-but-heavy steeds, Yamaha came out of its corner swinging in ’98 with the all-new R1. It was covered in decals advertising age-old Yamaha marketing terms like Genesis and Ex-Up, but the new machine was a beast the way the CBR900RR…
Update 2.20.2018: SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Update 2.12.2018: The GSX-R712 has been kept warm all winter in the living room and is ready to ship and run at your house this spring. Price has been dropped to $9,750. The 1980s were a watershed era for sport bikes. This was a period of…
SOLD IN 24 HOURS! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc The Suzuki TL-1000R was a bold but flawed stab at stealing big v-twin superbike dominance away from Ducati. The bike was a bit of a misfit, impressing neither road testers nor road racers, as it was overweight and fitted with a mystifying and dangerous radial…
I ran into a nice young rider the other weekend while I was eyeing his flat grey EBR 1190RX. We talked about the bike and all its neato Buell-y features, and he asked me what I was riding, so I introduced him to my Daytona, which also happens to be grey… “Aren’t you a little…
As slab and Slingshot Gixxers from the mid to late ’80s get more and more expensive and desirable, now is an increasingly good time to look to their competition to snag an equally capable but much cheaper mount. Early Kawasaki ZX-7s are a great alternative, with more forward-looking styling and a reputation as the baddest…
Although displacement was technically a bit more than a liter, the first generation Suzuki GSX-R1100 really established the modern literbike formula: take a big inline four engine, and squeeze it into a 600 or 750 sized package. The philosophy that created the iconic Gixxer was initially tried out with Suzuki’s GSXR400, and the result was…
The smallest Gixxer led a long and fruitful life of bringing young riders into the motorcycling fray, riding the wave of 400cc popularity that swelled, crested and broke in the 1990s. Like most Japanese four-stroke 400s, it had an aluminum frame, a screaming inline four that made around 60 horsepower and aped the looks of…
