The souped-up version of Ducati’s iconic 916, the 2000 Ducati 996S allowed Duc to keep the Massimo Tamburini styling that still did not look dated and make a raft of mechanical mods to keep up with the Joneses. The bores got embiggened, parts from the 916 SPS became standard, and horsepower climbed to the mid-120s,…
The engine of any motorcycle is its living, beating heart and the powerplant of Aprilia’s funky RSV Mille R was, at the time, as unconventional as the bike’s styling. A 90° v-twin is generally considered ideal for sporting applications, as the angle between the cylinders provides “perfect primary balance” where the unpleasant vibrations caused by…
In creating the 996, it might look like Ducati simply slapped a set of fresh decals onto their 916, with an extra “9” replacing the “1.” But the development of the 916 into the 996 and finally into the 998 saw a lot of gradual changes under that very pretty and iconic skin. Introduced in…
Update 10.31.2016: Please note the correct VIN for this bike is ZDM3SB3S1YB001839 and has been verified on the frame and title. While the bodywork doesn’t appear to be original, we believe this to be an authentic 748R. Please contact the seller for additional information. -dc At a glance, it’s easy to dismiss the 748R as…
Bimota’s successful line of Ducati-powered bikes seems a bit unconventional for the brand, considering they’d always been about creating machines that fused powerful, well-engineered Japanese engines with lightweight, race-bred frames to create bikes that were more than the sum of their parts. But machines like this DB4 seemed to be more about just distilling a…
Given the Bimota SB8R’s exotic reputation, you might be surprised to learn just how affordable they can be. They’re one of the most commonly-seen Bimotas and offer up Ducati noise and performance with looks that you’d never confuse with anything else. The slightly odd styling certainly matches the exotic brand and the bike uses Suzuki’s…
Cagiva’s Raptor was a followup to the Ducati Monster by the original bike’s designer, Miguel Angel Galluzzi. Powered by Suzuki’s powerful, reliable and, most importantly, low-maintenance v-twin in both 650 and 1000cc flavors, the Raptor attempted to recreate the magical Monster formula for Cagiva. Unfortunately, while it was better in pretty much every quantifiable way…
The Aprilia RS250 was the first two-stroke I actively lusted after. Keep in mind that I grew up in an era when two-strokes, at least here in the US, were basically found in off-road bikes and really annoying yard-care equipment. Not really the sexiest of associations. I still think that the sound of a two-stroke…