Grey and Gold – 1988 Honda CBR400RR

For a few years in the late 1980’s – early 90’s, Honda had double coverage in the 400cc segment with two 4-cylinder 4-strokes, the V-4 VFR and the straight four CBR400RR.  Marketed somewhat differently, the CBR400RR really only made it to the western hemisphere as a grey import, where it has recently shined.  This one…

Yellow jacket: Zero-mile 2006 Yamaha R1 LE

To celebrate its 50th anniversary. Yamaha busted out the paint booth and the option sheet to create a limited run of hopped-up versions of their R1 literbike. The 2006 Yamaha R1 LE delivered the perfect birthday present to the storied brand, showing that Japanese brands were indeed capable of and interested in building special versions…

Stock, low-mile Supersport: 1996 Honda CBR600 F3

Our pals at Iconic Motorbikes have come through once again with a surgically clean example of a classic sportbike we children of the 1990s lusted after in the bedroom wall poster days. This one is in excellent-but-not-perfect shape, and is a one-owner machine with fewer than 10,000 miles on it. It shows some minor scrapes…

Ready to roll: 1986 Suzuki GSX-R 750

Ah, the 1986 Suzuki GSX-R 750. There are plenty of reasons to love “slabbies,” from their awkward-but-functional bodywork that signalled a move to full fairings for the sportbike crowd, to their no-apologies approach to out and out speed, to the fact that decent ones are fast becoming prized collector bikes. This example is a clean…

Mileage Discount: 2005 MV Agusta F4 1000

MVs are known for many wonderful things. They make fabulous noises, handle on rails, have astounding power almost everywhere, there is more than enough lore around the brand, and they’re sexy as hell and exclusive to top it off. But in true Italian fashion, they are not generally known for being the world’s most reliable…