There are so many cool things about today’s listing. For starters, it is an ultra-rare (in the US) 400cc Ninja that was only available in Japan. As we know, the small-bore market in Japan is serious business which means that they get serious hardware. Think of this as a bike just as potent as any…
Homologation machines exist to go racing. Sometimes it is the street bike that makes the race bike possible. Sometimes the street bike is the actual privateer race bike. In almost all cases, homologation machines are collector items because by nature they are limited in numbers. And of those numbers, many of the supply have been…
In the 1980s all the major Big Four manufacturers were geared up to go racing. This was a massive boon to the consumer; not only did racing improve the overall breed, race-ready bikes showed up in the showrooms as homologation models. And while Honda and Yamaha produced actual race bikes with street concessions (read: RC30…
When Honda launched the Turbo wars with the 1982 CX500T, the rest of the Big Four were not far behind. Before the very brief rise of the factory turbos came crashing down, Honda had produced both the CX500 and CX650 Turbos, Suzuki introduced the stunning XN85 Turbo Katana look-alike, Yamaha phoned in a warmed-over Seca…
Orwellian theory aside, big brother was indeed watching in 1984. In fact, the whole world was watching in 1984, as the last truly competitive “old school” middleweight sport bike strutted its stuff. Today this is better known as a classic – even potentially an antique given its 36-ish years of age – but back then…
The RSBFS faithful see the green paint, the giant black lump of air-cooled, four cylinder goodness, the gold accents, and instantly know this bike as an ELR: Eddie Lawson Replica. Eddie was responsible for Kawasaki championships in the 1981 and 1982 AMA Superbike series. The homage was well deserved, and Eddie has been inextricably linked…
The early 1980s were a bad time for speed. With a very few exceptions, cars had spent the previous decade becoming wheezy, lumbering and compromised. Motorcycles were yet to fully cross the Rubicon from being either quirky runabouts or the steeds of tattooed heathens to the mounts of true enthusiasts. And then in 1981, Kawasaki…
This Featured Listing is part of the The Bob Benyo Collection. Thank you for supporting the site, Bob! -dc This 2002 Kawasaki ZRX1200R is the perfect example of what is possible from Kawi’s early aughts muscle bike with a little attention and imagination. Our buddy Bob and his shop took a lot of time and…