Today’s Laverda Ghost will certainly have a predictable share of haters, but it offered up a unique, stylish alternative to bikes like Ducati’s Monster. Powered by an air/oil-cooled, four-valve per cylinder 668cc parallel-twin with Weber-Marelli fuel injection that put a claimed 70hp through the six-speed gearbox, the bike was down on power a bit when…
Monday morning brings us yet another whippy little “you can’t get parts for it” two-stroke ripper. This RG250Γ is one of only a couple I’ve ever seen for sale in the US, and it’s in striking Walter Wolf blue and red colors as a bonus! The little Gamma doesn’t have the mini-modern sportbike styling and…
If you wanted a lightweight backroad weapon decorated with speedblock graphics in the late 80s and early 90s, your choice was clear: a Yamaha TZR250. The first TZR was powered by a liquid-cooled parallel twin and the last had the familiar 90° v-twin layout shared with Aprilia, Suzuki, and Honda. In between, Yamaha’s 1989-1990 3MA…
Hot on the heels of the RGS posted by Tad D on Sunday, here is a very lovely 1999 Laverda Formula 750s Formula edition for sale on ebay UK. I will admit to being biased about the bike posted below; its one of my personal favorites. The Formula editions were the top of the lineup…
Suzuki’s RGV250Γ shows up on this site from time to time, but it’s been almost a year since we featured that v-twin powered bike’s predecessor, the RG250Γ. Two-strokes were the best way to get both power and light weight out of the same package in the 1980’s and, instead of the later bike’s v-twin, the…
Yamaha made a name for itself in the US building giant-killing two-stroke parallel twins that powered the RD and later RZ models like this 1985 RZ350. The 347cc engine reatured liquid-cooling and made over 40hp stock, with plenty more available with careful tuning. While Honda largely focused on their heavy, but very sophisticated two and…
Designed as something of a poor-man’s Ducati 916, with a trellis frame clearly intended to evoke that more exotic bike, the Yamaha TRX850 is a rare and odd duck in the US. It’s far from beautiful, but possesses a chunky charisma, and although it was never imported to North America, these aren’t particularly rare overseas.…
If you’re in the market for a practical exotic that will turn heads and won’t break the bank to buy or to run, this virtually new MZ 1000S deserves a closer look. As much as we’d all probably love a garage full of weird exotica, for budgetary and space reasons, many riders are forced to…