The original Benelli triple in the Tornado displaced 898cc and couldn’t really compete head-to-head against the other comparable superbikes of the era. It was a good bike, with sound engineering and a quirky layout that located the radiators and fans in the tail of the bike. But it wasn’t quite good enough and, when WSBK…
It’s always interesting to see the disparity in terms of bike values, depending on market. It seems like you can make a decent living, finding bikes where they are cheap and plentiful, and shipping them to places where they ain’t… In Japan, the 250cc two-stroke sportbikes of the 80s and 90s are relatively cheap, although…
After the John Bloor resurrection of the Triumph brand and some experimentation with both three and four-cylinder engines, it became clear the triple supplied the right blend of weight, power, and perhaps most importantly, character that provided an alternative to the run-of-the-mill fours then dominating the sportbike scene. The original Daytona used a spine frame…
Great to see two Benelli’s in a month, but two have popped up this holiday week ! This is an earlier example of the rear-radiator sportbike, with just dealer miles despite its litigious past. 2005 Benelli Tornado Tré for sale on eBay After difficulties in the late 1980’s, the revitalized Benelli showed the Tornado in…
Following their 2002 Tornado Tré sportbike, Benelli’s successful TNT all-around bike was the re-vamped company’s foray into the liter-plus-class. Testing the roiling naked-sport waters, Benelli put many advancements and quality components into the Tornado Naked Tré 1130. RSBFS regular Iconic Motorbikes offers this 2007 TNT and though it’s not perfect, its ability to draw a crowd…
It would have been almost impossible to find an H1 in this condition in the mid-1970’s, Mach III’s generally obscured by dirt accumulated in the oily mist coating the bike. This one has had a nice restoration and the auction still has a couple of days to run. 1973 Kawasaki H1 500 Mach III for…
Like Chevy’s Z28 Camaro, the H2 is a model that creeps back into Kawasaki’s line-up occasionally, but here we have the pre-historic beast that made the name. The fire-breathing two stroke triple lasted only a few years before being regulated out of existence, but memorable enough that H2 is only applied to the most extreme…
When you think “high speed touring” the usual suspects usually begin with BMW and then taper off quickly towards some muted, former sportbike, Japanese road missile (think Connie or otherwise). All good choices, to be sure. But if I challenged you to narrow your answer to cover the 1970s and 1980s, what would you say?…