Update 2.17.2017: Last posted in August of last year, this bike reached $34,101 reserve not met. Back on eBay and closes on Sunday. Links updated. -dc Prior to the RG500, two-strokes were found only in the smaller racing classes, and Suzuki was breaking new ground with this bike: no one had ever really built a…
Back when two-strokes ruled the entry-level sportbike class in Europe, Aprilia’s RS125 was designed to appeal to new riders who wanted something sporty, but were limited in terms of displacement and outright power by strict licensing laws that prevented the purchase of bikes that in the USA would be considered “learner bikes.” Sponsor logos and…
Honda had tested the market with the NS250F/R in 1984, and sampled in the MotoGP waters. On the heels of Freddie Spencer’s 1985 championship in the 500 and 250cc classes ( ! ), the factory introduced the NSR-250R in late 1986 as a 1987 model. This early example of the winning two-stroke twin is almost…
If you live here in the US and have a hankering for a two-stroke sportbike the choices, assuming you don’t want to monkey about with a grey-market import, are few and far between. 70’s two-strokes were relatively light and nimble, but still limited by the suspension and frame technology of the time, and by the…
In the world of import two strokes, you may be intimately familiar with RGs, NSRs, RZs and the like. What you don’t hear much about is the MVX. One of the oddities of the popcorn set, the MVX represents Honda’s engineering might coupled with a healthy dose of experimentalism. Unlike the RD/RZ/RG set with parallel…
Update 1.30.2017: The seller has notified me that this sale is now final on this bike after receiving serious interest just a day after listing. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Are you looking for an ’80s two-stroke to tear up the back roads in a cloud of blue smoke? Just move along: nothing to…
We don’t normally post project or incomplete bikes here on RSBFS, but this one seemed too good to pass up: one of Cagiva’s inspired but ultimately doomed series of 500cc GP machines, the V589. Battling against the established giants, Cagiva originally experimented with an inline-four configuration but eventually followed Suzuki’s successful formula with a square…
A tiny racebike with big performance, the Yamaha TZ125 was a pure racebike and should not be confused with the TZR series of sportbikes. Handling was thought to be on par with the Honda RS125 but the Yamaha was down slightly on power compared to its rival. At 56mm x 50.7mm bore and stroke, it…