Motorcycle Investor mag
What's happening
News archive Sep 2019
Dakar Winners, Sept 27
Dakar winners by Harry’s Garage. Long, but good...
Solid results, Sept 26
See our Sept 23 post, where a 1984 Yamaha RZV500R (domestic market aluminium frame variant of the RZ500) and 1983 Ducati 900 Hailwood Replica were up for auction via Graysonline. Both looked well-presented and got solid results: $18,000 for the Yamaha and $26,300 for the Ducati.
Easy Rider insight, Sept 25
See Mr Zip on the web for more.
Buy Local, Sept 25
Amazon, eBay...terribly useful sometimes, but this sign has a good point. I wandered into a real shop recently - Mick Hone Motorcycles - and got carburettor parts for a bank of four on a 1980 Suzuki, along with a helping of solid advice. That was way beyond the skill set of your hopeful online hero.
Yamaha R1 - future collectible, Sept 24
It was a few years ago now, when a Motorcycle Trader reader and I were standing back a little from the noise of the wonderful Broadford Bonanza, talking about collecting bikes. We agreed that some desirable models out there were just getting too expensive, even stuff from the seventies that was almost free a couple of decades ago.
“I’ve started putting away stuff from the nineties,” he announced...see the full story here.
Classics at Graysonline, Sept 23
A couple of interesting classics are on the block at Graysonline:
A 1984 Yamaha RZV500R. This is the early domestic market model with the aluminium frame;
And a 1983 Ducati 900 Hailwood Replica bevel. Both look to be in very presentable condition. See the auction here.
Jawa Boxer, Sept 22
Ever seen one of these? It's a Jawa 500 boxer prototype that never made it into production and was developed around 1984. It's on display in a Czech technical museum. Posted by Bruse Espedal in the BMW Airheads forum on Facebook,
Cafe racer project, Sept 21
Perhaps the perfect start on a new project bike? On Gumtree for $5600.
Learners are heroes - retro column, Sept 21
From 2003: I've just had an absolute pig of a lesson, and the worst part is I can't really blame the ordinary weather, the instructor, the machinery, the unfamiliar territory – none of them. As much as I want to. It was just a bad co-ordination day when I probably shouldn't have been trusted with a pair of shoelaces...see more here.
Hansford Kawasaki KR350 prototype, Sept 20
A nice shoot from Phil Aynsley with a story by MCnews online. Well worth a look.
Kwaka Chop, Sept 19
A wonderful seventies throwback, posted by Jared Zagami on the Classic & Custom Japanese Motorcycles feed on Facebook.
Cops and bikes - sixties style, Sept 18
From the Just British Motor Cycles feed on Facebook.
Zero mile NR750 on market, Sept 17
A zero mile Honda NR750 is coming on the market through Iconic Motorbikes - you can see the Facebook feed here. Worth a fortune in unused condition, but what a waste!
Specs and background.
The Sheddies by Chris Slane, Sept 15
Just tripped over this Kiwi artist after a cartoon by him was doing the rounds of Facebook. See his web site here.
Barry's Bikes, Sept 15
Three race bikes owned by former GP star Barry Sheene have made the trip back to Suzuki in the UK for a freshen up and to be displayed at the NEC Show in Birmingham in the second half of November. The plan is to get them running. Suzuki UK YouTube channel
Ttriumph's Two-stroke Twin, Sept 14
Could this have been the bike that saved Triumph? Given the outrageous success of Yamaha and others with two-strokes, the answer may well be yes. However then Triumph boss Edward Turner wasn't convinced when this twin-cylinder 200 prototype was developed in 1957. Read the story and test ride of the machine, now owned by the Sammy Miller museum, by Alan Cathcart at Riders @ DriveMag.
Race Across the Great Divide, Sept 12
This striking Bill Meyer shot is of Gregg Hansford on a Yamaha TZ750 at Daytona in 1974. It's from the excellent book Race Across the Great Divide, which talks of the heydays of Aussie racers in the 1970s. Written by Don Cox and Darryl Flack, it's available through Bellbird Publishing and comes highly recommended.
Buddy's bike, Sept 10
Buddy Holly at right and his then new (and very rare) Ariel Cyclone, on the day he and his band-mates picked up new toys to celebrate their success.
Buddy would have been 83 years of age this year and his bike is 60. See the fascinating background story here.
Big money for veteren bikes, Sept 9
New Imperial 8hp 1917 model - proof there’s life in the veteran market. This one sold at the Bonhams Beaulieu sale last weekend for $45,500.
It was a model designed during WWI for military work and was powered by a JAP V-twin.
Its size and reliability also saw it in demand as a civilian model (later designated as the Model 7) and was sold new through to 1922.
Romero's record-setting Trident, Sept 8
From Pete Brown at the Classic Road Race Pictures Upload Page on Facebook: We set the scene...it’s practice for the 1970 Daytona 200 and Gene Romero gets set to record the fastest ever lap of the oval circuit (it’s final year). He achieves a mind-boggling 157.3 mph (253km/h) on the Triumph Trident - a record that will never be surpassed and will go down in history as one of road-racing’s greatest achievements!
Brilliant builds, Sept 7
Couldn't help but be impressed by these builds from Japan. Look for the gallery on Facebook, led by this wild Katana-styled two-stroke Yamaha.
Honda Scrambler looks like value, Sept 6
Love the look of these late-60s to early-70s Honda Scramblers and this one seems like it might be decent value. Available in Australia from North Coast Classics.
See this link for a specs and a profile of the model.
Kawasaki Turbo - the best of them, Sept 4
Ever considered adding a turbo bike to the shed? This is the pick of them
(From Motorcycle Trader mag, circa 2015) Kawasaki’s 2015 launch of the H2 and H2R supercharged techno flaghships rightly created plenty of interest, but was far from being the first time the company dabbled in forced induction motorcycles.
You have to remember back to the early 1980s, when bikes like Kawasaki GPz1100 and Suzuki GSX1100 roamed the earth...more here.Zen & the Art interview, Sept 3
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author Robert Pirsig may have shuffled off this mortal coil, but there remains audio of a very early interview with him at NPR in the USA.
Well worth a listen if you’ve read the book.
NPR link.
Velocette Valiant, Sept 3
Velocette Valiant boxer - rare sight these days. (Pic: Graham Tiller via Wikipedia Commons)
-------------------------------------------------
Produced by AllMoto 61 400 694 722
Privacy: we do not collect cookies or any other data.
Archives
Contact
