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News June 2024
Barn Built Buell
Revival, June 30
It took a couple of years and a lot of
patience, but Alec's revival of this rare Buell RR
1200 Battletwin was worth the effort
Weirdly, we got to ride the Battletwin
when it was new and throw a leg over the freshly
rebuilt version 34 years down the track. See the feature and the
video, here.
Time Machine –
Bimota KB1, June 28
It's 1998 and this circa 1980 Bimota
KB1 is up for sale via classified mag Just Bikes
for Au$15,000 (US$10,000, GB£8000).
Back then that was a fortune for an old bike and it would be interesting to know if the seller got anywhere near that price...see the full story here.
Jawa hero, June
27
One of our favourite period motorcycle
ads is this gem, for Jawa CZ.
For a while there, they were an
enormously successful export for the Czech company.
Their reputation was helped along by
the Czech Jawa team, which was a force to be reckoned
with in the International Six Days Trial from the
1950s through to the 1970s.
And the British Pathe newsreel from
the 1961 event, via YouTube.
Barn Built Buell Battletwin, June 26
Highlight of the day, the week, and
possibly the year: getting to play with Alec's revived
1989 Buell RR 1200 Battletwin some 24-ish years after
riding it as a new bike. One of 60-ish made, probably the
only example in Australia and one of a handful of runners
left world-wide, it was weird cattle back then and remains
an unforgettable experience all these years later.
We'll bring you the full story, with
video, ASAP. Watch this space...
In the
meantime, see our air-cooled Buell series profile.
Not the
hardtail, June 26
The announcement of the Softail series, seemingly moments after of the launch of the new-generation Evolution engine series back in 1983-84, was a pivotal moment for Harley-Davidson. Thinking back, it was more than likely a make-or-break effort for a company that was at the time wading its way out of a perilous financial situation. See our quick overview of a series now celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Boxer run, June
23
We've recently been playing with two variants of the new
BMW R 1300 GS platform: the Triple Black shown here and
the Trophy X. We'll soon unwrap what they're like, right
here.
In the meantime,
see the factory website.
And yes, that is its turn-of-the-century predecessor, the R1150GS, in the background. We have two in the shed and the moment. See them here.
Norton surgery,
June 23
Creative British engineer Allen Millyard is well into his restoration of the Norton Nemesis V8 and has reached the point where he's working on the crankshaft and conrods.
His hunt for new bearings has, weirdly enough, led him
straight to a 1980s Suzuki parts catalogue. See the video on
YouTube.
Sprint tempter, June 23
Remember these? Triumph's Sprint RS of 1999-on was never
a huge volume seller but was nevertheless highly regarded
by anyone who threw a leg over the model.
A well-sorted handling package, it combined with a 955
triple claiming a little over 110hp (120 in the 2002
model) to provide one of the most enjoyable rides
available at the time.
The example shown here, a 2000 model, is
on the market via Facebook for Au$5600 (US$3700,
GB£3000). It claims to be in good shape, with a little
under 20,000km on the odo. That seems like a lot of bike
for the money.
See the 2002
review at bikesales.
See our Sprint ST
1050 review.
Thunder days,
June 22
Yamaha's ThunderAce of 1996 was the last
front line sport bike from the marque that hedged its bets
by nudging sports-tourer territory.
How it should be packaged was a source of
controversy within the design team.
Sales struggled in a slow market.
Nevertheless it proved to be a quick and capable thing
that, these days, represents a potential bargain –
assuming you can find a decent one.
Under-rated Zed,
June 20
If ever there was a now-under-rated motorcycle from the 1990s, the Kawasaki ZZ-R1100 is it. Spectacularly quick and a halfway decent handling package for its day, this big sports-tourer more or less defined what the litre-plus end of the class could do.
Honda's VFR750 of
the same broad period was also a high point for fans
of three-quarter litre machinery.
Values for the Kawasaki are pretty low at the moment, though if you want one it will be a challenge to find an example that's original and with reasonable miles on the odo. Australians typically wear out this type of machine, when overseas equivalents often end up stuck on garages through harsh winters, or parked thanks to loss of interest.
See our feature on the series.
That Elvis
bloke, June 20
When Triumph this week announced an Elvis tribute Bonneville T120, we did quietly wonder how much traction (forgive the pun...) the whole Presley thing really has in this day and age. After all, the man died 47 years ago.
We did a quick check, and the Elvis
YouTube channel has somewhere in the order of 3.8
million subscribers.
Those of you who have been of legal
drinking age for a while may also recall the wildly
successful 2010 remix of A
Little Less Conversation by Junkie XL,
which has scored 38 million views. Watch it – you'll
understand why. Or not.
Okay, so they might be on to
something.
The new Elvis
signature model has several unique cosmetic touches and
comes as a numbered series of 925. According to the
maker: "each one will be presented along
with a Sony gold disc, in an exclusive Elvis Presley and
Triumph Motorcycles record sleeve, encasing a bespoke
certificate of authenticity, signed by Triumph’s CEO
Nick Bloor and Jamie Salter, Founder, Chairman and CEO
of ABG, Elvis Presley Enterprises."
They start to roll into Australia in
small numbers around July-August this year, priced at
Au$26,990 (US$18,000, GB£14,200).
Triumph started talking about the whole
Elvis connection last year, when it put out a call for
bikes bought in 1965 by the star for his mates in the
flippantly-named 'Memphis Mafia'. See the
intriguing story here.
Ducati trio,
June 19
Grays has a tempting trio of Ducatis
up for auction at the moment:
1987 Ducati 851
showing 14,260km
1978 Ducati 900SS
showing 12,800km
1985 Ducati
MHR1000 showing 29,750km
Today's oddball:
Moto Martin BMW, June 17
Something for
the BMW collector who thought they had everything:
this 1987 Moto Martin has popped up on the market
again. Our thanks to Richard Morrison for alerting us.
As rare as the proverbial hen's teeth, it's running a BMW K1 driveline and the vendor on bikesales tells an interesting story on how that came about.
We first covered the bike when it went to auction in 2021, however that sale was unsuccessful.
See the K1 that lived in our shed.
Travels with
Guido: motorcycle absurdity, June 16
Spend enough time with a particular model and you end up
going down the rabbit-hole of finding arcane bits to
support your toy, which somehow morphs from being a
mechanical mission to a lifestyle choice. Our most recent
example is for 1975 Honda GL1000 Gold Wings, two of which
are now in our shed...see the
latest Travels with Guido column.
Cop Kawasaki,
June 15
Here's living proof that dinosaurs roamed the highways
back in the 1980s. This 1989 Kawasaki USA ad for the
Z1000P was being run in specialist magazines (aimed at
state and county administrations) near enough to four
years after the air-cooled bikes had disappeared from
civilian showrooms. By that time the liquid-cooled GPz900R
and its siblings had taken over.
Nevertheless Kawasaki was pulling decent sales with the
older-gen machinery, apparently appreciated for its rugged
simplicity and, thanks to a claimed 92 horses, respectable
performance.
Earlier versions of the Z1000P became famous through
the1977-83 CHiPs TV series about two riders
with the California Highway Patrol.
You can't help thinking that, even now, it might make a
halfway decent solo touring bike.
The basis for the model was the Z1000J – see the
Motorcycle Specs data on the J.
Kawasaki went on to create liquid-cooled tributes to the
air-cooled era bikes, in the shape of the ZRX1100/1200R
series. See our profile.
Flashback:
rolling jewellery, June 12
Suzuki Hayabusa or Honda XR200? It's a tough choice when you're looking for the perfect motorcycle. See our Travels with Guido column from a few years back.
More Travels with Guido
columns
Collectible R1,
June 11
It's no secret that Yamaha's first-gen R1
is very much on the collector radar, though prices haven't
gone completely nuts. This 1998 example in the USA with
927 miles (1490km) on the odo was recently auctioned at Bring
a Trailer for Au$26,000 (US$17,000,
GB£13,400).
Finding a low-miler with the original
exhaust is becoming difficult. See what's listed
on bikesales.
Ultimate rides,
June 10
There
is no greater pleasure than swinging a leg over a
motorcycle and heading off into the great unknown in a
foreign land.
Sure
it can be a little scary at times, but the rewards are
enormous and, having sampled much of Europe, UK, USA
and Asia this way, we can highly recommend it.
Ultimate
Motorcycle Tours, written by experienced rider
and motorcycle author Grant Roff, gets across much of
that excitement, while providing some insights into
what to expect and to look for in some of the planet’s
great rides.
It
covers numerous routes in North America (including
Canada), Europe, the UK, Vietnam, India, Australia and
New Zealand.
An
unusual and worthy addition to the book is a series of
profiles on well-known motorcycle travelers.
To quote the author: "Some of these rides might remain
dreams, but others may be possible and forever
rewarding."
Published this year, it takes a refreshing approach to
the subject material and we can recommend it. Widely
available through the usual online stores, it's priced
at Au$45 (US$35, GB£23). The publisher
is Hardie Grant.
See our Ha
Noi Run road diary.
K-style –
flashback for the day, June 9
Devo meets Kraftwerk pretty much sums up the styling for BMW's weirdly spectacular K1. We owned one for a while and you can see the story (with video) here.
Also, see Ian Falloon's profile on the model.
Ago at auction,
June 9
A
near enough to spotless 2005
MV Agusta F4 1000 Ago sold at Donington Auctions
(Australia) on June 2 for Au$55,000 (US$36,000,
GB£28,500). That was a good result, given the currently
tight market.
As we noted in a previous story on this bike: producing around 166hp, the Ago received numerous upgrades over the Strada version of the F4 1000 and was retailed for Au$52,000 (US$35,000, GB£27,000) plus on-road costs.
This
example had zero miles on the odo and was number 15 of
300 made.
See the MV
Agusta F4 1000 Nero in our shed
Another
bike that got our interest was a round-case
Ducati 750 replica of the 1972 Imola-winning machine.
A difficult bike to value, it went for Au$40,000
(US$14,000, GB£11,000).
See our feature
on the originals.
Probably exceeding all expectations was an illuminated
Vincent motorcycles dealership sign dating back to
the 1950s. It measured 47cm wide (just over 18 inches)
and went for a staggering Au$7300 (US$4800, GB£3800).
Yamaha
aspiration, June 8
Yamaha's aspirational USA ad for the 1976 RD400, complete with the big house and Ferrari Dino in the background.
The copywriters make a big fuss over the cast aluminium rims and self-cancelling turn signals – hot stuff for the time.
See the Classic
Mechanics buyer guide;
And the data from Motorcycle
Specs.
We have a mini collection of RD250-350
brochures;
And a series or RD200-250-400
brochures from 1978.
The next step up the evolutionary scale was the
giant-killer RD-LC liquid-cooled series, then the more
sophisticated RZs.
Then in 1984 we scored the ultimate Yamaha stroker, the
feisty V-four RZ500, aka RD500LC. See our 500
profile.
Suzuki
GSX-R1100G – today's random factory pic, June 7
Handsome beast, isn't it? Well, maybe only if you are a
fan of eighties styling. Suzuki's GSX-R1100G of 1986 was
an ultra-compact and light beast for its day, claiming a
healthy 128 horses (95.6kW) for 197kg dry weight. It reset
expectations for buyers of open-class Japanese sports road
motorcycles.
We recently added a 1987 version to our fleet, an H
model. More to come on that, soon.
In the meantime, see our GSX-R1100
series profile.
Kawasaki GPz
resto, June 3
One for the fans of eighties style – a restored and very
late air-cooled GPz750 from 1987. It's with a
dealer on bikesales, priced at Au$8490 (US$5600,
GB£4400).
The liquid-cooled GPz900R had already been out a few years by this time, and a 750 version was available, so it was interesting to see the air-cooled predecessor still hanging around in the showrooms.
See the data and profile on the air-cooled 750 at Motorcycle Specs.
Plus the GPz900R A1 that lived in our shed.
BSA century –
today's retro ad, June 2
Retro ad for the day – BSA early 1960s.
See the Motorcycle
Classics Super Rocket versus Triumph Tiger 110
story.
Last day for
classics, June 2
Today is the final day for the current Donington
(Australia) collector auction. It includes this replica of
a 1972 Ducati Imola racer. See the catalogue
here.
We have two Falloon features on the originals: Part 1, Part 2.
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