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News October
2024
Tech school
turbo, October 8
From our rare-find department: This 1983 Honda CX650 Turbo was recently sold by Bring a Trailer in the USA, with a mere six miles (10km) on the odometer. How so? It was donated to a tech school by Honda America, so it's probably had its tappets done a zillion times.
A presumably grateful school decided to gift the machine to a teacher on his retirement and he in turn sold it to a dealer in 2019. The recommissioned bike is said to be in great shape, though it has a minor dent in the top of the fuel tank, probably from some klutz dropping a spanner on it.
No matter, it
went for a respectable Au$27,500 (US$18,500,
GB£14,100). That's more than we'd expect to see for a
healthy example with reasonable miles on the local market.
Turbo bikes have long struggled to fetch big money.
For some the holy grail is a genuine Kawasaki USA Z1R-TC
of 1978-79, of which 500 were made. Mecum sold one in
2020 for Au$44,160 (US$29,700, GB£22,700), which may
be a record for this model.
See our Turbo
Kings backgrounder
Flashback:
Chasing the Bonneville speed dragon, October 6
Triumph's first Bonneville got off
to a surprisingly
rocky start...see the story.
Rattle, cackle
and smoke, October 5
We got a little distracted this morning,
resuscitating our 1985 Suzuki TS185ER, which has been
sitting unused for, oh, nearly a year.
It really didn't want to start, so we
shouted it fresh fuel and went nuts and cleaned the spark
plug. Of course it worked and belted around the suburbs
while filling us with the joy of spring.
That mad rattle, cackle and rich blue
smoke of an air-cooled two-stroke warming up feels like
aural violence when unleashed on modern traffic, even
though it's running a stock muffler.
We've now
owned this bike for around 30 years...see the story
here.
MotoCAP open
day, October 5
The
MotoCAP motorcycle safety gear testing site at Deakin
University in Geelong today held an open house in
partnership with the launch for Motorcycle Awareness
Month in Victoria, Australia.
Its modest facility evaluates a range of clothing and is notable for developing a lot of expertise in assessing jackets, pants and gloves. Here is our quick overview.
Motorcycle
Awareness Month Facebook page
(Pic: MotoCAP)
Hayabusa day,
October 4
We took full advantage of a rare occurrence, which is the
second consecutive sunny day in lower Victoria in living
memory (okay...that may be an exaggeration), by taking the
25th anniversary Hayabusa for a decent gallop.
Though having collected it in late January, this is the
first time it's been out of Melbourne. At some stage we'll
report back on what it's like, when we get it past the
1000 kay (600 mile) mark on the odometer.
What we can so far confirm is it's very orange, very fast
and as flash as a rat with a gold tooth with its high-end
electronics and metal-flake paint. It's great fun.
Not everyone is a fan of the big mufflers, but we reckon they work as part of the whole manga visual package.
See our Hayabusa
resources page, which includes a gen 3 review and video.
Lifetime Ducati, October 3
It's probably one of a kind. Okay, that's a big
statement, but hang in there. This 1973 Ducati 750 Sport
is a one-owner motorcycle and has been put on the market
by the gent who wandered into the Frasers Brisbane
showroom 51 years ago and laid down his hard-earned.
It's been ridden, a lot, and given a mechanical
freshen-up at some stage. It's been ridden, a lot, and
given a mechanical freshen-up at some stage. The owner has
now decided to part with it, and has it on the market at
Au$80,000 (US$55,000, GB£42,000). See it here.
See our Ducati
750 Sport backgrounder.
Adventure author
and MotoCap for awareness launch, October 3
Adventure Rider Radio stalwart, and author of The
Butterfly Route, Michelle Lamphere is among the
guests highlighted for this Saturday's launch of the
annual Motorcycle Awareness Month campaign in Victoria.
The event happens in Geelong's Transvaal
Square, from 10.30am, October 5.
Organisers promise an impromptu
motorcycle display, some great guests, plus a bundle of
prizes including MotoGP tickets.
We reckon one of the highlights is the
opportunity to visit the MotoCap rider clothing
testing facility based at Deakin University's nearby
campus. You need to book ahead for that tour and the
tickets are free.
Motorcycle
Awareness Month Facebook page
The
Butterfly Route via Amazon
Nineties
nirvana, October 2
Forgive the dodgy happy-snap...it was taken just moments after we celebrated a sunny afternoon by exercising three of our prime 1990s-derived hero sports-tourers.
In a market now dominated by very
different equipment, they represent a mostly lost era and
one which we continue to enjoy. From left to right are
Hannibal our Tainton-tuned first-gen Suzuki Hayabusa, the
first-gen Honda Blackbird and of course the first-gen
Kawasaki ZX-12R.
One day soon, we should tackle a bit of
an ownership and riding comparison. Until then, you can
discover more about these bikes here:
See our Hayabusa resources page
Honda CBR1100XX
Super Blackbird profile
Bronson, our
current Blackbird
Kawasaki ZX-12R
first-gen profile
The Beattie
Files: The Battle of Daly Waters, October 1
How a relatively
simple plan to ride Harley panheads across the
country turned into something way more dangerous
involving fireworks and a bus-load of Swedish
backpackers...see it here.
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