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News June 2021
Great expectations, June 30
A recent auction through Grays saw strong bids made for a couple of prime motorcycles, but they weren't enough to get the keys.
The first was a 1973 Ducati 750 Sport which scored a top bid of Au$105,000 (US$79,000, GB£57,000) but didn't meet reserve. This machine had undergone a high-end restoration at Vee Two Australia and had previously been advertised for Au$135,000 (US$101,000, GB£73,000).
The $105k bid was a new Australian record price for that model, though we have seen a couple of examples sell overseas for similar money. They need to be in perfect condition with zero miles and/or have a spectacular provenance, to fetch that sort of money. In any case, this is a big surge in Sport prices.
Less fortunate was the vendor of a 1985 Suzuki RG500 with 7900km on the odo. Bidding reached Au$27,600 (US$21,000, GB£15,000), which is below the Au$30,000-plus (US$22,000, GB£16,000) owners say premium examples are fetching.
Triumph tempters, June 29
Triumph ad for the 1974 T150 five-speed triples. Tempting, eh? Note the reference to circumventing the Meriden factory strike by moving production to Birimingham.
T150V backgrounder and specs via Motorcycle Specs.
See the story on our T160, here.
Fire it up, June 26
Sorting the ignition on our 'new' Ducati 860 GT. See it here.
The Dalniks have landed, June 26
No, it's not a Dr Who prop, but a recreation of a 1959 Dalik D-06 concept bike fron Czechoslovakia, powered by a 1200cc four. We picked this up from Silodrome's Facebook page.
And see more on dalniks as a concept, at the Brno Region website.
Speeding Venturi, June 25
New Atlas has published an intriguing story about a very different electric motorcycle, the central feature of which is a giant venturi. It's aimed at setting a speed record. See the story here.
Titan resto, June 24
One of the nicest Suzuki T500 Titans we've seen has just popped up on the market. Located at Deception bay in Queensland, it claims an extensive resto and is priced at Au$10,250 (US$7800, GB£5600). See it here.
Norvin sale, June 24
This one-off Norvin racer is up for sale. See the feature on the bike, here.
Harley soon to launch a sporty Bronx, June 23
It's no secret that Harley-Davidson is to finally produce an in-house sports bike, now Buell is out of the picture. However the launch of the Bronx was delayed while the company reconsidered its options.
This pic was picked up by Heavy Duty magazine, showing a 975 Bronx that is expected to be launched soon. It's based on the new liquid-cooled engine platform, shared in 1250 form by the recently-launched Pan America adventure tourer.
Teaser pics also suggest a 1250 street bike. The company is due to conduct an online launch on July 14. Here's where you register to see it.
Victoria Club permit Scheme to change, June 23
The Vic state government is about to amend a number of aspects of the Club Permit Scheme. By far the biggest change will be for vehicle eligibility, which shifts from 25 to 30 years...more here.
Retro ad for the day, June 22
Triumph 6T Thunderbird, which was launched in 1949.
How much for the Zed? June 19
Results from a recent Shannons auction confirm that if you now want a seventies Kawasaki Z900 in premium shape, it will cost you around Au$35,000 (US$26,000, GB£19,000)...more here.
Retro ad for the day, June 19
It's 1971 and Suzuki is doing its very best to conquer boredom with a TS-series stroker. That works for us...
Rare Century twin for sale, June 19
One of two Century Chief prototypes from the 1990s has lobbed in Australia and is now for sale. More here
Sweet SR, June 19
Definitely a front-runner for our Father of the Year award is Stu Lloyd, who built this Yamaha SR500 cafe racer for his daughter. Worth a read, here.
Pivotal Moment – 40 years ago, June 17
A pivotal moment for H-D and, in some ways, much of the rest of the motorcycle industry. This was a publicity pic for the 1981 leveraged buyout from AMF, by management, of the Harley-Davidson company.
The industry as a whole was heading for a major contraction later that decade.
A few years after this shot was taken, the Evolution series was launched, which was a badly-needed product upgrade.
As the proverbial hit the fan, it was H-D which turned out to be an innovator when it came to developing owner groups and the accessory/merchandise side of the business, along with their retail environment.
In the pic: Willie G Davidson at right, Vaughn Beales next to him. (Pic from H-D Museum)
Darmah Drama, June 16
Ducati's 1977 launch of its Leopoldo Tartini-designed 900 road bikes came in two forms, the 900 SD (top) and 900 SSD (below), aka the Darmah series. If nothing else, you couldn't accuse Ducati's marketing of under-playing things!
Ian Falloon tells us the 1981 ad is from UK distributor Coburn & Hughes.
The styling changes were accompanied by significant technical updates over the 860 series, including a switch to Desmodromic heads.
See Darmah specs and backgrounder at Motorcycle Specs;
See Falloon's Ducati 860, 900 Mille Bible (print).
UK Auction Results, June 13
H&H Classics in the UK recently handled 150 lots for the National Motorcycle Museum, with a weird and wonderful mix of offerings.
Two that caught our eye are a 1982 Ducati Hailwood 900 (lot 79, above) and first-model 1975 Suzuki Rotary (lot 127, below).
The Ducati carried an estimate of Au$31-35,000 (US$24-27,000, GB£17-19,000) and sold for Au$32,600 (US$25,200, GB£17,800)
The Suzuki estimate range was Au$11-13,000 (US$8500-10,000, GB£6-7000) and it sold for Au$12,600 (US$9700, GB£6900).
See our Suzuki RE5 mini profile.
The full auction results can be seen here.
Retro ad for the day – BSA, June 13
Enjoy our retro ads for the day, for BSA's C15 250 single. The company's ads for this and the Bantam were commonly pitched at women as riders. This happy seaside pose with the 1960 model above was a little unusual for the series, while the one below was more typical.
C15 specs via Motorcycle Specs
Race pic for the day, June 12
Something you definitely won't see every day – a Harley XR1200-based rocket built by Farrows Customs (Qld) competing in this year's Finke desert race. Brave, and great to see!
Pic is from the James Robinson feed on Facebook.
Amaroo 6-Hour, June 10
Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN) has a terrific retro piece about the days the legendary Castrol 6-Hour production race was held at Amaroo Park. And yes, that's Mike Hailwood on the Ducati shared with Jim Scaysbrook, in the photo. See the story here.
Jim also talks about teaming up with Hailwood, in another AMCN piece – see it here.
Norton Commando up for auction, June 8
Shannons' Winter classics auction went live today and one of the prime bike lots is this 1972 Norton Commando 750 (lot 77). It claims very few miles on a major restoration and the estimate is Au$22-28,000 (US$17-22,000, GB£12-15,000).
See the full catalogue here.
See our Norton Commando profile.
See the Norton 850 story from 'our shed'.
Classic Two Wheels has a 1973 Norton Commando 850 road test – see it here.
Kawasaki H1 & H2 period tests, June 7
After we published our mini profile on Kawasaki's H1 and H2 series, Classic Two Wheels dug out two contemporary road tests for two different generations of Kawasaki's two-stroke weapons: a 1969 Mach III 500 and 1972 Mach IV 750. See them here.
Kawasaki H2 auction, June 4
One of Kawasaki's mighty two-stroke triples is up for auction, so we figured it was a good time to produce a mini profile. See it here.
Tiddler Time, June 4
Let's ride something ridiculous...see it here.
Harley Pan America tech, June 4
Not a new story, but timely given all the recent excitement over Harley-Davidson's great tech leap forward with the Pan America. This is a deep-dive by Cycle World veteren Kevin Cameron.
Bygone brands – American Eagle, June 3
This Laverda 750 twin was one of the flagship models of a short-lived enterprise in the USA...more here.
Stroker for the day, June 1
We've long been fans of Yamaha's air-cooled RD series, with the 350s of this era arguably being the pick of them. This tidy-looking 1973 RD350A has popped up on Bikesales, priced at Au$14,500 (US$11,200, GB£7900).
See our RD250/350 brochure page; Specs and period test at Motorcycle Specs.
Want more news & views? See our archive.
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