AllMoto's Motorcycle Investor mag

Motorcycle Investor mag

News June 2025

Honda Super Blackbird – random brochure for the day, June 24

It's the second half of 1996 and Honda has produced this compelling image for its newly-launched CBR1100XX Super Blackbird. We reckon it was a stand-out for the time and probably helped to sell a lot of motorcycles.

The Honda's connection to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane was made just that little stronger with some styling cues that connected the two.

See our series profile.

Lite 'n' easy Himalayan 411, June 23

Royal Enfield's now superseded Himalayan 411 potentially offers pretty good bang for the buck, so long as you're aware of its limitations. See the buyer guide we wrote for bikesales.

We have a wealth of RE material on our features page, including a quick ride on this fabulous 1937 Model KX V-twin.

Speed demons – Sunday shed wrap, June 22

kawasaki
zx-12r Honda blackbird suzuki hayabusa

Playing with the 290kph-plus end of the fleet...see the story here.

Ago's MV Agusta, June 20

MV Agusta has announced a special edition Superveloce 1000 Ago as part of its celebration of the 80th anniversary of the marque's founding.

Just 83 are being made – a nod to the legendary racer Giacomo Agostini who is turning 83 this year.

The bike is bristling with special features, while it's powered by the 998cc inline four claiming 208hp.

Pricing is right up there at around Au$124,000 (US$80,000, GB£60,000).

Superveloce 1000 Ago home page

See the F4 1000 Nero in our shed

Stroker delight – Honda NSR250R SP, June 20

Arguably one of the prettiest two-stroke street bikes ever made and one of the most effective. Honda's NSR250R by this stage was highly developed and regarded as being significantly sharper than Suzuki's rival RGV offering or even Yamaha TZR. Well, that's according to this 1991 shoot-out at Cycle World.

The NSR shown here is part of a USA collection and is being auctioned by Iconic.

See our Suzuki RGV250 profile

Suzuki DR650SE buyer guide, June 20

We've recently written a Suzuki DR650SE buyer guide for bikesales – see it here.

Meanwhile we wrote about the example in the shed via the most recent Sunday Shed Wrap.

Bridgestone 350 GTR, June 19

Random ad for the day: it's 1967 and Illinois (USA) company Rockford has become the importer for Bridgestone at a time when the American market was seen as critical if a maker wanted profitable volume sales.

The 350 GTR was Bridgestone's ultimate if short-lived performance bike – see our mini-profile with links to a wealth of in-depth info.

Flashback: chasing Katanas, June 18

Lusting after something, say an eighties Suzuki Katana 1100, for the best part of 20 years can get you into all sorts of trouble...see the story here.

Brave designs – Yamaha TX750, June 17

Yamaha has a worthy history of trying courageous designs that sometimes struggle and the TX750 of 1972 counts as one of them. See our mini-profile.

Feeding the six-pack – Sunday shed wrap, June 15

Leaky dinosaurs and playing with much simpler toys...it's been an action-packed day at Chateau Guido.

New way for Norton, June 15

Norton may be on the cusp of a major revision of its line-up, adding new model ranges, according to Cycle World in the USA.

It speculates the company will persist with the historically troubled Commando 961 series, given that is central to the marque's identity.

However the 1200 V4 series, which is unable to meet current EU emission rules, is likely to receive significant updates and perhaps a complete revision. All the company has said is that it has a four-cylinder superbike in the late stages of development.

Parent company TVS out of India, which bought the marque five years ago and is a major player in the industry, now has a relationship with BMW for which it will be building the powerplants for the upcoming F 450 series.

This new range was 'teased' by the German company last November with a proposed F 450 GS.

The powerplant might also be perfect for a host of light Nortons – or so the theory goes and assuming BMW is prepared to share.

We have a suspicion Norton also might reach back into its roots and look at what it can do with sexy singles. Does the name Manx ring a bell? Watch this space...

See the Cycle World story here

See our profile on the original Norton Commando series

The Beattie files: It's a Long Road to Sturgis, June 14

It's circa 2001. We have Tommy’s famous Vegas bar room brawl, the Nymphs of Nephi and the world’s most expensive cheap promotional pens, sold by a stroppy Sheriff – this Beattie-ism has it all.

It's a huge story and we recommend finding time to sit down and enjoy it

More Beattie files

Past blast: Kawasaki GPz1100, June 13

kawasaki gpz1100

According to author Ian Falloon: "Although released amidst a fanfare of publicity the GPz’s reign at the top of Kawasaki’s line-up was short lived. Only a year later the GPz900R appeared, effectively rendering the GPz1100 a dinosaur. But that is doing the GPz1100 a disservice."

See the story at InfoMoto

kawasaki gpz900r

See the Kawasaki GPz900R that was in our shed

Jack's Titan, June 12

Washington, USA, rider and engineer Ron Corey was so inspired by the story of gritty Australian racer Jack Findlay that he built this, a Suzuki Titan-based tribute. See the story at Bikebound.

See our Suzuki T500 profile

Honda 750-Four special, June 11

Today's tempter: a really interesting 1972 Honda CB750-Four cafe racer which has been treated a lot of high-end mechanical work. On the list is an 836 kit, Mikuni flatslide carburettors, hydraulic Barnett clutch and RC750 replica exhaust system. Nice, eh?

It's being offered out of Milwaukee in the USA at Au$38,000 (US$25,000, GB£18,500). See it here via BikeExif

See the CB750-Four K1 in our shed

Flashback: Kawasaki ZRX1200R paint, June 10

The day our Eddie Lawson look-alike got a freshen-up. See the story here.

Pic by Ben Galli

See our ZRX1100/1200R profile

Orphan for the day: 2000 American Quantum, June 10

It's very late 1990s, going on for year 2000, and there's a weird optimism in the air for reviving, or even creating, motorcycle brands.

The then poorly-funded owner of Norton was allegedly producing a V8. The deeply flawed prototype only now looks like running properly – some 25 years later. See the Allen Millyard series on that.

Indian had been revived as a marque and was to go through bankruptcy and a couple of owners before things settled down.

Of course there was Victory Motorcycles, which got killed off by owner Polaris in favour of Indian.

Excelsior Henderson made a brief appearance and keeled over.

Then there was a new brand, namely American (yep, really...) which launched with a few variants on a Harley-like platform, but running a 96-cube (1573cc) S&S motor with bespoke four-valve heads. The latter was a major tech upgrade.

One of its models was this, the Quantum, and the info on how many were made is absent. So too is any reliable third-party review.

That said, the theory was they could produce 100hp which, if true, was well ahead of the two-valve equivalents of the day that made more like 70-80hp.

If you were about to set up a museum of obscure motorcycles, you might want this one for the foyer.

See the auction listing at Hemmings.

And our Indian Chief Vintage 2009 story, which runs through the ownership progression.

Plus the Victory Motorcycles V-twin profile.

Badge me – Sunday shed wrap, June 8

One of the strange joys of owning older machinery is, if you're not careful, you get to know about all sorts of little weird corners of the industry that supports them. Here's an example: the tank badges on my 1975 Honda GL1000 first-year Gold Wing.

Private sale, June 8

In a sometimes challenging market, you might wonder if it’s possible to sell a motorcycle for good money. Apparently it is – we follow the experience of Sydney enthusiast John W.

MV Agusta's brighter future, June 6

For a company that has seen two changes of ownership in a year, MV Agusta is sounding remarkably chipper. The marque says it is launching a major new model this November, plus it will be unveiling what sounds like a serious performance engine series at the EICMA show in November.

Could the latter be for a replacement for the now-defunct F4 1000? It seems likely.

The company was owned outright by the Russian Sardarov family from 2016 until it sold a 51 per cent stake to KTM parent Pierer Mobility in 2024. It now appears that KTM has simply written off that investment and walked away, given it has much larger financial problems to deal with. Having a boutique brand to look after, in addition to far more pressing issues, could seem like a distraction.

MV has announced its styling department is moving from San Marino to its main facility in Varese. It will, for the time being, continue to use KTM logistics in the back-end of the operation.

Cycle World has a more extensive story here, with some good links.

See the MV Agusta F4 1000 Nero in our shed

See our feature on the MV Agusta revival model, the 750 F4 from the late 1990s

Flashback: fork seal week, June 6

Did you ever have one of those weeks where everything you touched seemed to leak? We have – see the story here.

Paul Spooner tribute, June 5

We like this story as a tribute to someone who was influential in the Australian motorcycle industry, a full-on participant in the race scene, but didn't attract worrying headlines.

Paul Spooner, former racer and innovative motorcycle trade member, passed away on April 28 at age 90.

His daughter Wendy, an enthusiastic rider and contributor to motorcycle media in this country, wrote this piece for Australian Motor Cycle News.

Honda RC30 – random brochure for the day, June 3

Honda's launch of the RC30 put homologation specials in lots of hands and created decades of joy...see our mini profile.

Paralever pioneer, June 2

It's 1988 and by now BMW's multi-road G/S series is well established, though the incredible domination of adventure touring sales was yet to come. What you're looking at here is the first generation running the Paralever rear end – in this case an R80. You could also get an R100.

See the story

Trans-Atlantic twins – Sunday shed wrap, June 1

Getting to grips with the weirdness of Vincent and dusting off the Indian. See the story here.

Get a Norvin, June 1

Hybrid-build bikes have had their ups and downs over the years, though one hero version that seems to have endured is Norvin – in other words a Norton 'featherbed' frame hosting a Vincent V-twin engine.

There are numerous versions getting around out there, including home-built specials and more famous iterations from the likes of Fritz Egli and Patrick Godet.

This example is up for auction with Classic Avenue in the USA. It features some updates such as electronic ignition and flatslide carburettors. Also on board is an early Yamaha TZ two-side twin leading shoe front brake – a valuable piece of kit.

See the auction here

The Norvin page at Egli-Vincent

The Norton Commando 850 that was in our shed

And the Vincent Rapide we're playing with

We've also seen single-cylinder Norvins developed from Comet engines

Flashback: Ducati Sport Classic range, June 1