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your twin, Feb 12 ![]() Two epic and very different twins are up for sale at the moment via Donington Auctions.
The first is a 1928
Douglas dirt-tracker with the trademark longitudinal
flat twin, in this case a 500cc unit. It has an
Australian connection, in the form of racer then
designer Les Bailey. The sale estimate is Au$15-20,000
(US$9-13,000, GB£8-10,000). See it
here. ![]() Meanwhile we tripped over an old
friend in the catalogue, namely a 1992 Moto Guzzi
California III, in carburetor form. When new they
stood out in the cruiser sector for light
steering, good handling and plenty of power. We'd
be sorely tempted by this one, but already have
more than enough recent arrivals in the shed to
deal with at the moment... Showing just 3400km (2100 miles)
on the odometer, it has an estimate of Au$6-8000
(US$4-5000, GB£3-4,000). See it
here. The
auction cattledog is here. See the treasure trove of Moto
Guzzi stories on our feature page. Anniversary
Wings, Feb 12 ![]() Honda is launching a 50th anniversary
Gold Wing in bagger and tour (or Premium) variants. They
come with commemorative badging and unique welcome
displays in the dash, among other updates. Part of the package is a coffee table
book covering the history of the series, plus a unique
1:12 scale model featuring the first and latest versions. Australia can expect to see them in the second quarter of this year. Prices are yet to be announced. ![]() Meanwhile we held our own little celebration, riding a 1975 model some 2000km (1200 miles) from Brisbane back to Melbourne in Australia. See the Gold Wing Run story here. And see our profile on the
original GL1000. ![]()
Here's a link
to his work on Classic Two Wheels. Our photo is of Lester hard at it, testing the BMW R90S for Two Wheels in 1975.
Spaniard with a sting, Feb 10 ![]() It's not every day you get a two-stroke Spaniard dropping in for a visit and we felt we had to share this one – a 1975 Montesa King Scorpion 250. See the story. Blast
from the past – Triumph Thruxton 1200 R, Feb 8 ![]() We've been playing with this today – a 2016 Triumph Thruxton 1200 R. More to come...
Triumph produced a final edition of this series back in 2023 – see our story on it.
Friday Flashback: Seeing Red, Feb 7
Some while back we
mentioned laying our scone-grabbers on a shiny one-owner
Kawasaki ZX-12R, filling out the rocketship end of a shed
that already contained a Honda Blackbird and a modified
Suzuki Hayabusa. The bike has
survived a major cull of our fleet and is a fabulous
Sunday ride – see the story; And see our
Kawasaki ZX-12R model review.
Hailwood
in the house – today's addition to the fleet, Feb
6 ![]() A large man with a medium-sized
transporter, namely Jay from East Coast Bike Transport,
rolled up in the driveway yesterday and handed
over a 1985 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica Mille.
This was the last iteration of the bevel series
MHRs. It was sourced from Brad's
Vintage Cycles and this was the fourth time
we've dealt with both businesses, with success. We bought this one after Ducati
expert and author Ian Falloon gave the green light
and, while not in perfect shape, it has done less
than 3000km. That's quite a find. We'll be doing a few things to and
with it over coming months – watch this space.
It
represents some unfinished business, as our riding
relationship with bevel Ducatis so far has been far more
off than on, and this looks like something you could get
your teeth into. We'll see... Meanwhile, you can see Falloon's story on this model via
his Substack channel; And the
raw stats via Motorcycle Specs. See the
860 GT that was previously in our shed. March
V8 monster re-discovered, Feb 5 ![]() This isn't quite like
trapping the Loch Ness monster, but it goes close. A
500cc V8 motorcycle, built in the 1960s by Briton Fred
Marsh as a tribute to the famous racing V8 Moto Guzzis
of 1955-57, has emerged from obscurity in storage
after 45 years. It now has a place the British
National Motorcycle Museum. See the AMCN
feature on the Guzzis. The where-abouts of the
machine was not generally known until its owner and
former Marsh apprentice Fred Lowman revealed it was
still very much in existence. VisorDown
has the story here. Meanwhile
Old Bike Mart in the UK had the pic shown
here, along with a personal story on it
appearing for a demo run at the 1976 Isle of Man
TT. That's Marsh at left. Million
dollar twins, Feb 4 ![]() The giant 2000-lot motorcycle auction by Mecum in Las
Vegas, which concluded last Sunday, set a couple of
records. The pic is a snapshot of the top three bids. Perhaps the
biggest surprise was the 1915 Cyclone racer. This
was a firm that was only production from 1912 to 1917 and
managed to produce some very advanced machines. This one,
for example, features bevel-driven overhead camshafts. It was restored by a 'name' expert, Stephen Wright, and
fetched Au$2.13mil (US$1.32mil, GB£1.06mil). Cracking the
US $1mil mark is a significant milestone. Meanwhile Crocker V-twins were similarly innovative and
proprietor Al Crocker built a reputation for making
sophisticated go-fast gear for Indians, along with a line
of speedway bikes and even a scooter, across the 1930s and
through to 1941. Just 70 of his light and fast V-twins are thought to have
been built, with 68 known survivors. In their day, they
had performance which was more than a match for a Vincent
twin. Though they've long been desirable, the price for
this 1938 example (listed as number 46) has set a
new high. It went for Au$1.42mil (US$880k, GB£709k). The
homing Gold Wing – 50th anniversary Honda GL1000
run, Feb 3 ![]() The mighty 1975 Gold Wing has made it home after a 2000km
(1200 mile) run down the east coast of Australia. Join us for a few
thoughts on riding one of the great classic tourers, in
our final road diary update. MV
Agusta set free, again – Feb 2 ![]() Historic Italian marque
MV Agusta has seen yet another episode opened in the
soap opera of its history, this time being set free
from part-ownership by the troubled KTM conglomerate.
This is one of those
rare situations where both companies are probably
better off, with the outstanding share-holding in the
firm being sold back to its previous owners for a
relatively modest sum. Motorcycle.com
has one of the better explanations of how the
finances work. See the
MV Agusta F4 Nero in our shed And the
F4 Serie Oro story by Ian Falloon Eden
and fat cows – the 50th anniversary Gold Wing run,
Feb 2 ![]() I can now say I have ridden a Gold Wing to the Garden of Eden and have found the source of fat cows. These revelations and much more in our road diary update for today. Strong
numbers at big Las Vegas sale, Feb 1 ![]() The annual Mecum Las Vegas auction – this year boasting 2000 motorcycles – saw strong numbers, with the usual sprinkling of weird anomalies. What did your money buy this year? Honda CB750-Fours were
doing well, as the example above suggests. Previously we
would have only expected those sorts of numbers for
earlier K1 and K0s. The catch here is the CB had received a high-end
restoration, with zero miles since. Meanwhile an identical result for an early Suzuki Hayabusa backs up what we've suspected for a while, which is they are now very much on the collector radar. Conversion: Au$33,600, US$20,900, GB£16,700 ![]() 1970s Kawasaki hero bikes are pretty much a currency now with the price shown here consistent with recent events in the USA, where they're worth more than they are in Australia. We suspect this Harley Panhead for similar money was a solid buy. Conversion: Au$47,700, US$29,700, GB£24,000 ![]() Exotic V-twins from different eras and different sides of the Atlantic. The Indian price seemed about right, but we were surprised at how little the Black Shadow went for and would have expected at least 30 per cent more. Weirdly, a freshly-restored Series B Rapide, albeit with
a good story, went for Au$160,000 (US$100,000, GB£81,000)
just minutes later. Conversion: Au$97,200, US$60,500, GB£48,800 ![]() In case you were wondering, the top two lots so far (with
a day to go) were these. Good quality green frame 750 SS
Ducatis have been in this range for some time. However
1920s American four-cylinder bikes have reached this level
more recently and there were two others not far behind in
this auction. Conversion: US$198,000, Au$318,000, GB£160,000 See our features
page for stories on the Ducati Imola bkes, (the
inspiration behind the SS), Suzuki Hayabusa and Honda
CB750-Four...among many others! Bluey
spotto and the great outdoors – 50th anniversary
Gold Wing run, Feb 1 ![]() One of the things that takes your
mind off the discomfort of long motorcycle trips
is playing spotto. For this trip, we've added the
wonderful illusions offered by your local town...this and
more in today's update. ------------------------------------------------- Produced by AllMoto abn 61 400 694 722 |
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