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News October
2023
Jumping through
hoops, October 31
Getting our imported Ducati 916 on the road was more involved than we expected. At last we're legal!
See the story here.
Shannons drops auctions, October 30
Shannons Insurance has dropped its auctions, in an announcement made today. The news will come as a shock to folk in the classic bike and car scene, given the company had been an innovative player since it got involved in the arena back in 1981.
It has consistently been a market leader in local curated sales.
A statement cites an increasing range of competitive options as a reason to move on. See it here.
Moto Guzzi V7
Sport, October 30
It's 1971 and Moto Guzzi's brochure for the new V7 Sport is leaving no doubt in anyone's mind about what it's to be used for. Love it...
See our V7 Sport profile by young Falloon.
Final Thruxton,
October 29
It's not
often you’ll hear of a maker making a fuss about
retiring a model name, but that’s what has happened with
Triumph and its Thruxton nameplate.
Rather
than just let it quietly fade into the distance, the
company has announced a final edition, which is a 1200
in premium RS spec, with special paint and graphics.
CBX1000 revival
– shed task for the day, October 28
We finally got around to having a crack at getting our recently-acquired 1981 Honda CBX1000 running, after a lay-off of unknown length.
And what looks suspiciously like some sort of torture device is in fact our new electric roller starter...very handy. See the story here.
Triton Domibird,
October 27
You have to get a kick out of the unintended random access of a loose web search. Today, while looking for something entirely different, we tripped over this: A lovely Triton in a configuration we haven't seen before.
Usually these Triton hybrids have a strong cafe racer theme, with bigger and more aggressive powerplants, whether they be twins or triples.
In this case it's billed as a 1957 Norton Dominator
chassis with a 650 Thunderbird engine in single-carb trim.
It might not be the quickest thing to pedal to the Ace
Cafe, but we like its gentle style.
Classic Style in
Melbourne has it listed at Au$15,950 (US$10,100,
GB£8300).
See our Norton
Commando profile.
Ducati VASS
wanted, October 27
We're looking for someone to do a VASS certification on this: A 1995 Ducati 916 out of Japan, in standard trim, located in Melbourne.
Are there any recommendations? Please email allmoto@optusnet.com.au
Rickman stunner,
October 26
One of the more interesting bikes to
pop up on the market recently is this, a 1968 Rickman
Metisse complete with 650 Triumph T120 engine with
four-speed transmission.
The carburettors are 30mm Amal Monoblocs while the pipes are from Dunstall. Oh, and you score a Lockheed disc brake up front – cutting edge stuff for the time. Nice, eh?
It's listed with Bring a Trailer in the USA as a no-reserve auction.
See the period Cycle
World test of two 1968 Metisse variants.
High-strung
tourer, October 25
A UK collection of 18 Ducatis and two
MV Agusta F4-series has popped up for auction.
What got our attention was this
anecdote from Jeff Fosker, scion of the family selling
them: "When
we were kids my late father Bernard founded Foskers
Ferraris in 1968, the oldest independent specialist
Ferrari dealer, based at the Brands Hatch Circuit.
"He
was a great fan of Vincent motorcycles and among them
was a Black Lightning.
"Then
in 1995 he bought himself a Ducati 916 SP and had it
converted it to a two-seater and he and my mother toured
the whole of Europe on that bike. I suppose it was then,
in about 1998, that my brother Colin and I started
collecting Ducatis."
The auction is with Iconic in the UK
and you can find it here. The collection begins at
lot 580.
And the one we recently added to our shed.
The shipping
news, October 24
We've just booted the BMW K1200LT land yacht out of the shed and loaded it up for a trip. Nope, it hasn't been sold – perish the thought!
Instead we've paid the good folk at transport company Bikes Only
to take it for a nice long drive, to Perth.
The theory is muggins flies over there in about a fortnight and the Bimmer will be delivered to our hotel. Then we ride it back to Melbourne.
Our plan is to return via Albany and Esperance, before
ducking north for the trip across the Nullabor to
Adelaide.
All up, it's about 3800km (2360 miles), a little longer than our recent Darwin-Melbourne run on a cheap and cheerful R1150GS Boxer we bought up north. See the Darwin story here.
As for the Perth run, we'll bring you more once we're underway in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile you can read a bit more about the land yacht
and its recent revival, right here.
We also have a model profile on the
K1200LT, which you can find here.
Black Shadow
sale, October 23
One of the more interesting lots to
have popped up on Bring a Trailer in the last week was
this, a 1953 Vincent Series C Black Shadow which the
seller had owned since 1969.
It underwent a restoration some time in
the 1990s, a job which included fitting a five-speed
Quaife gear set.
How much? It sold for
Au$175,000 (US$110,000, GB£90,000) – a lot of
money but we've seen more spent on sillier things...
Malanca 125 –
random ad for the day, October 20
Malanca's 125 E2C Sport of 1976 has to be one of the sweetest-looking twins we've seen in a long time. Claiming a healthy 18hp, it should have been a lively performer. See the backgrounder at 125stradali.com.
Egli Honda
coming up, October 20
This 1973 Honda CB750-powered Egli is,
for us at least, the highlight of an upcoming auction
through Gooding & Co in the USA.
It's part of a complete collection
that's being offered from December and includes more
iconic models such as Ducati 750 SS green frame, Honda
RC30 and first-gen Moto Guzzi V7. See the
collection here.
See the brief
Fritz Egi profile at Historic Vehicles.
Egli Racing's
current website.
Mighty
middleweight triple, October 19
Kawasaki's mighty S2 350 two-stroke
triple of 1971-72 may not have been a runaway sales
success, but it packed quite a punch for its day.
With 45hp (33.5kW) claimed, it weighed
just 151kg and developed a reputation for sparkling
performance, though it drank like a sailor. One
contemporary road test scored near enough to 9km/lt.
See the data at
Motorcycle Specs.
See our
Kawasaki S3 400 mini profile.
BMW R90S
reality, October 18
Our recent stories on super-high-end BMW R90S restorations and the crazy prices they have attracted in the USA are at risk of setting off an unrealistic wave of optimism among local sellers – so here is a reality check.
The same model, in decent working
unrestored shape, without the wildly expensive resto
that attracts cashed-up car collectors, recently sold
on Bring a Trailer for Au$13,700 (US$8700, GB£7200).
See our story
on Pridmore's R90S racer.
Hero V4, October
17
Back in 1984, Honda's VF1000R represented a celebration of
Honda's emerging competition success with V-fours and was
the flagship of the corporate performance catalogue.
The promise of a V-four litre sports bike
with gear-driven cams and 130 horses (95kW) in a 236kg
package was the stuff of fantasy for most of us – or at
best an aspiration.
Locally, it came within a whisker of
winning the legendary Castrol Six Hour production race
with GP world-champ-in-waiting Wayne Gardner sharing
the ride with the talented John Pace. However, in an
at the time hugely controversial decision, the race as
stopped a couple of minutes early and was won by the
hard-charging Richard Scott and Michael Dowson on a
Yamaha RZ500.
As with a lot of bikes from the
period, the engine's performance (which included an
impressive mid-range) was not quite matched by the
spindly frame, though it was running some premium
chassis gear for the day.
It briefly claimed the much-disputed
title of the world's fastest production motorcycle
(around 240km/h or 149mph) and was knocked off by
Kawasaki GPz900R.
This example (listed as a 1987 model)
is up for sale in Sydney via Bikesales, priced at
Au$19,998 (US$12,700, GB£10,500). The apparently
super-clean and stock condition is what got our
attention.
See the data
at Motorcycle Specs
And our
feature on Honda's world-beating VR750F
Happy Honda, October 16
It's 1974 and happiness is to be found with a Honda four,
apparently. Featured we have the CB750-Four K4 and
CB550-Four.
CB550 K-series
profile at Motorcycle Specs
Why so much for the Bimmer?
October 16
On
the back of yesterday’s story about two US$60,000-plus
examples of the BMW R90S, we came
across this piece from Hagerty that offers some
insight.
BMW R90S as
premium collectibles, October 15
BMW's iconic R90S has joined the ranks
of premium collectibles, according to a couple of
recent examples that popped up on the market in the
USA. However to get there, the bike needs to be
restored to concours level and preferably by a 'name'
workshop.
The first 1975 example shown here is
on the market with Moto Borgotaro at Au$103,000
(US$65,000, GB£53,000). See the
listing here.
Last March a concours-winning 1976
example (above) sold in the USA via Bring a Trailer
for Au$95,000 (US$60,000, GB£50,000). See more here.
Trivial pursuit
solution: Morbidelli October 13
Okay, thrill-seekers...yesterday's trivia was this:
What's the bike?
Yep, it's the V8 Morbidelli that never quite made it into
full production. One of the better stories on its colourful
history can be found here at Bike-urious.
Elegant Benelli,
October 12
We were a bit taken with this brochure
sourced via the Benelli Club
Nederland, featuring the Benelli 250 Sport
Special of 1968-73.
The Italians were for a while big on
horizontal (or near enough) four-stroke singles, with
the likes of Moto Guzzi, Aermacchi (also sold as
Harley-Davidson) and Benelli (also sold as Motobi)
being players.
Specs? We're talking a rampaging
12.5hp (9.3kW) with five-speed transmission,
108kg dry weight and up to 140km/h top speed.
Elvis Triumph
mystery, October 11
Triumph Motorcycles is on the hunt for a fleet of bikes bought nearly 60 years ago by music legend Elvis Presley for his mates in the 'Memphis Mafia'. See the story here.
Today's shed
dive, October 10
Task for the day: Swap the aftermarket
footpegs on the Ducati 916 for a stock set, then take
a couple of the toys for some exercise. Guess which
one is more comfortable...
While the ride position of the 916 is a special kind of torture, it is brilliant to work on. There are just six Dzus fasteners to undo to remove the side of the fairing.
See the Our Bikes
page for more
Tech school
sweetheart, October 9
Two miles and 324 valve adjustments –
such is the fate of a tech school bike. The recent USA
auction of a 1981 Honda CBX1000 Prolink (the second
iteration with fairing and bags) surprised us on two
fronts: 1. It's not often you see an admitted former
tech school bike up for auction; And, 2. By getting
strong bidding (US$15k) without reaching reserve.
So what's a tech school bike? There is
a quiet tradition out there of donating pre-production
and unwanted stock to tech schools, for apprentices to
train on. It's a noble thing.
Their eventual fate is mixed, though
we know of a few that have ended up back on the open
market most often decades down the track. What's one
worth?
Well, a good Mk1 naked 1979 CBX1000, like the one above from Bring a Trailer, will fetch lots more. As a general rule of thumb we're talking Au$47,000 in the USA (US$30,000, GB£25,000) for a peach, while a very tidy fully-faired Mk2 is usually more like Au$20,000 (US$13,000, GB£10,700).
Both models struggled for volume in
the key USA market (or anywhere else), while the
second iteration bombed over there.
Comedian and collector Jay Leno tells
the story of buying one new for half price back in
1981, his first new vehicle purchase, and hanging on
to it all these years – via his You
Tube channel.
Honda America offloaded excess stock
of the Mk2 on to technical schools, and any customer
willing to stump up even 50 per cent of the swing tag
number.
Back to the Bring a Trailer auction
that started this: We were surprised at how high the
top bid was. Au$23,600
(US$15,000, GB£12,300) is a very good offer
and we suspect the vendor should have taken it.
Meanwhile, we've bought an example
of our own to play with – more to come...
See the
epic Classic Two Wheels CBX Mk1 test.
Quirky
Peterborough, October 8
Next time you're in South Australia, it's worth making the trek to Peterborough to see Ian Spooner's quirky motorcycle museum. In the meantime, here's a quick pictorial from the place.
Brit
mega-auction, October 6
This 1999 Yamaha YZF-R7 OW-02 is one of
the highlights of the huge upcoming
Bonhams auction, the Autumn Stafford sale, running October
14-15.
With just two miles on the odometer, it's
carrying an estimate of $Au67-86,000 (US$43-55,000,
GB£35-45,000). See the lot here.
Japanese superbike homologation and
limited-production race-inspired specials like this have
been steadily climbing over the years, with Honda's RC30
having been the icebreaker for this market.
While multi-day motorcycle auctions
featuring hundreds of lots have long been par for the
course at least a few times a year in the USA, they're a
relatively recent development in the UK.
Of the 488 lots, some 300 are
motorcycles with a significant percentage coming from
deceased estates or collections. The largest of the
latter includes around 80 bikes.
Trusting the
Tiger, October 5
Recently rescued from our archives: A Travels with Guido column on why you should trust the wheels underneath you.
Our shed:
Kawasaki ZX-10 first-gen, October 4
Kawasaki's first-generation ZX-10 is often overlooked or under-estimated and we reckon it's potentially a great ride. Join us for a quick spin on the example that was in our shed.
See our future collectible feature.
50 years of
Jupitalia, October 3
This Friday, October 6, marks 50 years since Ted Simon
departed London on the journey that became Jupiter's
Travels and a lifetime dedicated to motorcycle
travel and publishing the often philosophical aspects of
his experiences. Raise a glass...
Twin spinner,
October 2
We reckon there is a huge amount of appeal in small-bore motorcycles where the maker has clearly gone to a lot of effort to make them look sporty and give them much of the tech you'd expect in a bigger bike.
The 1971 Yamaha HS1-B we recently spotted in Euroa is a
great example. Though just 90cc, it's a twin-cylinder
two-stroke with twin carburettors, five-speed
transmission, plus full instrumentation including speedo
and tacho. Hot stuff.
Made 1968 to 1971, the HS1 (below) and HS1-B (above)
series weighed just 89kg (195lb) and claimed 7.7kW (10hp)
for a top speed of around 85km/h (53mph). See the Yamaha
HS1 page.
Eighties glam –
Suzuki GS1000G, October 1
Don't you miss the colour schemes from
the late 1970s through to early eighties? We do.
This 1981 Suzuki GS1000G spotted in Euroa
today typifies what you might have expected to see on
muscle cars several years earlier and a trend that at
times filtered through to motorcycles.
As for the model, it stands out as a
big, bulletproof and comfortable (albeit heavy) ride
that would make an outstanding classic to tour on. See the specs
sheet at Motorcycle Specs.
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