Post Sale Update: This XLV sold for $4,595 after 3 bids on eBay in Luling, Texas.
Before the Transalp and the Africa Twin, there was the XLV750R – Honda’s first attempt at a touring bike that could get a little dirty. Honda originally planned to sell this bike only in Europe (not including England), though they eventually offered it to Australia and New Zealand. 500 of the first bikes were also put away for the Japanese market, and Honda called this group the Limited Edition.
The Limited Edition bikes got ventilated front brake discs, a blue seat strap, and a plaque on the frame – otherwise they were the same as the stock bikes, which wasn’t particularly wonderful on dirt. Power was sent through a five-speed transmission to a shaft final drive. Wet weight was a portly 484 pounds – compare that to a R80GS of the same production year, which weighed 410 pounds wet. Despite all this, Honda bizarrely chose to have the press launch of this bike at a motocross track in Ibiza, Spain. Testers were quickly able to find the limits of the bike, as shown by the photo below from a later review of the bike by Motorrad magazine where they compared it with the R80G/S.
Photo from http://www.xlv750.de/html/motorrad_08-1983.html
Still, the XLV had some positives: shaft drive plus hydraulic valve tappets meant the drivetrain required little maintenance, and it had some advanced features like dry sump lubrication with oil-in-frame and three valves/two spark plugs per cylinder. Plus, they’re unique as hell and nearly impossible to find in the US because they were never officially sold here. So if you want to make your GS-riding buddies feel like they’re riding common bikes that don’t stand out, here’s an option.
This example (VIN: RD011000136) shows 19,472 miles on the odometer and it’s being sold in “as imported” condition after it came out of long term storage in Japan. In other words, it doesn’t run. The seller says it will need “at minimum to have a new battery, oil change, fuel system cleaning, and quite possibly new tires.” Find this Limited Edition XLV750R for sale in Luling, Texas with bidding up to $4,495
This bike-uriosity brought to you by John K!