Post Listing Update: This XLV750R did not meet reserve with 2 bids up to $5,200 on eBay.
Honda has a fairly illustrious history of big dualies – the Africa Twin, Varadero, Big Red Pig, Transalp…the list goes on. Yet the family lineage goes back to a bike that not many people know about – the XLV750R. It was not a commercial success, and less than 10,000 were built between 1983 and 1986.
The air scoops are designed to help keep the rear cylinder of the V-Twin motor cool, helping the 749cc unit produce 61 horsepower and 51 pound feet of torque. 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, taken from a 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: RD01-2000523) is said to be a “perfect rider” that was “completely serviced and ready to be enjoyed.” It’s spent the last two years at the Throttlestop Museum.
Find this XLV for sale in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin with an unmet opening bid of $5,000 here on eBay.