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Whitehouse Kit – 2014 Honda CB1100

In Japan, Standard by AbhiLeave a Comment

In 2014, Honda updated the CB1100 with a new dash and a six-speed transmission. The styling remained the same – bodywork that was designed to evoke the classic lines of the CB750. But a company in Japan called Whitehouse enabled owners to make their bikes look even more like the CB750 with a bodywork kit that included the tank, fenders, …

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1980 Kawasaki Z1-R

In Japan, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

The Kawasaki Z1R was the brainchild of Wayne Moulton, known as the “Father of the Japanese Cruiser.” His belief was that a solid motorcycle could be moderately tweaked to form four versions, one of which is a sport-tourer. So he took the KZ1000 and turned it into this! The first year of production was 1978, and all the bikes were …

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1991 Bimota YB10 Dieci

In Japan, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

Bimota’s 10th model with a Yamaha engine, the appropriately-named Dieci was built between 1991 and 1994 with just 224 examples leaving the factory. An even smaller portion were equipped with a passenger seat and pegs. Bimota scooped up the engine from a FZR1000 and then tweaked it to yield nearly 150 horsepower.

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1991 Yamaha Super Tenere XTZ750

In Dual-Sport, Japan by AbhiLeave a Comment

Right now you can walk into a Honda or Yamaha dealership and get a modern Africa Twin or Super Tenere. But in the US, the same couldn’t have been said a couple of decades ago. You can occasionally find ’90s examples of the AT and ST thanks to grey market imports, but the latter is much harder to source.

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No Reserve Black Bomber – 1966 Honda CB450

In Japan, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

The Honda CB450 Black Bomber is easily one of the most significant motorcycles to ever come out of Japan. Produced for just three years, it was the company’s first ‘big bike’ (and the first production bike with DOHC). At the time, it was considered to be one of the best bikes ever built, though it didn’t sell as well as …

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1967 Bridgestone GTO 350

In Japan, Sport by AbhiLeave a Comment

The Bridgestone GTO 350 was the scrambler version of the absolutely incredible GTR, a bike that could leave 650 and 750cc bikes in the dust in the quarter-mile. What did Bridgestone think would be required to turn a street bike into a scrambler? The only change was the high exhaust pipes. The GTO was the much rarer variant of an …

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Jetski Body – 2016 Honda PCX 150

In Custom, Japan, Less than 5k by AbhiLeave a Comment

The seller of this contraption has a heck of a description: “this is the pinnacle of engineering, you literally can’t go anywhere without strangers throwing themselves at you. Lee Health has asked me not to ride this because it’s breaking peoples necks trying to look at it. If you want to own a piece of what makes this country great, …

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1987 Honda Super Magna

In Cruiser, Japan by AbhiLeave a Comment

For the 1987 model year, Honda added some dragster style to the Magna to compensate for the slight displacement reduction due to the ’83 motorcycle tariff (which expired in 1988). In other markets, this generation of the Magna was offered with a 750cc engine, but Americans got a 700cc motor. I’ve featured a couple of these before and both times …