Post Sale Update: This Welbike sold for $10,100 after 54 bids on eBay. At the request of the British government, Excelsior developed the Welbike, a tiny single seater that was designed to be dropped into combat situations via parachute-equipped containers. The goal was that it could be unpacked and ready to ride within 11 seconds.
What Do You Want To Know? 2019 BMW R1250GS/R1250GSA
UPDATE: Here’s my review on ADV Pulse! I’ve said for years that if I was forced to only have one motorcycle, it would most likely be the newest BMW R-GS that I could afford. I will admit that I’ve had some reservations about my opinion as the big GSes have been getting way more complicated from a technological standpoint over …
Restored Vintage Enduro – 1980 Yamaha IT175
Immediately after Yamaha unveiled the IT400 in 1976, a trio of Yamaha riders nabbed gold medals at the Austrian International Six Day Trials on the newly debuted IT’s. With the success of the 400, the Tuning Fork Company opted to expand the IT — or “International Trial” — range the following year to include smaller displacement variants, one of which …
1972 Suzuki RV90 Rover
Post Listing Update: This Suzuki RV90 did not get any interest at the opening bid of $1,200. Minibikes are back in! What started with the just the Honda Grom 125 has turned into a multi-class 24 hour endurance race featured on motorcycle.com with a cameo by me, and culminated with Abhi riding a new Super Cub to an event at …
Rare in the US – Honda Monkey Baja
Post Sale Update: This Monkey Baja sold for the BIN of $5,000 on eBay. In 1991, Honda released a new variant of the Monkey/Z50R. Called the Baja, it featured rally-style dual headlights in addition to the taillight, turn signals, and the classic Honda red tail bag. They were not officially sold in the US, but this modified example is already …
Factory Scrambler Kit – 1967 Honda CB450D
Post Listing Update: This CB450D did not get any action at the BIN of $20,500. Honda’s Black Bomber, also known as the CB450, is a valuable collectible nowadays. But when it was first released, the voluptuous styling was not for everyone. When the 1968 CB450 K1 was released, Honda still had several examples of the K0 languishing in showrooms and …
In England – 1988 Yamaha TDR50
I’ve featured several examples of Yamaha’s TDR250 in the past, but until today I had no idea that they made a little 50cc version!
Maria Riding Company’s “Kalahari” – 1992 Honda Africa Twin Custom
Bespoke ADV builds are a rare breed, so whenever a fully transformed custom adventure mount from a big-name shop pops up for sale I feel obligated to share it. We’ve previously featured a one-off build from Portugal’s The Maria Riding Company, however this highly-modified ADV rig is a far cry from the track-spec (Ducati) GT1000 from back in October.
2009 Kawasaki KLR650 M1030M1
Post Listing Update: This diesel KLR did not get any interest at the asking price of $14,000. It was later relisted at the same price with the same result. In 1997, the US Navy announced that it was consolidating the various types of fuel it provided for military vehicles. Diesel motorcycle research at Hayes Diesel Technology (HDT) was already underway, …
1982 Honda XL500R
Post Sale Update: This XL500R sold for $1,750 after 29 bids on eBay. 1982 was the last year of the XL500R, before Honda replaced it with the 600. It was a dual-sport that was well-suited for the street and for light off-road work. Dual-counterbalancers kept vibrations in check so that you would be relatively comfortable while riding on pavement out …
300 Miles – 2016 Moto Guzzi V7 Stornello Scrambler
Post Sale Update: This Stornello sold for $5,600 after 2 bids on eBay. The “Scrambler” movement is back again, though most OEMs now offer models that typically emphasize style over substance. I always thought the prettiest of the reborn scramblers was the Moto Guzzi V7 Stornello, a limited edition (1,000) model that came with cosmetic changes and a high Arrow …
Little American Enduro – 1972 Indian ME100
Though utterance of the Indian Motorcycle name typically conjures up images of big-bore American-style V-Twin baggers and cruisers, the now Polaris-owned outfit for a time produced a decent number of small and micro-displacement dual-sports, mini and dirt bikes. Primarily produced in the late 60s and 70s, Indian’s range of off-road-oriented tiddlers included some very cool offerings such as the Boy …
1986 Honda XL250R
Post Listing Update: This XL250R did not get any interest at the opening ask of $3,500. I’ve said it before – dual sports are one of life’s great simple joys. Two knobby tires strapped to a 250cc single cylinder is all the machine you need to conquer the world. I’m sure some of our readers have experienced the motorcycle manifestation …
Upgraded – BMW HP2 Enduro
Towards the start of the 1980s, BMW tasked a small group of designers and engineers to deliver what eventually became the R80G/S — a model that came to define a genre and lead to some of the best-selling models from the Bavarian brand. A quarter-century-later BMW Motorrad greenlit yet another skunkworks project, this time focused on creating the ultimate big-bore …