Despite a few pesky World Wars creating massive roadblocks for him, the Italian Count Alfonso Morini and the company he founded in 1937 would go on to produce a few of the finest small-cylinder racers ever built. Born in 1898, Morini developed an interest in motorcycles early on and was operating his own repair shop by the time he was …
Ultimate Super Single – 1997 Nico Bakker Supermono Racer
Nico Bakker stepped into the professional motorcycle world as a road racer, and a pretty talented one at that. At the start of the 1970’s, Bakker had become fed up with the current state of race bikes and the direction manufacturers were going in with their development, seeking more and more powerful engines above all else. Bakker felt that engines …
1 of 7 – 1985 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 XR51
Hideo “Pops” Yoshimura undeniably played a pivotal role in the evolution of modern sport bikes. The motorcycle tuner and race team owner is a legend in the racing world and the machines that he built are some of the most sought after historic Japanese racers of all time. In the early 1980s, Pops would revolutionize the world of two-wheeled racing …
JGR-Upgraded – 2015 Yamaha YZ250F
JGRMX builds professional factory level parts and bikes for anyone willing to shell out the immense amount that it costs to have the absolute very best in motocross-machinery. Joe Jackson Gibbs served as the head coach for the Washington Redskins from ’81-’92, and then again from ’04-’07 prior to starting “Joe Gibbs Racing” (or JGR) as a NASCAR effort, first …
17 of 28 – 2008 Voxan Charade Racing
Voxan Motorcycles was founded back in 1995 with the aim of establishing itself as a contender in the global sport market. Started by Jacques Gardette, Voxan brought two seasoned names onboard to design the French moco’s machines. Renowned GP designer and builder Alain Chevallier – who sadly passed away last October – designed the Voxan frames while expert engine builder …
Pair of Roemar 125 Racers
Roemar is a name you’ve probably never heard – up until a few days ago I hadn’t either. The Roemar name comes from the last name of the man behind the marque – which was Roelofs – combined with Maren-Kessel, where Roelofs was based when creating these machines. I recently got the chance to speak with the founder’s son Theo, …
Pristine AHRMA Two-Stroke – Yamaha RD400 Racer
Building on the success of its popular 200, 250, and 350 RD series machines, Yamaha introduced the RD400 in 1976, continuing to produce variants of the model until 1980. The Japanese air-cooled two-stroke wasn’t just a favorite on the street, but the RD400 was a go-to choice for many when searching for a race platform. The 398cc Yamaha was seriously …
1977 Laverda 1000 V6 Prototype
The 1977 Laverda 1000 V6 Prototype is quite possibly the most interesting bike I’ve ever featured on Bike-urious. Despite the concept for the bike stemming from the questionable idea that was to bring an automotive engineer onboard to design a V6 race engine, it’s still a genuinely awesome machine. This bike doesn’t appear to have the same kind of notoriety …
Factory Racer – 2012 KTM XC-F 250
KTM has built a gang of race-winning machinery and though its current MotoGP racer (RC16) has some “room for improvement”, when it comes to producing top-of-the-podium off-road competition bikes, KTM kills it. Even when factory machines are five to ten years old, they’re still wildly competent when compared to today’s production offerings. They’re also always decked out in trick high-end …
Ex-Ben Bostrom Racer – 2007 Graves Yamaha R1 AMA Superstock
Ben Bostrom was born in 1974 in Redding, California into a family of moto nuts. Ben’s father was Dave Bostrom, whose brother was Paul Bostrom, both of whom were successful dirt racers. Like his father and uncle, Ben sharpened his skills aboard an MXer, winning the 1993 AMA National dirt championship before making the switch to tarmac in 1995. In …
Early Carbon Fiber Bikes – Silverstone Armstrong Racers
I loves me some carbon fiber. For roughly the last three decades, this precious material has been helping to shave off weight while simultaneously looking pretty trick in the process. The high tensile strength, low weight, temperature tolerance, and stiffness have made it a go to choice for many components of all types. Though it has technically been in use …
DG Race Replica – 1975 Honda CR125M Elsinore
In the 1970’s, motocross racing had become fairly mainstream with several top racers becoming household celebrity names. In this highly competitive era, the big manufacturers poured absurd amounts of funding into race R&D, driving the constant evolution of MXers. Despite the large staff and state of the art facilities that the big mocos possessed, a few talented wrenchers created something …
Pristine “Britmota” – 1966 Rickman Matchless G50
The Matchless G50 is a fairly iconic purpose-built British racer developed in the late 1950’s. The G50 was modeled after the AMC AJS 7R racer, only with its displacement bumped up to 500cc from 350cc. Production began on the G50 in ’58 and would continue into the mid-1960’s – less than 200 models were built, making these legendary British racers …
Buddy Elmore Daytona Replica – 1966 Triumph T100R
Built by Ace Classics and Jim Hiddleston in 2012, this Tiger 100R was created as a replica of Buddy Elmore’s Daytona 200-winning race bike.
Rare Racer – 1966 Bridgestone 175 Dual Twin
As of 2015, Bridgestone was the world’s largest tire manufacturer in the world, with 141 facilities in 24 countries. They started building motorcycles after WWII but they eventually shied away from it because their biggest source of income was selling tires to Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki – so why compete with them? Riders in the know thought Bridgestone made some …