On June 15th, VanDerBrink is auctioning off the collection of Jeff Begg, a late Michigan businessman who had a secret collection that his family and friends did not know about! He was passionate about British bikes and even named his machine parts manufacturing company (Marshall-Excelsior Corp) after the town he lived in (Marshall, Michigan) and Excelsior-Henderson. The main draw of …
Restomod – 1972 Kawasaki H2 750
Post Listing Update: This H2 did not get any interest at the BIN of $25,000. The H2 earned the moniker of “Widowmaker” thanks to prodigious power combined with a frame, suspension, and tires that couldn’t keep up. But what if you could enjoy the old-school rush with modern suspension and tires? That’s what the builder of this H2 tried to …
Yetman Framed – 1967 Honda CB77
David Yetman was born in 1938, and he fell in love with motorcycles as a military serviceman stationed in Japan. He specifically appreciated the “high level of performance” that Japanese manufacturers were able to extract from small bikes. Years later, he crashed his Honda CB77 and ruined the frame. He couldn’t afford to replace the frame, but instead of totaling …
BMW K1200LT-Powered – 2010 Tri-Magnum
Post Sale Update: After being relisted, this Tri-Magnum sold for $2,225 after 2 bids on eBay. Billed as a “high-performance three-wheeled sports car”, this Tri-Magnum made its debut on the cover of Mechanix Illustrated magazine in the early 80s. It was the creation of Robert G. Riley Enterprises, a company that offers DIY plans for multiple vehicles and claims to …
165 Miles – 2002 Triumph Bonneville 100th Anniversary Limited Edition
Triumph originally started in the mid 1880s as a bicycle manufacturer (fun fact, they got some initial funding from Dunlop), but it wasn’t until 1902 that they created their first motorcycle. To celebrate that fact, Triumph released a 100th Anniversary edition of the famed Bonneville. An official production run was never announced, but some online sources suggest that Triumph intended …
Restored – 1968 Triumph Bonneville
In late 2010, I was standing in a motorcycle dealership and looking at two bikes. I knew I would leave with one, but I was new to motorcycling and on the fence. Ok, new is an understatement, I was in over my head. The two bikes in question: a 2009 Triumph Bonneville T100, and a pretty clean example of a …
Picture Intermission – The Motorcycles of MotoDoffo
Last week I was at the launch of the Honda CBR650R/CB650R (UDPATE: here’s my review), and Honda took us to lunch at Doffo Winery in Temecula, California. What I’m doing for lunch isn’t normally something I’d bother you with, but the owner of Doffo Winery (Marcelo Doffo) is a bike nut and he’s converted the former barrel room into a …
Restored Police Special – 1969 Honda CB450P
Post Listing Update: This CB450 police bike did not meet reserve despite 27 bids up to $15,200 on eBay in Fullerton, California. One of the rarer Honda motorcycles in the US, the CB450P (also occasionally referred to as the CP450) is a police model based on Honda’s popular CB450. I’ve featured a couple based on the KO Black Bomber model, …
In Canada – 1993 Kawasaki ZX750R-M1
Post Listing Update: This Kawasaki did not meet reserve despite 19 bids up to $11,550. In 1991, Kawasaki started offering a homologation special based on the ZX-7 (known outside of the US as the ZXR-750). It was designated with an additional R at the end of the model name, and nowadays it’s the model that collectors look out for. For …
What Do You Want To Know? 2020 BMW S1000RR
Give me a moment to shed a tear – the asymmetrical headlight design has been killed off. 10 years ago, BMW redefined what a modern superbike could be, and it wasn’t just from a performance standpoint. The shark gills and oddball headlights made the S1000RR the most visually-distinctive offering in the class, while the engine (lightest and most powerful) and …
Raffle Intermission – Nicky Hayden Tribute Bikes
It’s been almost exactly two years since the shocking news that Nicky Hayden passed away in a bicycle/car accident in Italy. One of the many organizations that went out of their way to honor Nicky was the AMA, and one of their projects was the commission of two custom motorcycles that celebrated “his life and his career as a professional …
First Ride Review – 2019 Kawasaki Versys 1000 SE LT+
View Post977 Miles – 2003 Honda RC51
Post Sale Update: This RC51 sold for the BIN of $8,500. The RC51 combined Honda reliability with the joy of a V-Twin engine, beating Ducati at its own game with multiple World Superbike Championships and a AMA Championship. In 2002, Honda made some revisions to create the SP2 variant.
1968 Honda SS125A
Post Listing Update: This Honda was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown. 5-28-2019 Update: The seller has let me know that SS125A has now made its way onto eBay with no reserve, so it’ll find a new owner. Find it with bidding up to $500 here on eBay. The SS125A is one of the hardest Hondas to find …
Ending Soon – 1955 AJS Model 18CS
Post Listing Update: This AJS did not meet reserve despite 19 bids up to $4,550 on eBay. The AJS Model 18CS was an evolution of the Model 18 – a bike that can trace its roots back to the G3L, an ex-military bike that was sold off in surplus once the war had ended. The C stood for Competition (as …