A Pristine Homologation Special Straight out of 1989… In 1987-88, Yamaha’s YZF750 Genesis factory racer boasted successive wins in the highly competitive Suzuka 8-Hours endurance races. Learnings from the YZF would be directly incorporated into […]
Vintage Motorcycles
The Perfect Café Racer: Honda CB550 “Sapphire”
For Sale: Matt MacVittie’s 1977 Honda CB550 “Sapphire”… If you had to choose one vintage Japanese motorcycle to serve as the base for a café racer project, you’d be hard-pressed to improve on the Honda […]
Marfil Moto: Suzuki GS550 Resto-Customs
Magic Middleweights: Two Suzuki GS550s from Poland… In 1977, Suzuki introduced the GS550, a smaller sibling to the GS750, which Cycle World called “a lithe and hot-blooded tiger that’s our pick for Best of Breed, […]
American Dream: MV Agusta 750 Sport America
For Sale: Ultra-rare MV 750S America from Moto Borgotaro… Four years after the Wright brothers made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, Count Giovanni Agusta built his first aircraft, the AG. 1 biplane. […]
National Motorcycle Museum: Top 10 Auction Bikes
10 Collector-Grade Bikes from the John Parham Estate Collection… Last week, we featured the Indian Scout Wall of Death bike from the collection of John Parham, the late founder of mail-order giant J&P Cycles. John […]
Race Bike, for the Street: Yamaha RD350 Café Racer
“A vintage race bike without fairings…but for the street.” This was the vision Jesse Crane (@crane_moto) had for the 1975 Yamaha RD350 café racer you see here. You might remember Jesse from his ’71 Yamaha […]
For You, Old Fox: Yamaha RD350 Custom
Cus’Tom Motorcycles rebuilds his father’s RD… The Yamaha RD350 was one of the great giant-killers of the two-wheeled world, a two-stroke street machine with a race-bred bloodline. In AMA Class C racing, the RD racers […]
Wall of Death Bike: 1931 Indian 101 Scout
In 1975, John Parham opened his first motorcycle shop in Anamosa, Iowa. Later he started J. Parham Enterprises with his wife, Jill. That company would become known as J & P Cycles, one of the […]
Race Report: Helsington Classic Scramble 2023
Graham Watson follows his father’s tire tracks at the 2023 Helsington Scramble! Back in 2021, we featured the unique Cheney / Triumph “Cantilever Cub” of Graham Watson. In the 1970s, Graham’s father wanted to build […]
Dubai to London: BMW R80GS Desert Bomber
Project Zero 30: A Transcontinental Airhead from Cafe Rider Customs… The BMW R80GS is the grandfather of the modern adventure bike, and remains one of the most important and influential motorcycles of the modern era. […]
