Motorcycle Investor mag
Subscribe to our free email news
What's happening
News May 2022
Legendary XR69 on market,
May 31
One of just five or six works Suzuki
XR69s has popped up on the market for the second time
in a few years. Owned by former racer Mick Grant, the
machine was offered up at auction by Bonhams in 2019
and again this month through Car & Classic.
Developed with the input of 'Pops'
Yoshimura, the early eighties bikes were a combination of
a grand prix-style chassis with a superbike-spec GS1000
engine, thought to be good for 134hp (100kW) at 9500rpm
and 97Nm at 8000.
These bikes were at the core of a 1982
British Suzuki team including Graeme Crosby, John Newbold
and Mick Grant. Crosby and Grant took a 1-2 victory at
that year's Isle of Man TT. The latter has owned the
machine and kept it in running order since it was given to
him by the factory in 1985.
At auction it carried an estimate of
Au$170-190,000 (US$120-140,000, GB£95-110,000). However
bidding pulled up at Au$105,000 (US$76,000, GB£60,000). See the lot here.
See the Silodrome
profile on the machine.
Moto Guzzi 850
Le Mans
Classic Two Wheels has published a
period test of the Moto Guzzi Le Mans from Two
Wheels mag.
"
The Le Mans is a machine you want,
or you don't want. There is no middle course," says
the writer. See the story
here.
Island time, May
27
Triumph Daytona at the isle of Man for
the TT – 2005.
See out time capsule tour
feature.
What's a Honda
CB750-Four worth? May 25
Last night's extraordinary result at
Shannons, where a restored Honda
CB750-Four K2 sold for Au$42,500
(US$30,000, GB£24,000), may be a freak result rather
than a true indicator of where the market is. We'd
like to see it repeated before taking it as gospel.
Another recent auction, by Scammells
in South Australia, got somewhat more sobering
results:
This K0 went for Au$19,500 (US$13,800,
GB£11,000)...
The K1 went for Au$25,000 (US$17,800,
GB£14,200)...
The K2 went for Au$15,500 (US$11,000,
GB£8800)...
The K7 went for Au$11,000 (US$7800,
GB£6200)...
And the F2 went for Au$8000 (US$5700,
GB£4500).
Meanwhile keen restorers bid a set of
genuine NOS K2 4-into-4 exhausts to Au$4600 (US$3300,
GB£2600).
Wild CB750
result, April 24
We'll confess we didn't see this one
coming. A 1972 Honda CB750-Four K2 which had undergone
what seems to be a comprehensive restoration has just sold
via a Shannons auction for Au$42,500 (US$30,000,
GB£24,000).
The timed online bidding went through
several extensions and the result was well past the
Au$15-25,000 (US$11-18,000, GB£9-14,000) estimate. Under
normal circumstances, we would have seen the upper figure
in that range as a very strong result for this model.
See the lot here
and the auction catalogue
here.
See our CB750
profile and the K1 in our
shed.
Random brochure
for the day – Kawasaki Z650, May 23
Remember the air-cooled Z650 circa 1976?
Like many similar examples from the era, the middleweight
tended to be a better-handling and arguably more sporty
option than its bigger brethren.
The inline four weighed in at 211kg dry
and claimed a healthy 66 horses at 8500rpm. See the full
specs here.
You don't see them
on the market all that often, but there's one on
offer here at Au$6000 (US$4250, GB£3400).
Moto Guzzi V7, May 23
Italy's class-leading tourer...see the story here.
Norton trio on
offer, May 21
The current Shannons auction has three options on offer for the would-be classic Norton Commando owner.
First is a
1968 Fastback 750 restored to what appears to be
faithful factory trim, carrying an estimate of
Au$22-28,000 (US$16-20,000, GB£12-16,000).
Next is a lightly-modified 1972 750, pitched
at Au$15-20,000 (US$10-14,000, GB£8-11,000).
Last is an example of the final series, a
1975 MkIII 850,
listed at Au$22-26,000 (US$16-19,000, GB£12-15,000).
See the full
auction catalogue, with 41 motorcycle lots.
See the story on our MkIII Commando.
BMW R90S book,
May 21
From Ian
Falloon: I now have some advance copies of the BMW R90S
book updated edition. This has quite a lot of new
information supplied by the designer Hans A Muth. Hard
cover 112 pages, similar format to the original. As they
are printed to order, initially these books will only be
available in Australia. Next week I hope to have
International distribution set up. The price for
Australian buyers is Au$140. This includes postage.
Please pay to PayPal.me/ianfalloon.
Flashback –
Oddball for the day: Hesketh 24, May 20
Not something you see every day! See our feature...
Fours flying at
Shannons, May 19
Classic Japanese fours are
pulling strong bidding just two days into a week-long
auction at Shannons.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is a 1989
Suzuki GSX-R1100K. With a little under 30,000km (17,400
miles) on the odo, the bike is reported to be in
exceptional "collector-grade" condition.
Bidding is already at Au$18,500
(US$12,900, GB£10,400), which suggests it will easily
reach the Au$20-25,000 estimate (US$14-17,400,
GB£11-14,000). See it here.
Meanwhile a 1972 Honda CB750-Four K2 is
also getting plenty of interest. A restored example, it is
running an 810 Yoshimura kit and is otherwise standard.
It's said to have done 6000km (3700 miles) since the
rebuild.
Bidding is at Au$21,000 (US$14,600,
GB£11,800), well within the $Au$15-25,000 estimate
(US$10-17,400, GB£8-14,000). See it here.
See the
auction catalogue here.
Aermacchi
Sprint, May 17
It's not often you'll see one of these on
the market, a 1973 Aermacchi Sprint 350 – branded
Harley-Davidson. The Sprint four-strokes were on offer in
the USA from the late 1960s.
This one is a restored 1973 model, on the market in
Brisbane via Facebook at Au$8750 (US$6100, GB£5000).
This comes from a time when Harley
decided to have a crack at the small bike market with a
range of gear from the Italian maker, and the Sprint 350
was the top of the range. You can still get parts for them
via MotoItalia
in the USA.
Also offered were
250s, plus a range of two-stroke dirt bikes.
Cafe Caviar, May
16
Factory cafe racer for the caviar fan.
One of Willie G's early progeny from the late 1970s.
See the specs
and backgrounder at Motorcycle Specs.
Ducati 750
Sport, May 15
From Ian Falloon: Long
before that eventful day at Imola on April 23, 1972
(when Ducati won the race with the 750 racers), Ducati
directors Milvio and Spairani sanctioned the development
of a more sporting 750...more here.
Godet Vincent,
May 14
A rare find anywhere in the world and
particularly on the local market, is this 1968 Godet
Egli Vincent Black Shadow. Listed as a 1968 build,
it's said to be a one-owner machine ordered direct
from Patrick Godet.
Located in the Noosa hinterland in
Queensland (Australia), it's on the market via Facebook for
Au$105,000 (US$73,000, GB£60,000). See a backgrounder
on these machines from Motorcycle Classics. If
the reality matches the description, we'll be
surprised if it isn't snapped up.
Rainey at FOS,
May 12
Former GP star Wayne Rainey will be
riding for the second time since his race career was
abruptly ended in a crash back in 1993. This time it's
at the Festival of Speed at Goodwood in June, on a
modified version of his 1992 500cc
championship-winning Yamaha YZR.
That's him in the pic, giving
Australian photographer Lou Martin some cheek.
Here's a clip
from the 2013 meeting, with a lot of familiar
faces from eighties and nineties.
Flashback:
Big Green Bomber, May 10
Big green bomber - Kawasaki ZX-12R. Wouldn’t mind adding one to the shed…see our profile.
Fuji Go-Devil, May 9
We have to admit this was a new one us. Perhaps another brand that sank without trace? Fuji's main business turned out to be bicycles, until it filed for bankruptcy in 1998.
The Go-Devil was built in Japan from 1964 through to 1967, and was marketed with the catchline "just what you need and nothing more". Power was from a bespoke 50cc two-stroke engine.
Norton buys back its history, May 9
UK MCN reports the revived Norton
Motorcycles is in the throes of buying back its history,
with 55 machines covering 76 years pulled together as a
collection.
The fleet was sold by collector Ian
Loram (above left, with Norton CEO Robert Hentschel.)
See the
report here.
Yamaha RZ500
auction, May 7
Arguably more popular now than when they were new, Yamaha
RZ500s are hot property on the auction circuit.
This one is
on offer at Grays, with 54,000km showing on the odo
and claiming recent engine and cosmetic restoration.
Bidding is nearing Au$30,000 (US$21,200, GB£17,200)
with three days to go. See the lot
here.
And our
feature on a nice
restomod version.
Flashback: Antiques Roadshow, May
7
Indulging in our own little time warp...see the story here.
Bagger bruisers,
May 6
Meet Cory, from Indian Charlotte. He and his bagger
recently won a race in what is now a hotly-contested
national six-round King of the Baggers series in the USA,
fought of course between Indian and Harley-Davidson.
We reckon it's pretty entertaining racing. See a
highlights package from Daytona this year, with a race won
by former MotoGP international Jeremy McWilliams.
Yamaha 1985, May
4
It was a huge year for Yamaha, with
some iconic machines in its stable, such as the mighty
V-Max, FJ1100, FZ750 five-valver and the XJ900
evergreen all-rounder.
See our FJ1100-1200
series review and our FZ750 profile.
Honda
Scrambler, May 3
Wouldn't it be great to see a modern
version of this?
See our brief profile
of the original.
Get an AJS, May
1
AJS 7R - see the specs and profile at Motorcycle Specs
Gixxer goodness,
May 1
Later models like the one
above gained more sophistication, power and a little
weight and as a consequence were sometimes criticised
for being not as sports-focused as the early variants.
However time has been kind to
them and increasingly they're seen as an interesting
option for collectors.
Speaking of early variants, there's a tidy-looking G
model for sale in Queensland, listed on Bikesales for
Au$18,000 (US$12,700, GB£10,100).
See our GSX-R1100 range
overview
Want earlier news & views? See our archive.
-------------------------------------------------
Produced by AllMoto abn 61 400 694 722
Privacy: we do not collect cookies or any other data.
Archives
Contact
