Normally when a company does a mid-cycle refresh on a bike, you get some minor updates like a new dash or LED lighting. Yamaha made sure they took care of those but they also brought something bigger to the table: a philosophical shift in what the MT-09 should feel like. After a 110-mile ride with it, I’m convinced they made …
Guess That Bike – Forks Edition
OK, RoHorn made my last “Guess That Bike” post seem too easy, so this time I’m trying something a bit more difficult. Here’s some nifty forks that are set up for quick changes – do you know what bike they’re attached to?
Picture Intermission – LEGO Technic Yamaha MT-10 SP
A while back I shared that LEGO and Yamaha were parterning up for a new Technic model for the Yamaha MT-10SP. I guess someone at Yamaha noticed and they kindly sent me one to put together. Come check it out!
1924 Ner-a-Car
Designed by Carl Neracher in 1918, the Ner-A-Car was sold as a cheap automobile alternative. Approximately 10,000 were built and sold in the US, and another 6,500 were built and sold in England under license. Here’s one of the latter.
1964 BSA Starlite
Known as the Beagle in the UK, this little 75cc BSA commuter was marketed as the Starlite in America.
2018 Walt Siegl Leggero
A few years ago, Walt Siegl started building a limited run of custom motorcycles based on Ducati 900cc 2V engines – the idea was that by making a limited run, he could lower the cost a little bit, giving more people the chance to afford one. He called these bikes the Leggero series.
Guess That Bike – I Have No Idea Edition
Usually when I have a “Guess That Bike” post, I know what the bike is and I only share a little piece to challenge you. This time, I have no idea what I stumbled upon so I’m going to share everything and I hope you can educate me! Maybe I should call this “Tell Me What This Is” instead of …
Guest Picture Intermission – 2024 Hendersonville Meltdown
Our buddy Starmag (his commenter name) recently visited the Hendersonville Meltdown Classic Motorcycle Show in Hendersonville, North Carolina for their 13th annual show and he was kind enough to share some photos of the bikes on display. Come check them out!
2024 Quail Motorcycle Gathering – The Winners
2024 was the 14th year of the Quail and unfortunately the most significant guest of the day was rain. Still, like every other Quail it was a fun day full of great bikes and better people – I’m looking forward to going back next year! Let’s take a look at who won awards this time around:
Guess That Bike Revealed – Fuel Tank Edition
Congrats to KellyF, who correctly guesssed that this was the tank from a Honda NR750! It’s not every day that you get to see a NR without the bodywork, so here’s some additional photos for those of you that are curious:
Picture Intermission – Megola
On the way back from the Quail, I stopped at the Solvang Motorcycle Museum. I hadn’t been there in about a decade and it was well worth the detour in our trip. I’m going to share some of my favorites over the next few days and I think I’ll start with the weirdest one: a 1922 Megola.
What Do You Want To Know? 2024 Yamaha MT-09 and MT-09 SP
Update: Here’s the review! The last time I reviewed a MT-09 (in 2020), I said that “I wondered if Yamaha’s legal department was on vacation when the MT-09 was in development.” It was a ton of fun, but it lacked refinement in certain areas. This week, I’m in Northern California because Yamaha has revised the model for 2024. What would …
Picture Intermission – DR Moto Yamaha R1
My favorite bike at the Aprilia Racers Days event at Circuit of the Americas this year wasn’t an Aprilia – though there were several cool ones (including three XTrentas!) No, this year my favorite was a Yamaha (sort of). It’s owned by one of our clients at Iconic Motorbikes and it’s an amazing build around a 2014 British Superbike Spec …
1980 Moto Guzzi Le Mans CX100 Custom
Over on the auction site we’ve got a lovely take on one of Moto Guzzi’s ugly ducklings – the CX100. In the states, however, not even that was enough. To satisfy the American mantra of “no replacement for displacement” and to compete with the BMW R100RS, Guzzi took the 1000cc engine and lower fairings from the 1000SP sport tourer and …
2004 Moto Guzzi Breva
Originally available as a 750, the Breva was given a bigger engine just as Moto Guzzi got an infusion of cash from Piaggio. The Breva was designed to be a modern naked tourer, and with the 1100 engine you could expect 72 horsepower at the rear wheel and 56 pound feet of torque.