In 1984 Yamaha released a road legal version of their factory YZR500 which at the time was leading the world championship with Kenny Roberts aboard. The Yamaha RD500LC was born and all the crazy kids formed an orderly queue. Intro There was a very short lived period of time in the 1980’s when a small … Read more
2020 marked the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Suzuki GSX-R750 Slabside, and within that celebration there was more than just one bike to commemorate, there is the whole Gixxer line that followed and a whole new race-replica genre of sports bikes. Some people to date when considering sports bikes draw the line with … Read more
In 1986, a year after a thankful few got their hands on the fantastic GSX-R750, it was topped by the bigger and faster Suzuki GSXR 1100. More power from the larger 1052cc engine but like the GSX-R 750 it had the aluminium cradle frame, fairing, full floater rear swing arm and an air cooled four … Read more
It is 1989 in Germany, the Berlin Wall has crashed down to the ground and BMW decided to produce the craziest motorcycle they had designed to date, the K1. It was a bold, futuristic design that reminded everyone why BMW was such a giant in the motorcycle industry. Without further ado, let’s take a look … Read more
The BMW K100, aka as the Flying Brick, is making a comeback as the go to bike for Cafe Racer custom builders. There’s more to this great Sports Tourer though and it deserves to be remembered for the ground breaking 1980s motorcycle it was. The K100 was the German marquees first shot at creating a … Read more
Kawasaki had a point to prove with the GPZ900R. Having been beaten to the punch by Honda in releasing the world’s first four-cylinder 750cc “superbike”, the CB750, they needed to raise the bar with the successor to their own popular 900cc superbike, the iconic Kawasaki Z1. Spending several years in secret creating the perfect successor, … Read more
The Yamaha FZR600 Genesis when introduced in 1989 was considered the best 600cc Sportsbike on the market. It’s reign wouldn’t last forever as Kawasaki and Honda each were to soon supersede the bike’s specs with their own offerings. However, it still retains a certain hold over riders today, with several generations spanning it’s 10 years … Read more
The Honda CX platform was around for a while. We had a standard CX500 platform bike at the house when I was growing up. I got to ride it a handful of times, and I’ve got to say, it’s extremely difficult to believe anything derived from that powerplant could ever be described as “high performance.” … Read more
The Ducati 851 is no exception when it comes to following Ducati’s rule of pushing innovation, going against the odds, surviving and then thriving. Financial crisis was looming and yet Ducati entered the realm of the World Superbike Series with the 851, took on the might of Japan and won. The ground breaking 851 made … Read more
Harley Davidson was bought back from AMF in 1981 with Willie. G. Davidson at the helm. The XR1000 was meant to be the fierce machine that reminded the pubic why HD remained top dog. Let’s have a look at the Harley Davidson XR1000 and you can decide whether it achieved it’s goal or not. History … Read more
Like many of us I was excited by the release of the new Suzuki Katana in 2019 and when I later saw that glistening Samurai Sword displayed above the bike in my local dealer, all I could think was, it really isn’t that different from the original Suzuki Katana. So today let’s look back at … Read more
Before the 1980s, an “adventure” bike was simply a lightweight, low-powered enduro bike or one of the heavier desert racers altered for long distance travelling. Neither of these were ideal, but the only thing available on the market during this time for those looking to take on the world. It would be the BMW R80G/S … Read more