Motorcycles
Motorcycle reviews, gear, travel, maintenance and ownership news.
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FOR SALE: 2006 Ducati Sport Classic 1000 Monoposto
The 2006 Ducati SportClassic 1000 Monoposto captures the essence of classic Italian sport motorcycles in a package that combines period-inspired styling with modern-for-its-era engineering. Finished in Ducati Yellow with a black solo seat, this example, currently offered through Collecting Cars, represents the single-seat version of Ducati’s retro-inspired SportClassic family. Air-Cooled L-Twin Performance Power comes from an air-cooled, 992cc V-twin engine featuring Ducati’s desmodromic valve system.
6 Things to Check Before Buying a Motorcycle for a Custom Café Racer Project
Building a custom motorcycle starts long before the first component is removed or the first modification is made. Whether the goal is a café racer, scrambler, bobber, or tracker, choosing the right donor bike can determine the project’s cost, complexity, and ultimate success. A motorcycle that appears inexpensive at first can quickly become a financial burden if it has structural damage, expensive mechanical faults, or missing components. A careful pre-purchase inspection helps identify potential problems before they become costly surprises.
Digital Privacy Tips for Motorcycle Travelers: Staying Secure on the Road
Motorcycle travel offers a sense of freedom that’s hard to match. Whether you’re riding across the country or exploring unfamiliar back roads for a weekend adventure, staying connected has become an essential part of the journey. Riders rely on navigation apps, accommodation bookings, weather forecasts, and mobile banking while travelling. However, using online services away from home can expose your personal information if you’re not careful. While premium security tools can help, safe online habits remain your most effective defense.
FOR SALE: 2009 Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron 883
Harley-Davidson’s Sportster Iron 883 has long appealed to riders who favor stripped-down styling, compact proportions, and the customization potential of the Evolution V-twin platform. This modified 2009 Sportster Iron 883 takes that formula further with an official Screamin’ Eagle performance conversion, upgraded suspension, and an assortment of aftermarket components. Offered on Bring a Trailer with no reserve, the motorcycle combines familiar Harley-Davidson character with a more substantial mechanical and visual makeover. Screamin’ Eagle 1,
This Custom Triumph Thruxton Is a Masterclass in Café Racer Design
The Triumph Thruxton has long been a natural starting point for café racer customization, combining classic British styling with modern engineering. Rob’s Thruxton takes that formula considerably further. Developed in collaboration with Tom of Hitchcox Motorcycles and a team of specialist builders, the project strips away much of the motorcycle’s modern electronic complexity, introduces a bespoke carburetor conversion, and pairs a minimalist aesthetic with extensively reworked suspension and a handcrafted titanium exhaust system.
The Five Motorcycles That Truly Changed Motorcycle Culture Through Film
Motorcycles have occupied a distinctive place in cinema for decades, serving as more than transportation or visual accessories. The right machine can embody rebellion, freedom, danger, technical sophistication or the promise of escape. In a handful of films, motorcycles have transcended their mechanical purpose to become enduring cultural symbols, influencing how audiences perceive motorcycling itself. The difference between an iconic movie motorcycle and a culturally transformative one is significant.
FOR SALE: 1993 BMW R100RT
BMW’s air-cooled R100 platform has become a favorite foundation for custom builders, and this 1993 BMW R100RT demonstrates why. Originally purchased as a stock motorcycle in 2017, the Texas-based example has since been rebuilt as a minimalist café racer, replacing much of the factory touring character with contemporary suspension, braking, and chassis components. At its core remains BMW’s 980cc air-cooled OHV opposed-twin, equipped with dual Bing carburetors, two valves per cylinder, an oil cooler, and electric starting. The engine was
Custom Build, Public Road: What Happens to Your Claim When a Modified Motorcycle Goes Down
Every builder knows the moment. The tank is painted, the rear-sets are dialed in, the clip-ons sit exactly where your wrists want them, and the bike finally rolls out of the garage onto a real road with real traffic. What very few builders think about in that moment is what happens if a driver turns left across that road without looking. A crash on a custom motorcycle is not handled the same way as a crash on a stock one,
FOR SALE: 2018 Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer
This 2018 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer combines Ducati’s modern interpretation of classic café-racer styling with the mechanical character of its air-cooled L-twin platform. Now offered with no reserve on Bring a Trailer, this example has accumulated approximately 9,000 miles and is presented in Arizona with a clean California title. Finished in Black Coffee with gold accents, the motorcycle uses a black-painted trellis frame, gold 10-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels, a headlight cowl, and side panels carrying the number 54. The graphics
Roughchild’s 1975 BMW R90/6 Café Racer Reengineered for the Rider
Roughchild’s BMW café racer demonstrates that building a serious custom motorcycle is not simply an exercise in styling. The company’s heavily reworked 1975 BMW R90/6 combines traditional airhead character with modern suspension, braking, wheel technology and a thoroughly rebuilt 1,000cc engine, but the most important engineering decision was made around the rider rather than the motorcycle.
Top 20 Most Expensive Custom-Built and Modified Café Racers Ever Sold at Auction
Café racers began as relatively simple performance machines built by enthusiasts who stripped away unnecessary weight, fitted low bars and rearsets, and tuned their motorcycles for speed between the café and the next landmark. What started as a distinctly British postwar subculture eventually became a global motorcycle design language, influencing everything from Japanese four-cylinder specials and Italian sport bikes to modern one-off builds from some of the world’s most respected custom motorcycle builders.
2007 Ducati Sport 1000S Brings 1970s-Inspired Ducati Style to Auction
Ducati’s SportClassic family was conceived as a modern interpretation of the company’s celebrated sporting motorcycles of the 1970s, and few members of A 2007 Ducati Sport 1000S heads to auction with a 992cc Desmodromic L-twin, Ducati Red finish, Öhlins rear suspension and classic café-racer styling.
2000 Bourget 1750cc ‘Dark Rider – Year of Shadow’: A Custom American V-Twin Built for a Charitable Cause
The 2000 Bourget 1750cc Dark Rider – Year of Shadow represents the distinctive custom-motorcycle culture that developed around large-displacement American V-twins at the turn of the millennium. Offered through Bonhams as part of a sale benefiting the Luca Guintoli Foundation, this unusual machine combines the visual identity of the American custom scene with a charitable purpose. Its listing also carries an important documentation caveat: Bonhams identifies the frame number as unavailable to locate and the engine number as W0735, with
FOR SALE: 1975 Ducati 900 SS
The 1975 Ducati 900 SS offered for sale through Collecting Cars is a particularly significant example of Ducati’s early Super Sport lineage. As a first-year 900 SS, it represents one of just 246 examples understood to have been produced for 1975, making it considerably rarer than later versions of the model. At its core is Ducati’s 864cc air-cooled, 90-degree Desmodromic L-twin, distinguished by its bevel-drive camshaft system and fed through twin 40mm Dell’Orto carburetors. Power reaches the rear wheel through
Checking a Lot Before Bidding: Shipping Data and VIN History for Your Next Cafe Racer
Building a cafe racer starts long before the first bolt comes off. It starts with the auction lot itself. Two habits separate riders who land a solid donor bike from those who get blindsided later: checking real shipping numbers for the pickup state, and running the VIN before the bid closes rather than after winning. Neither takes long, and both turn assumptions into an actual plan. Why route data changes the build budget Shipping quotes for motorcycles swing more than
FOR SALE: 1969 Egli-Vincent Cafe Racer by Godet
Few motorcycles combine British V-twin heritage and specialist chassis engineering as convincingly as the Egli-Vincent. Currently offered on Bring a Trailer, this café racer was built by Godet Motorcycles of Malaunay, France, in 2002, pairing a newly assembled 998cc Vincent-based V-twin with a nickel-plated Egli frame produced under license from Swiss engineer Fritz Egli. Although titled as a 1969 model, the motorcycle is fundamentally a period-inspired modern construction rather than an original Vincent production machine.
FOR SALE: 1981 Honda CX500 Custom Cafe Racer
A 1981 Honda CX500 Custom listed on Bring a Trailer with no reserve transforms Honda’s unconventional middleweight V-twin into a purpose-built cafe racer. Retained by its original owner until 2018, the motorcycle was subsequently rebuilt with extensively reworked chassis, braking, electrical, and bodywork systems. The defining visual elements are an Airtech race fairing, fiberglass tail section, and Benelli Mojave 1.75-gallon steel fuel tank, all finished in Candy Apple Red with silver center stripes.
Cafe Racer Ebikes: What to Check Before You Buy
A bike can look right in a photograph and feel wrong at the first intersection. The silhouette and seating layout that caught your eye still have to work when you pedal, turn, stop, and put the bike away. Before buying an electric bike for its motorcycle-inspired styling, find out what that styling asks of you in everyday use. The goal is a bike you enjoy looking at and riding. That starts with knowing which design details are simply a matter
9 Best Café Racers to Look Out for at the 2026 Autumn Stafford Sale
The Autumn Stafford Sale, held as part of the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on 11 October 2026, brings together an unusually strong selection of motorcycles suited to the café-racer collector. Among the 200-plus motorcycles catalogued by Bonhams are several machines that either helped define the genre or represent later interpretations of its stripped-back, performance-focused philosophy.
12 Best Motorcycle Upgrades for 2026: Essential Gear for Safety, Comfort and Reliability
Motorcycle accessories are a massive market, but not every product deserves space on a bike. The most useful upgrades are the ones that solve genuine problems: protecting the rider, improving visibility, reducing distraction, preventing mechanical failures, or making long-distance riding easier. Old Man’s Ride highlights 12 motorcycle accessories that fit that description. The list ranges from airbag protection and tire-pressure monitoring to heated gear, dedicated navigation, and automatic chain lubrication.
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