What Is It: Can You Identify This Survivor?

A UNIQUE BIKE is going up for sale this week at The Grand Palais Ephemere auction in Paris. It’s a bike so unique, its builder or brand is unidentified. From the Dr. Peter and Ulrike Buhner Collection of Important Pioneer and Collectors Motorcycles and Motor Cars, comes a 1905 motorcycle that’s simply called the Unidentified Veteran Motorcycle. We can usually count on Bonhams to find some rare and interesting bikes from its high-profile auctions, like a vintage Curtiss but this one’s so rare, nobody knows what it is.

Even the experts at Bonhams can’t tell you who built this early motorcycle. There are a few clues, but not enough to solve the mystery. Many of these early motorcycles were built by privateers who assembled parts from many different bikes, while others were prototypes for later production motorcycles. After all, this is how Harley and Davidson started their partnership.

We know a few things about this funky bike, but it’s not the first mystery we’ve written about. It has a frame number of 31224 and an engine number of 32. It’s a single-cylinder engine attached to a bicycle frame. Like many early motorcycles (and later mopeds), you have to pedal it to start it. It has a direct belt drive.

The Veteran has a Phanomen acetylene gas brass headlamp, which adds a new meaning to “safety second.” The un-braked front wheel on a rudimentary springer-like front suspension also adds to a sense that in 1905 safety and comfort were after thoughts.

Bonhams | Instagram

The collection is being sold after the passing of the Buhners. They displayed their collection of pre-war motorcycles and cars in local museums or stored them. Other cool motorcycles from the collection include a 1921 Cyklop Lightweight, which is another single-cylinder bicycle-frame motorcycle, as well as several other early three-wheeled delivery bikes.

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Request Line: A Bottpower Buell XB12 built to spec

Riding a motorcycle is about more than just getting from A to B—it’s an experience. Someone who truly understands this sentiment is David Sánchez at Bottpower in Valencia, Spain. They’re known for creating some of the wildest custom motorcycles on the planet.

When David isn’t spinning spanners in his workshop, he’s spinning spanners for other people. Last year marked his 16th season as a data and race engineer on the European Superbike and Supersport circuit. On top of this, Bottpower’s XR1R won its class at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and finished 4th overall in 2017; David knows a thing or two about making well-engineered bikes.

This is the latest build in Bottpower’s XR1 series. For those who aren’t in the know, Bottpower XR1s are based on Buell’s XB12 series of bikes. David and his team take a stock XB12, and, using parts that they also sell in kit form, transform it to great effect.

Buell fans will notice that the bike’s distinctive twin spar aluminum frame has been replaced. Hiding under the carbon fiber tank cover is a brand new backbone-style frame, which now uses the 1,203 cc Buell Thunderstorm engine as a stressed member.

Since the Buell frame usually does double duty as the fuel tank, Bottpower has a three-stage fuel cell system for their XR1 builds. One cell sits under the tank cover, while the other two cells are located on either side of the bike, behind the rear cylinder and under the seat. It’s a wild way to store fuel—but so was the factory’s method.

The engine is treated to a new fuel system, handmade titanium collectors and a Torque Hammer exhaust. Breathing through a Bottpower intake system, this thing would thunder down the road like few bikes can.

The front forks are from a Buell 1125R, complete with the obligatory radial mounted brake disc. Also packing a set of K-Tech cartridges, this thing would handle like a dream, especially with those Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tires.

The rear shock is replaced by an Öhlins TTX unit, built to Bottpower’s exacting specifications. As for the brakes, up front is a Brembo master cylinder with an eight-piston Buell caliper. At the rear is the stock Buell master cylinder, paired to a Brembo caliper that is hidden behind the swingarm.

The handlebars are Bottpower’s own TA-KE composite bars, mounted on their own risers and triple clamps. The cockpit area is blissfully simple, with a single Motogadget Chronoclassic gauge and keyless ignition. Brembo controls and race-spec switchgear indicate that the XR1 means business.

The client did have two requests that deviate from Bottpower’s usual XR1 formula. “Instead of using a flat track-style number plate like the ones we normally use on our XR1s, our client suggested we use a JvB-moto signature headlight,” David explains.

“It is curious to see how simply by changing the headlight, the aesthetics of the motorcycle can change completely.”

And what a difference that one detail makes. David Sanchez and Jens vom Brauck (the ‘JvB’ in JvB-moto) are a match made in motorcycling heaven. The JvB-moto headlight gives the Bottpower bike just the right amount of neoclassic café racer style.

The client’s second request was the seat. He asked David if they could build him a tail unit without Bottpower’s usual flat tracker side panels, and David was more than happy to oblige. Although in the end, the team ended up building two seats—one with the number plates, and one without.

Both hand made in carbon fiber, the customer can switch them over in a mere minute. They both look fantastic—but if it were up to us, we’d take the number plate seat, for that signature Bottpower look.

This Buell is a testament to experiential motorcycling. Blending form and function in the way that only a vastly experienced craftsman can, it’s the kind of bike you could spend hours looking at, poring over every last detail. And it would be hours well spent, too.

If you think we didn’t do a search for cheap Buells to see how much we could build an XR1 for, you’d be wrong. And really, can you blame us?

Bottpower | Facebook | Instagram

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Million Dollar Harley: This Strap Tank Set a Record for Mecum

This 1908 Harley set a new record for Mecum in Las Vegas. MEcum Auctions.

A 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank, Mecum Auctions

WE LOVE CAFÉ racers, we love bobbers, and we love a killer scrambler. But we also love great classics, and sometimes they come from an unlikely manufacturer. This year at Mecum’s Las Vegas auction, a rare bike nearly sold for $1 million, and it wasn’t a Henderson, or an MV Agusta, not even a Vincent or a rare Indian. Nope. It was a Harley-Davidson.

1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank, Mecum Auction

The most expensive motorcycle sold this year at the 2023 Mecum auction was a 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank. This rare bike has an interesting pedigree that makes it a one of a kind. Less than a dozen of these bikes exist, however this one could be the most original. This Strap Tank, so called because the gas tank and oil tank are held to the bicycle-like frame with nickel strap, is one of the oldest surviving HDs and predates panhead Harleys by decades.

This Harley sold for $935,000 at auction, Mecum Auction

When the auction gavel fell, the bike went for $850,000. That works out to $935,000 after auction fees. Watch the gavel fall in Mecum’s video.

The seat cover is one of the original parts of this 1908 Harley, Mecum Auction

This particular Strap Tank was found by motorcycle collector David Uihlein in 1941, and he kept it for 66 years. Yes, it was restored, but it’s one of the most correct and original bikes from that era. It has the original tank, wheels, engine belt pulley, seat cover and muffler sleeve.

The tank is held on by a nickel strap, Mecum Auction

Yes, that’s a lot of scratch for an old Harley. It’s not the most expensive motorcycle ever sold, but it is the most expensive bike ever sold by Mecum in Vegas. It wasn’t the first Strap Tank that Mecum ever sold, in 2021 the company sold a 1907 Strap Tank for $297,000. But this bike has a well-documented history, as well as well-documented original 115-year-old parts.

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Auction Report: Missed Bargains in the Mike Wolfe Motorcycle Collection?

Mike Wolfe paired down his collection and sold several at the Mecum auction in Las Vegas. Mecum Auction

SEVERAL OF US know of Mike Wolfe from his “American Pickers” TV show, where he travels the states looking for long-neglected treasures. He seems to be an expert on everything from vintage pinball machines to “Star Wars” memorabilia. But, he’s also a bike guy, and over the years he’s made it a point to pull rare, interesting, and cool bikes out of sheds, barns, and garages. Though his collection has more than 150 bikes in it, he recently paired down his herd and decided to sell about 70 of the bikes he’s collected.
These are not sensible bikes for sensible people that want to ride. They’re cool, interesting, historic, mostly non-running bikes that are more sculpture than anything else.

Many had high hopes for some of his sales to set records. Some did, some didn’t, and for those of us who see potential in some of these bikes, we may have missed some bargains when Wolfe’s As Found Collection crossed the auction block in Las Vegas, Nev.

Wolfe’s 1951 R67 found a new home for $7,700, which puts it on the low end of the sales prices for these classic Beamers. Though it’s unclear if it runs (doubtful), just try and find a good example of an R67 for less than $10,000.

It’s a similar story with his 1950 BMW R51/3 bobber with 1970s-era mods that sold for $6,600. Though it’s clearly missing some important bits, it’s a pretty bike that likely will find its way back on the road.

Wolfe’s 1914 Harley-Davidson Factory Racing Twin sold for $61,600. These early Harley racers dominated early grand prix and closed-circuit competition racing.

The 1962 KR Racer that Wolfe sold at $29,700 similarly holds a special place in many people’s hearts. After seeing mid-century American racing dominated by Norton, BSA and Triumph twins, Harley responded with these cool 45ci racers that had a then-new overhead valve design that replaced the slow but reliable flatheads. By the 1960s, the KR was dominant on dirt tracks.

One of the coolest old American bikes in his collection, a 1931 Indian, sold for $71,500. Sure, it’s rough, and it’s coated in a well-earned patina, but it’s one of the rarest bikes from the first iteration of the company that was re-born with new bikes released in 2013.

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Speed Read, January 29, 2023

This weekend’s edition of Speed Read starts off with four of our favorite words—“Suzuki Katana” and “AC Sanctuary.” We also profile a vintage Triumph Tiger, a rare BMW R68 ISDT Special, and a tastefully modded Triumph Street Twin from Deus.

Suzuki Katana by AC Sanctuary What happens when a legendary Japanese workshop customizes an iconic motorcycle? Magic, that’s what. Pure retro magic.

The commission for this particular Suzuki Katana project came from a source close to AC Sanctuary. The bike belongs to Mr Wang—who not only runs a hugely successful motorcycle dealership in Taiwan, but is also the country’s only licensed AC Sanctuary dealer. Given their tight relationship, he was happy to give AC Sanctuary’s Hiroyuki Nakamura free rein on the project.

True to form, Nakamura-san did not disappoint. Step one was to tear the bike down, and set its frame into a jig to make sure everything was straight. AC Sanctuary also reinforced the frame in all the right places, then added a gorgeous alloy swingarm.

The Katana now rolls on OZ Racing wheels, with Öhlins suspension at both ends. The rear wheel is wider than stock, so AC Sanctuary modified the engine mounts to make sure that the rear sprocket still lines up perfectly. The brakes are a mix of AC Sanctuary’s own ‘RCM’ parts and high-end Brembo stuff, and the tires are Pirelli Diablo Rossos.

The Katana’s bodywork looks stock-ish, but it’s actually all-new. AC Sanctuary built most of it from scratch, buying in only the smoked screen, headlight and front fender. YF Design laid down the graphics; an intoxicating livery with a Suzuki factory racing feel to it.

AC Sanctuary put considerable effort into upgrading the engine too. It’s gone through a full rebuild, complete with bored and honed cylinders, skimmed heads, modified valve seats, a balanced crank and forged Wossner pistons. Now sitting at 1,135 cc, power delivery is optimized via a programmable ignition, an array of Mikuni Yoshimura carbs and a full titanium exhaust system.

A sprinkling of tasty bolt-ons and subtle mods drive the point home. The dashboard is particularly neat, complete with a carbon fiber backplate and a Stack tacho. If you’re wondering what motorcycling perfection looks like, this is it. [Via]

Serge’s 1973 Triumph Tiger 750 It’s rare that we feature a custom motorcycle without knowing the history of how and why it was customized. But the story of this fetching Triumph Tiger 750 is less about its mods, and more about its owner. It belongs to a Frenchman by the name of Serge Reveneau, and it symbolizes his return to two wheels.

Serge has been a fixture on the local moto scene for quite sometime, and has built a couple of interesting bikes already. But things took a nasty turn when, one fateful day, he took one of his bikes out to quickly check some carb adjustments. An SUV made an illegal U-turn in front of him, and Serge had nowhere to go.

Serendipitously, the car behind him was an ambulance—but his road to recovery was tough. He was in surgery for 10 hours, in a coma for 19 days, and in intensive physiotherapy for the longest time (with a few follow up surgeries thrown in for good measure). All the while, Serge battled with the sort of physical and emotional pain that usually accompany this sort of traumatic event.

Luckily Serge counts renowned motorcycle photographer, Kati Dalek, and her boyfriend, Basti, among his friends. The two visited him relentlessly during his recovery, started a social media campaign to rally support for him, and reminded him of how much fun motorcycles can be, by way of photos that she’d taken of him pinning it on the beach at the popular Wheels and Waves festival.

More than two years after his accident, Serge got back on the horse with this 1973 Triumph TR7RV Tiger. It was originally owned by a woman who had never owned a car, then a second owner who rebuilt it as a scrambler—but didn’t ride it much.

Serge is the third owner, and plans to keep it going as a street legal desert sled.

To celebrate Serge’s comeback, he, Kati and Basti took his Tiger down to the beach, to cut loose and shoot these photos. Welcome back, Serge. [Via]

Sold: BMW R68 ISDT Special The BMW R80G/S might be the first proper dual-sport motorcycle that the German marque ever built—but it wasn’t the first time they’d competed in off-road racing. Back in 1952, BMW fielded three R68 boxers in the International Six Days Trial in Austria.

Rider Hans Roth came close to winning the event with a perfect score card. But a mechanical failure during the speed trials, where he reached 104 mph, knocked him out of the event.

The BMW R68 was a follow-up to the earlier 594 cc BMW R67. With improvements to the engine and brakes, and larger carbs, it was billed as “The 100 mph Motorcycle” by BMW. It made 35 hp at 7,000 rpm—up from the R67’s 26 hp.

BMW offered the R68 in a ‘standard’ road model, and the ‘Gelandesporte’ version—recognizable by its high-mounted exhaust system. The rarer of the two models, it was this version that BMW ran in the ISDT.

The R68 you’re looking at here is about as clean as these rare machines come. It’s been restored to concours standards by a BMW expert, with matching numbers and the manufacturer’s original ID plate still on the frame and engine.

If you’d like to park it in your garage, we have bad news: it went on sale at Mecum’s Las Vegas auction this weekend, and was sold. We shudder to think for how much. [Via]

Triumph Street Twin by Deus ex Machina It’s tough to beat a Triumph modern classic as the starting point for a custom build. They look really good out the box—which means you can change as little, or as much, as you want to, and still end up with a handsome motorcycle.

This Street Twin comes from the workshop of Jeremy Tagand, at Deus ex Machina in Australia. And it while it hasn’t strayed too far from the classic Triumph Bonneville formula, it’s actually sporting a lot of clever mods. Park it next to a stock Street Twin, and it won’t take long to spot the differences.

For starters, it’s rolling on much fatter rubber. Jeremy installed wider yokes from Down and Out Motorcycles, along with a set of beefy Canyon Motorcycles wheels. Measuring 150 wide in the front and 180 in the rear, they’re wrapped in Pirelli dual-sport rubber.

The forks have been upgraded with new internals, and the rear sits on longer shocks; all courtesy of YSS. Beringer braking components add extra stopping power.

Jeremy also installed alloy fenders at both ends, and a custom seat. A lot of work went into the cockpit, which now wears wide 1” bars, Kustom Tech levers, Purpose Built Moto mirrors and Motone switches. BAAK Motocyclettes in France sent over leather fork gators, leather ‘cable ties,’ a skid plate, front turn signal mounts, an ignition relocation bracket and a headlight kit with an integrated Motogadget speedo. Kellermann LEDs take care of turn signal and taillight duties.

The engine now breathes in through a K&N filter, and out via a pair of HiTech Mufflers headers with SC Project mufflers. It’s been tuned too, courtesy of RB Racing and a Dynojet chip.

Wrapped in a luscious blue paint job (by Jud’s Kustom Paint), with a hit of leather on the seat (by Badarsetrimco.), this Triumph should look right at home on New Zealand’s North Island, which is where it’s headed. [More]

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Foray: A Ducati-powered custom with upcycled Bimota parts

No one upcycles quite like Roland Groteclaes. Based in Belgium, he’s a multi-talented creative that splits his time between illustration, design, painting and sculpture. And the latter is almost always done using salvaged parts.

This approach to his art is reflected in the custom bike he’s just built. Dubbed ‘Foray,’ it’s best described as a Bimota/Ducati hybrid. But this wasn’t a simple engine swap job—instead, it was pieced together almost entirely with leftover parts from multiple donor bikes.

The inspiration for Foray came from a particularly unusual source. “A friend form England gifted me a used Honda F1 carbon fiber heat exchanger,” Roland tells us. “He thought I could use it in a sculpture, but it was more than clear to me that I should give this piece a new identity, as an upcycled motorcycle fuel tank.”

“So the creation of Foray—its mere existence—revolves around one piece: the fuel tank.”

Roland needed to piece a motorcycle together to host his new fuel tank, so he took stock of what he had in his garage. “I ride a Bimota DB3 Mantra,” he explains. “And, like most motorcycle maniacs, I have a lot of new and used parts, all saved with the idea that one day I may make use of them.”

Roland’s stash included a Bimota DB3 swingarm, a pair of DB4 Antera wheels, and a DB2 exhaust system. Given that those parts all came from Italy, he decided that a Ducati engine would be the perfect fit.

After some searching, Roland found the perfect motor in Germany; an ex-Battle of the Twins 944 cc race-prepped Ducati mill, complete with open Keihin FCR carbs. He immediately sent it to friend at a Ducati dealership in the Netherlands for a clean bill of health.

But there was one more part that Roland needed before the project could start in earnest: a suitable chassis. He managed to hunt down what he calls “the Holy Grail”—an original Bimota Tesi Omega frame. But even that wasn’t left stock.

The Bimota’s frame was stripped down to its distinctive CNC-machined mounting plates, which were flipped around to get the geometry just right for a new trellis frame that Roland had conceived. “The construction of the trellis frame, and the cutting and filling of the tubes into different shapes and angles was truly complex, and a complete mixture between meditation, frustration and excitement,” he tells us.

“I have always been honest with myself, and I am aware that I am not a good welder. And since all motorcycle frames need perfect welding, I decided to delegate this task. So I contacted a friend who is a talented metalworker to give me a hand.”

Roland’s connection TIG welded the whole thing together out of 15CDV6 tubing—a low carbon, high strength steel used in the aerospace and motorsports industries. True to form, a few upcycled scraps of salvaged aircraft steel were added to the mix too.

Once the frame was ready, Roland spent 18 hours on it with a silver marker—covering every inch in an intricate hand-drawn pattern. A few custom-made badges were sprinkled on it too, to personalize it even more. (Roland even added a stamped Ducati badge just behind the steering neck, since the engine is the only truly identifiable part on this build.)

With a set of CNC-machined yokes from a shop in Germany, and the Showa forks from a Ducati 916, Foray started to come together. The cockpit features a pair of CNC-machined fork preload adjusters, plus BKG clip-ons, a Keihin throttle, Renthal grips and Spiegler master cylinders. A custom-made headlight lights the way.

Foray has no speedo or tacho; instead, Roland added a timepiece from his favorite horologist. “I love Sinn-Spezialuhren from Germany,” he tells us. “I wanted a Sinn NaBo aircraft clock on the motorbike, so that I would always be home in time for dinner.”

With help from another friend, Roland ticked off the last of the electrical and mechanical tasks. The Bimota swingarm, wheels and exhaust that he had in hand went onto the bike too—but there was one final component missing, and it required a quick trip to Switzerland.

“I wanted to install eight-piston Spiegler front brakes on the bike,” he explains. “But the owner of these parts insisted that the only way he would sell them to me, was if I showed up and had a cup of coffee with him.”

“The Foray project reflects work that was conducted with passion and determination, and a good level of lunacy and caffeine, which also relied greatly on camaraderie and craftsmanship.”

Sounds like a great recipe to us.

Roland Groteclaes | Instagram | Images by Gregor Collienne

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