Stolen Skorpion

One for my readers in the US. Skorpion Traveller stolen in Knoxville, TN. If you know or see anything, or are offered parts, contact me and I'll pass on information to the owner.

Friday bike

This week's is another of the 'I'm not quite sure what it is' bikes like the Honley I featured some time ago.

I found this on Ebay listed as a Benelli BN600i. Benelli were a famous Italian manufacturer who are probably most well known for their Honda inspired fours of the 70s, which led to their six cylinder 'Sei' model, which predated Honda's CBX1000. They've sold a number of bikes and scooters in recent years, but have 'dropped off the radar' a bit recently.

I did a bit of searching and Benelli are now owned by Chinese firm Qianjiang, which could explain the origin of this bike. Qianjiang showed a near identical bike a couple of years ago badged as 'Qianjiang QJ600', which later appeared badged as 'Generic GRS600'.

So what is it? Is it a Qianjiang rebadged as a Benelli? Is it built in Italy or China? What's it like?

More reading here, here, and here.

Friday bike

Having a Honda CL 350, I often look at various Internet groups and fora concerning 60s/70s Honda twins, and the most sought after is the CYP77, a Police version of the 305cc CB77.

As far as I can find out, these were produced between 1963 and 65 (?), and Honda tried to sell them to various Police forces throughout the world. Not sure if any country other than Japan actually used them (anyone know?)
Most unusual feature was that the siren was cable driven and the drive was taken from a knurled roller that pressed against the sidewall of the rear tyre (like a bicycle dynamo).

Friday bike

Sorry things have been a bit quiet recently but I've had a couple of computer and personal problems (ie – my Internet connection went down for a week, and I haven't been able to think of anything worthwhile to post!) Anyway, things should be back to normal now, whatever that means.

Agility Saietta

British-built superbike is not one for timid travellers: it's light, fast and all-electric. But there’s no denying that the Saietta is expensive: the ‘S’ model costs £11,970 while the faster ‘R’ is a £16,770. To put that in perspective, the stunning Italian Ducati Streetfighter starts at £10k, while BMW’s market-leading superbike, the S1000RR, is ‘only’ £13k. Then again, the Saietta is more exclusive than either.

 More.

Sharp as a razor

I'm not usually a huge fan of 'supersports' bikes, but I just thought this was so well done.

2015 Triumph Daytona 675R

Look how sharp the stying is, love the way the exhaust follows the line of the fairing.

Technical stuff:

Engine: 3-cylinder, fuel-injected, the working volume of 675 cm3, power 128 hp at 12,500 rev / min 74 Nm torque
Weight: 169 kg
Suspension: 43 mm fork Öhlins NIX30, Öhlins rear shock absorber
Brakes: 310-mm front disc brakes, 220 mm rear disc brake calipers Brembo, ABS
Wheel: 5-spoke, cast
Box: 6 speed, slipper clutch

Official video:

Rare bike

Sometimes while you're surfing the Web you come across something you'd never heard of.

This is a Ridgeback, built in Harare, Zimbabwe (then called Rhodesia), between 1966 and 68.

I've got very little information on it other than it used a Sachs 125cc engine and less that 100 were built. Apparently, only 3 examples still exist: one each in Cape Town and Centurion (both South Africa), plus a frame in the National Museum of Zimbabwe.

This raises the question - were any other bikes built in Africa? I believe MZ two strokes were assembled from German parts in Egypt, Mozambique and (possibly) Angola, but does anyone know of any others?

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UPDATE:

I should have done a bit more homework before posing that question! I found a couple of references on the Web, but only one picture (significant?) if the Naseni M1, which claims to be a '100% made in Nigeria' motorcycle. However, since its launch late last year there doesn't seen to be any more information.

It's got an 80cc engine and as you can see from the photo, it has more than a passing resemblance to numerous Japanese step throughs. Whether this is a new design, an old Japanese design, or even an old Chinese copy of and old Japanese design I've no idea, and will let you know if I find any more information.

Friday bike update update update......

Remember back in January I featured the

Honley 250 Venturer

that turned out to be the same as the

M1NSK TRX300i

which turned out to be the same as the

Zongshen ZS250GY-3?

Well, it appears that it uses the same engine as the

GasGas EC 250 4T Cami!

The plot thickens!