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Top 5 Bike-uriosities – Week of 9/26

Top 5 Bike-uriosities – Week of 9/26

At Bike-urious, we’re spending all of our time finding the most interesting motorcycles that are currently for sale for you to drool over (and maybe empty your wallet for). So let’s take a look at our five favorite offerings from this week!

1. Hammarhead Woodsman – 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic

Hammarhead Woodsman - 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic - Right Side
Hammarhead Woodsman - 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic - Right Side

Royal Enfield has lasted more than 100 years and has the longest continuously used motorcycle design with its Bullet model. So, what happens when an American designer from Philly attempts to customize something as constant as a Bullet? The Hammarhead Woodsman happens!

Hammarhead Woodsman - 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic - Left Side
Hammarhead Woodsman - 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic - Left Side

James Loughead started Hammarhead Industries with a vision of taking new variations of English classics such as the Royal Enfield Bullet and the Triumph Scrambler and turning them into eye-catching customs. Hammarhead Industries went under a few years back and a few people even laid claim to the shop committing fraud. Not sure which came first, the closing of shop or the fraud, or even if the latter is true, but one thing is for certain: the bikes that came out of there are pretty awesome looking.

Hammarhead Woodsman - 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic - Front
Hammarhead Woodsman - 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic - Front

The bike for sale started out as a 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 with EFI 500cc single cylinder that was converted to the Woodsman in 2012. Just from the pictures, you can tell it's got a lot of interesting bits and pieces both added and removed. The pigeon gray paint goes really well with the industrial combination of matte black plastics, polished tank, fenders and exhaust, and the ubiquitous Dunlop K70 vintage tires.

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It has 6,600 babied miles according to the seller and while the asking price seems fair for a barely used custom bike of this quality, the relatively shady and unknown past of the builder could keep the value of this bike low for anyone looking to make this an investment or collector's item. If you're looking to make this your daily driver, want something pretty unique given the cafe racer/tracker/scrambler fad, and have the cash to spare, then this is an easy choice to make.

For a visual overview of the bike, check out this video:

Otherwise, you can find this bike in Brooklyn, New York for $7,750 here on Craigslist.

2. Military Police – 1972 BMW R50/5

Classic BMW /5? Good. Military Police variant of a /5? Very, very good. A strong running international example of a Military Police variant of a /5 with free shipping to the United States? Now we're talking.

glaser-fairing-information
glaser-fairing-information

The R50/5 is already fairly rare (at least compared to other /5 bikes). For example, 38,370 examples of the R75/5 were built, while only 7,865 examples of the 500cc bike were built. This example is even rarer, as it was part of a small batch of bikes special ordered by the Belgian government "in order to be used for military convoys, but also for escorting official visits..." The seller checked the oil and threw in a new battery and fresh gas and it was said to fire up instantly and run strong. The odometer shows 30,118 miles but the history of the bike is unknown. It has all the police equipment – lights and sirens – but they were disconnected when the bike was decommissioned.

bmw-r50-5-military-police-fairing
bmw-r50-5-military-police-fairing

This bike came out of an antique service motorcycle collection where it sat unused for several decades. However, it's ready to go now, so find this MP BMW for sale in Peer, Belgium (with free shipping to the United States) with bidding up to $3,050 and the reserve not yet met here on eBay.

3. 1973 Triumph Bonneville T140V

Triumph-Bonneville-T140V-Right-Side
Triumph-Bonneville-T140V-Right-Side

The second generation of the Bonneville is a cheaper alternative to the T120 generation - people love the classics! Despite the cheaper price nowadays, you'll get a fifth gear in the transmission, bigger engine, and disc brake up front. Over the years the 140V gained dual discs, a left hand shift, better carbs, and electronic ignition... but as a '73, this is a first-year 140V, so, it has none of those things!

triumph-bonneville-t140v-tank
triumph-bonneville-t140v-tank

1973 was a tough year for Triumph - the company had just been brought back to life as NVT thanks to a government loan and in September of that year it announced the upcoming closure of the Meriden plant, whose workers staged a sit-in. Every once in a while a bike like this feature motorcycle got built, too. The 49-horsepower twin was good for a top speed of approximately 110 miles per hour, and the curb weight was about 420 pounds. For more on the 140V, check out this article on Motorcycle Classics.

triumph-bonneville-t140v-cockpit
triumph-bonneville-t140v-cockpit

This example (VIN: T140V EH 33219) still features the original paint but it also features $2,340.90 in parts that were just installed. The listing includes a short video that goes into a little more detail, but this is one of the prized possessions of the stalled-but-hopefully-coming-soon New England Motorcycle Museum. The bike sat in a heated living room since 1983, until it just got 65+ hours of labor so that it's now ready to go.

Find this T140V for sale in Vernon-Rockville, Connecticut with bidding up to $3,650 or a BIN of $9,950 here on eBay.

4. 1936 Sunbeam Model 9

Sunbeam-Model-9-Right-Side
Sunbeam-Model-9-Right-Side

Harry Sucher (RIP) was an early member of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America and one of the most knowledgeable men out there on classic motorcycles - he wrote impressive histories on both Indian

and Harley-Davidson

. As you might expect from such a guy, he also had a great personal collection of motorcycles, one of which was this Sunbeam Model 9.

sunbeam-model-9-left-side
sunbeam-model-9-left-side

The Model 9 was a 493cc street bike (the race variant was called the Model 90). It featured a overhead valve single cylinder with an Amal carb and four-speed transmission. There were two sets of transmission ratios - one for normal use and one if you wanted to slap on a sidecar. Extras include a Lucas lighting kit, electric horn, speedometer, passenger seat/footrests, and legshields.

sunbeam-model-9-logo
sunbeam-model-9-logo

This Sunbeam (VIN: 17539.1.502) was sold by Harry to a friend in 2001. That gentlemen owned the bike for 15 years and then sold it to the current owner. It's said to run "very well" and everything is claimed to work except for the battery, which is "old and for show." The Lucas magdyno is said to run the electrical system just fine, though the wiring is "a bit amateur and could be cleaned up a bit."

Find this Sunbeam for sale in Idyllwild, California with bidding up to $13,100 here on eBay.

5. Rare Custom – 1983 Amazonas

Amazonas-Happy-Rider
Amazonas-Happy-Rider

My favorite this week is the absolutely absurd and incredibly rare Amazonas. Approximately 450 were produced, making them very rare to find in stock form - let alone this oddball custom. Not everyone will appreciate how this example has been customized, but you have to respect the fact that the seller rode it more than 10,000 miles from Brazil to Miami. Based on the seller's pictures, this bike has also made it out to Las Vegas and to Sturgis as well.

Amazonas-Right-Side-1
Amazonas-Right-Side-1

The short story on how the Amazonas was created starts in the 1970s, when Brazil's motorcycle police force was running out of spare parts for the Harley-Davidsons that they were using. The reason for that is because Brazil had implemented a hefty tax on imported products, so the government (and pretty much every private citizen) stopped buying foreign bikes and the parts required to keep them going.

Amazonas-Left-Side
Amazonas-Left-Side

So an enterprising local figured he should try and create a 100-percent Brazilian bike. At the time, Volkswagen had a plant in Brazil, so the 1,600cc engine in the Beetle was fair game. This resulted in a bike that truly was made in Brazil, but it also weighed 900 pounds. The 50hp Beetle engine was good for a top speed of 91 mph. Jason Cormier has a great history of this bike on OddBike that you should read - the seller pasted that article into his listing, as well.

Amazonas-Vegas
Amazonas-Vegas

This bike (VIN: BSCSD00150) has been heavily customized with a skull/spider motif of sorts. I'm not really even sure what to say beyond that - it's weird and it's probably pretty horrid to ride, but the seller and this bike must have some amazing stories. I feel like it deserves to go to a museum like Moto Talbott where people can learn more about the model's history and what this specific bike has gone through. The seller says this bike has done 100,000 miles and that more than 10,000 of those came on a trip from Brazil to Miami. No comment on the current condition of the bike is given, just that it is sold as is without a warranty.

Amazonas-Sturgis
Amazonas-Sturgis

Find this Amazonas for sale in Doral, Florida with an unmet opening bid of $2,500 here on eBay.

Well, you saw that my favorite was the Amazonas - what was yours?