Some story are bound to upset at least some people , and this may be one of them . The possessor , riders and collectors of vintagemotorcycle brandsare such a passionate bunch that highlighting one brand or model over another is reverberate to elicit strong reactions .
Indeed , it ’s hard to think of a trade name name bike enthusiasts tattoo on their bodies more than Harley - Davidson . Whether it ’s a Harley or Honda or Indian , there ’s an intense passion and following that prompts those with the means to pitchfork over $ 1 million - plus for a in particular sought after time of origin motorcycle , although it ’s also possible to break up one up for as little as $ 100 [ reference : Cerilli ] .
It ’s important to remember that a vintage motorcycle is not necessarily collectible — it can also mean that it ’s just old . There is no widely accepted definition for how old a motorcycle must be to qualify as vintage , but some experts say it ’s anything elder than 1974 , and others chunk in Japanese cycle from the other 1980s [ source : Wagnon ] .
accord to John Cerilli , the cobalt - founder of Vintage Motorcycles Online , to be both vintage and collectible is a function of a number of factors , let in the condition and originality of the bike , when and how many of the cycle were made , how long the company cause it was in business and whether or not the bicycle was link with someone renowned .
Read on to find out 10 the most popular vintage bike brands out there today .
10: Honda
Whenever a group of program consultant bring down the Phoenix , Ariz. , campus of the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute , Jim Wagnon , the shoal ’s education manager , says that they inevitably start out off their first mean solar day by going around the room and asking what everyone ’s firstmotorcyclewas . More often than not , say Wagnon , the result is the same : the 1966 Honda Trail 90 , a bike that he say was relatively workaday technologically , but was simply one that parents set aside their kids to have .
A big element that made parent of kid growing up in the 1960s well-to-do with let their children have a bike was the company ’s iconic advertising safari , " You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda , " which was an counterpoison to the slightly serious , outlaw image many had toward motorcycling [ sources : Wagnon , Honda ] . In fact , Wagnon say that the Honda Trail 90 is a big intellect bike are so popular today . " It probably grew the bike client base of operations more than any one motorcycle , " he tell . " It grew people into bigger , full - size bike and some might argue it ’s the reasonbaby boomersare so wakeless into motorcycling . "
Because so many people baffle their starting signal ride a Honda , the motorcycle market remains important affectionate toward some of the brand ’s vintage simulation , include the Honda CB350 and the Honda CB750 . It also does n’t hurt that Elvis Presley was known to hinge upon a Honda , along with a figure of other stain [ source : Cerilli ] .
Read on to find out about a brand that once rivalled Harley - Davidson .
9: Indian
At the turn of the last hundred , there was a lot of challenger in making so - called motorizedbicycles , with more than 300 motorcycle manufacturers coming out with offering [ source : Carleton ] . Many of the bikes that were made , however , were unreliable and susceptible to breaking down . " A lot of the bike had bicycle pedal still on them , so if all else fail people could pedal home , " says Dave Carleton , a California - based bike historiographer who has served as a judge at many vintagemotorcyclegatherings .
Thanks to their power to construct a dependable motorcycle , brands like Harley - Davidson and Indian come forth from the very crowded battalion and became fierce competition . Indian was founded by two former bike automobile driver , who churned out a bit of models that became well known for their power and focal ratio [ origin : Cerilli ] . Among the more popular models amongst vintage motorcycle buff are the Indian Chief ( the 1940 interpretation is coveted ) , the 4 - piston chamber Indian Four and the Scout .
Read on to find out what Steve McQueen and James Dean had in plebeian .
8: Triumph
If one of the factors that makes a vintagemotorcyclecollectible is what famous people are associated with it , then it ’s no surprisal that Triumph remains on the list of the industry ’s mosts popular motorcycle brand name . A British manufacturer , Triumph was a bike of pick by extremist - cool icons James Dean , Steve McQueen and Bob Dylan [ source : Cerilli ] . The fact that such salient ethnic shape were associated with Triumph motorcycles in the 1950s and ' 60s is a bountiful reason the bikes are attractive to people today , especially those who were Kyd then and could n’t perchance have give one .
" The nostalgia buyers are baby boomers looking to bribe either what they gave up as a youth or could never have afforded in their youth , and the top - seller there is Triumph motorcycles , ranging from 1959 to 1970 , " say California - based Lorin Guy , who has been a principal organizer of legion prominent motorcycle shows around the country .
One of the most democratic Triumph motorcycle is the Bonneville , which were lightweight and known for their excellent manipulation . That said , by the mid-1970s the brand had largely mislay its luster . " I was at a bike magazine and we had a new Bonneville come in at the time and they were passably archaic , particularly compared to the Nipponese bike , " says John L. Stein , a tenacious sentence self-propelled diarist and author of " The Complete Idiot ’s Guide to Motorcycles . " " It was two different planets . "
Keep read to meet the Martin Luther King Jr. of the road .
7: Harley-Davidson
In some respects , motorcyclejournalist Stein says it ’s toilsome to only call Harley - Davidson just a society or a Harley but a bike . " Harleys are bike in that they have two wheels and anengine ; but to use an overused phrase , they butt to the beat of a dissimilar drummer , " he says . " For Harley people , it ’s more of a lifestyle or leisure activity compared to the way you would describe enthusiast of Japanese bicycle . "
As is so often the case with iconic brands , Harley Davidson motorcycles benefit from having a really good company story . establish in 1903 by two crony and a friend , Harley has had times when it has flourished and floundered , managing to pull off a dramatic turnaround of the business in the 1980s [ rootage : Harley - Davidson , Cerilli ] .
Among the more popular vintage models include the Harley Davidson Fat Boy , Flathead , Knucklehead and Panhead and the horde of famous multitude who ride or have hinge upon Harleys is farsighted , from Malcolm Forbes to Clint Eastwood to former Texas Governor Ann Richards [ origin : Cerilli ] . Jim Wagnon of the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute argues that the 1965 Harley Electra Glide , which had an electric starter , winding screen and saddle bag , really propelled the motorcycle touring culture . " I think this bike kick off the power of the route market position for Harley , and you throw in Americana and Elvis and orchard apple tree pie , and that to me is what this cycle mean to most people , " he enjoin .
Go to the next page for a taste of a dissimilar sort of British Invasion .
6: Norton
As becomes percipient from this list , contender amongst Britishmotorcyclemakers was especially rough in the 1950s , ' 60s and into the ' 70s . What permit the Norton brand name to make a name for itself was its penchant for grow bike that had an enviable compounding : they were very , very fast , durable and just looked honest . richly on the list for meld all three attribute was the Norton Commando , a vintage bike many experts point to as desirable . " In my public opinion it was one of the sexiest bikes build , " says author and diary keeper Stein . " It is an perfectly gorgeous bike . "
Although less well known amongst the cosmopolitan world , the 1953 Norton Manx is also high-pitched on the list of many vintage motorcycle collector because it was a bike that was technically sophisticated for its time — with double overhead cams driven by a tugboat shaft — and build to go tight . It ’s interesting however , how fast is a very proportional term amongst unlike eras of vintage bike . Wagnon recall a prison term when he have a Norton Commando and raced someone on a more mod Kawasaki wheel . " I remember I was indorse up , " he say , remembering that it matte like he was pop off backwards while his competition raced out front and left him in the dust .
come home forward to scan about the thinking world ’s brand .
5: BMW
hump as the " thinking man’smotorcycle " because of their elegant technology and simple maintenance , BMW has made a host of bikes that many vintage experts point to as significant . consort to Nolan Woodbury , carbon monoxide - laminitis of Vintage Motorcycles Online , the revered German manufacturing business should probably thank Honda for pushing it to give rise some of its very best vintage BMW bikes , especially the 1973 R90S and the R100RS . " More than anything , the R90S was substantiation that BMW acknowledge the Japanese as a terror to their market share , " he says .
Prior to the release of the 1969 Honda CB750 , Woodbury say that BMW was casual about its offer , more or less telling its loaded client to take or entrust their black with blanched pinstriped bikes or go ahead and find something else . That all exchange when Honda ’s CB750 arrive on the aspect . " The flashy gray or orange smoke R90S was introduced to prove BMW was hip to the new generation of motorcyclists and tuned so it outperformed the CB750 . The R100RS was a continuation of this theme , more lucullan and unlike anything Japan offered … for a while , " he says .
record on to learn about the wheel of choice for café racing .
4: Moto Guzzi
celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2011 , making it the second longest continuously operatingmotorcyclemanufacturer , Moto Guzzi got its scratch line on the bank of Lake Como in Lombardy , Italy when co - founder Carlo Guzzi could n’t find the staring motorcycle and instead decide to build it himself [ root : Moto Guzzi ] . Known as the great Italian " Eagle , " Moto Guzzi has signalize itself as a constructor of motorcycles that win slipstream ; in fact , the Italian bike manufacturer estimates its bikes have take home approximately 3,300 deed of conveyance during its racing story [ source : Moto Guzzi ] . Some of the society ’s more well - hump vintage good example include the Le Mans , Falcone and El Dorado , which are severalise by their styling and reliability .
Perhaps the most interesting chronicle around a Moto Guzzi bike is that of the original V7 Sport , which has been repair and modified today into the V7 Café Classic [ source : Panettieri ] . In the 1960s and ' 70s , V7 Sports were identified with a counterculture radical known as the Rockers . begin in England and then spreading to Europe and America , V7 Sports were used in race where competitors would start at a café and attempt to strive a predetermined pointedness and then repay before a song on the nickelodeon terminate [ reference : Panettieri ] .
Read on to learn more about another Brit stigma .
3: Vincent-HRD
Well before The Beatles bring down on the shore of the United States and kicked off an era of music define by British band , a number of U.K.motorcyclecompanies were make bikes highly sought after in America . Among the more notable company that saw success exporting their wares to the States was Vincent , which was founded by Philip Conrad Vincent . agree to Cerilli of Vintage Motorcycles Online , Vincent began design an advanced rear temporary removal while he was studying mechanical technology at Cambridge , a purpose he incorporated into his first Vincent bike .
These days , the Vincent Black Shadow is an especially worthful bike — fetching between $ 75,000 and more than $ 250,000 — because only 1,700 were made and because of the features it boasted when first released [ origin : Cerilli ] . For representative , Wagnon of the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute says that the 1948 Vincent Black Shadow was probably the fast flock - produced motorcycle of its time . " This was really a 100 - plus mile - per - hour motorcycle in the prison term of 60 - mile - per - hour bikes . They were fast and powerful and advanced for their time , " Wagnon says . " Every vintage gatherer , including myself , would have intercourse to have a Vincent . "
Move ahead to find out how a jack - of - all - trade company made a dab with motorcycle .
2: Kawasaki
There ’s an argument to be made that companionship that specialize — be it in widgets ormobile phonesormotorcycles — are going to have the stress call for to bring out products higher-ranking to job that do a picayune of everything . The Japanese bike sword Kawasaki , which began making motorcycle in 1960s , may disprove that hypothesis , given that it had a legacy of making ships , spirt and industrial equipment before put down the business of two wheels [ reservoir : Cerilli ] .
In fact , when it comes to some of Kawasaki ’s best known vintage models , it seems clean that the caller was eager to impart what it knew about take a crap big powerful auto to the guile of bike qualification , particularly the high - horsepower1969 500 cc Mach III and the 1973 900 cc 4 - cylinder Z1 . The Z1 , in particular , was thought by some to be the first so - called " super motorcycle " of innovative time . It could go inordinately libertine ( between 120 mph and 130 mph ) just like a Corvette or Ferrari , but cost much less [ generator : Wagnon ] .
Read on to discover that you ’re not the only one who mention your bike .
1: Brough Superior
People often marvel at how the cost of vintagemotorcyclescan skyrocket over the years , making them valuable enough that some investor use them to balance their portfolio of stocks andbonds . Some bikes , though , are expensive from the very outset . Some Brough Superiors , which were made by the company founded by George Brough , cost as much as a house at the time of their dismissal [ informant : Woodbury ] . patently , the bikes bring in their nickname as " The Rolls Royce of Motorcycles , " which referred not just to their in high spirits price tag , but also to the fact that Brough used only the very best material in assembling his bikes .
These days , many people associate Brough Superiors with TE Lawrence , well screw as Lawrence of Arabia . To say the least , Lawrence was a devoted Brough rider , owning eight in total , each of which had a name : His first was call Boa , while the rest were named George I , George II and on and on , up until George VII , the bike he was ride when he decease — George VIII was on guild , but never pitch [ source : Woodbury ] .
As we advert at the starting line , we know this list omits some merit names , like Ducati and Velocette , so let us sleep together what brands you would add .
