‘All I want for Christmas…’ – Top 10 Xmas Motorbikes

‘Tis the season to be jolly…’ or miserable… or paralytic… or something like that. But more than anything the festive season should also be the one of dreams – when motorcyclists’ thoughts turn to which ‘dream’ bike they’d get from Santa, if only they’d been a really good boy or girl…

And the truth is, that dream bike is probably still available new somewhere, even if it is from the ‘80s – but it’ll cost and you DO need to know where to look.

For example: we recently came across that unicorn of 1980s GP replicas – a ‘brand new’ 1985 Yamaha RD500LC, which both got us all at once drooling like grandpa over a Boxing Day repeat of Benny Hill (yes, we know it’ll need some recommissioning, new seals etc, but don’t that spoil the Christmas dream), gobsmacked at the sheer price of the thing (for more see below) and wondering what else might be out there that’s 0-mile, ‘brand new’ and a money-no-object classic that we all deserve for Crimbo…

This is what we found, starting with the 500LC…
 

1985 136-mile Yamaha RD500LC, £39,995

I had a Yamaha RD500LC once, very briefly, which makes this both a personal favourite – and very painful. Mine, I sold at the very bottom of the market in 1998 for just £1995 (yes, really) when the world had instead gone supersports 600s crazy and you could barely give the things away. Now a decent one will cost you around £20K. Or you could spend double that on this absolutely mint, as-new, just 136-mile example on a B-plate which is currently being advertised by Hyside Motorcycles of Malden, Essex.

Yes, it’s possibly bonkers money. Yes, too, the 500LC in reality was never actually that good, putting out around 85bhp and being a tad heavy. But in the run-up to its launch in 1984, it was the most eagerly anticipated motorcycle in modern history, mouth-wateringly gorgeous and with a priceless Roberts/Sheene pedigree. Back then, no bike was wanted more.

1989 three-mile Honda VFR750R (RC30), £64,995

There really isn’t anything left to say about Honda’s sublime, nay ‘perfect’ homologation special production racer – except that you probably didn’t imagine that you can still buy a ‘brand new’ one, albeit for nearly £65K. Created with no expense spared to win in the new production-based World Superbikes, but also world endurance, TT racing and more, the RC30 did exactly that straight out of the box, snagging the first two WSB crowns for Fred Merkel in 1988 and 1989 before dominating 24 hour racing, the TT and pretty much everything else through most of the 1990s.

This unregistered, push-mileage example with two keys and everything is probably as good as they get and is currently on sale at Craig’s Honda in Yorkshire.

1994 444-mile Honda RVF750R (RC30), £49,999

Arguably the only ‘homologation special’ that runs the RC30 close was its successor, the 1994 RC45 (yes, I know, Yamaha’s 1989 OW01 is worth a mention, too, as is the 1999 Yamaha YZR750R-R7, although both actually won very little). Built to an even more mouth-watering specification, the big RVF was more powerful (when the race kit was fitted), handled better, looked better (well, maybe) and cost more, too.

Unfortunately, although sublime, it didn’t have the same success, was difficult to tune and comparatively heavy. The result won only one WSB crown (although it proved more successful at the TT and in endurance) and as a result is less loved. This example, registered on an L-plate, is arguably the greatest survivor with the least mileage and is currently being offered by The Bike Specialists in Sheffield. It’s yours for just shy of £50k.

2007 602-mile Ducati Desmosedici RR, £74,995

If your taste in sports bike exotica is more MotoGP than world superbikes, motorcycle replicas don’t get much more alluring than Ducati’s astonishing replica of its GP winner, the Desmosedici RR which was hand built in very limited numbers between 2007 and 2009. With 200bhp from its bespoke 989cc V4, an ultra-rigid lightweight chassis and the (then) best of everything nothing quite literally came close. And, with a price of around £60K new, that’s exactly as it should have been.

Examples generally hold their value well but this example, showing just 602 miles, is as near to ‘new’ as they get, comes with the desirable GP7 exhaust and is again being offered by Hyside Motorcycles in Essex, this time for a whopping £74,995!

2018 one-mile BMW HP4 Race, £48,999

Right, let’s zoom out of the ‘80s and ‘90s and Noughties and focus on some truly modern tackle to which there’s much, much more than meets the eye. BMW’s HP4 Race is far more than just a tarted-up S1000RR. Instead, with its carbon fibre frame, wheels, bodywork, uprated electronics, WSB suspension and brakes and 215bhp, as produced between 2017 and 2018 as a successor to the original 2012-14 HP4, was back then about as close as you could get in feel, spec and speed to a true factory superbike. It’s track-only, too. With just 750 built it’s rare as well but this unused, ome-mile example, again at The Bike Specialists in Sheffield, is about as good as they get.

2005 699-mile Aprilia RSV1000 SP, £44,999

Let’s go back to the late 1990s/early 2000s glory days of V-twin superbikes for a minute and while, traditionally, everyone waxes lyrical about Ducati’s 916/996/998, one bike that’s often cruelly overlooked is Aprilia’s great rival to the ‘Bologna Wonder’, its homologation special version of its RSV1000. It’s often forgotten how special the SP really was. Although based on the same silhouette and 60-degree V-twin, pretty much everything was different.

The engine had a special short-stroke layout, the frame had adjustable headstock and swing-arm pivots; there was top spec Ohlins suspension, carbon fibre bodywork, an alloy tank, sand cast cases, Marchesini forged wheels, the list goes on – plus, of course, a then heady £23K price tag. Today, this 699-mile example again at The Bike Specialists in Sheffield, is about as good as they get and will set up back nearly £45k.

2008 0-mile MV Agusta F4 1000 Tamburini, £59,999

Where would this list be without the inclusion of an ultra-exotic MV Agusta? And which bike from the revered Italian manufacturer is more exotic than the limited edition, top spec edition of its iconic superbike, the F4 1000 Tamburini? Built in 2008 and limited to just 300 examples (this is number 151, incidentally), the Tamburini was built the commemorate the retirement of its revered designer, Massimo Tamburini, who also penned the Ducati 916, had a re-tuned four-cylinder engine producing 173bhp, magnesium swing arm and frame plates, carbon fibre airbox, air ducts, tail fairing, front mudguard, side panels, and upper and lower chain guards, instrument panel with a stopwatch and a gold serial number plate on the steering head. This one’s zero-mile, unregistered and being offered by MV Agusta London.

2016 0-mile Kawasaki Ninja H2 R, £39,000

Japanese motorcycles of recent history don’t get any more exotic (or, arguably, more extreme) than Kawasaki’s astonishing, supercharged 300bhp track-only H2 R – and although launched as a limited-edition way back in 2016 you can still buy one new! Launched in 2015 alongside a detuned, road-legal version, the H2, it was created to commemorate Kawasaki’s storied history and named after two of the Japanese legend’s most famous bikes the 750 H2 and GPz900R Ninja.

It lived up to the hype, too, with phenomenal acceleration, impressive lightness thanks to blankets of carbon fibre and enough Gotham presence to attract celebrity baker Paul Hollywood as one of its buyers. Originally 41,000, this 0-mile, unregistered example is for sale at Robinson’s of Rochdale for £39,000.

2015 three-mile Norton Domiracer, £39,999

The revived Nortons produced during the controversial ownership of Stuart Garner may have been many things, and not all of them good, but there’s little doubt that the limited edition, top spec, café racer-style Domiracer, of which just 50 were built, was the most exotic and glorious – and, again, you can still buy one ‘new’. Although powered by the same slightly underwhelming 961cc, air-cooled, pushrod, 80bhp parallel twin as the rest of the 961 Commando family, the Domiracer stood apart for its bespoke, historic Norton ‘Featherbed’-inspired monoshock frame along with glorious alloy tank, bespoke bodywork and premium cycle parts including Ohlins forks and Brembo brakes.

In truth, to ride it was still clunky, cramped and questionable, but as a piece of motorcycling metal art, there are few better. This three-mile example on a 2015 plate is number 40 (out of 50) and is again at The Bike Specialists in Sheffield, and yours for £39,000.

2003 zero-mile Petronas FP1, £70,000

Few bikes are as mythologized as much as the fabulous but flawed FP1 – and here’s your chance to buy a new one. Created with Malaysian oil money under the stewardship of multiple WSB champ Carl Fogarty, the ‘Foggy Petronas FP1’ was a homologation special built to challenge the WSB crown. Yet, despite exploiting the then rules by being a 900cc triple and with Troy Corser as number one rider it sadly never got close to succeeding, largely thanks to a regulation change allowing 1000cc fours which rendered it obsolete even before a wheel was turned.

Few were built (it’s alleged that the homologated requirement was never fulfilled), fewer go on sale and virtually none, except for this example restored by Lanzante, can claim to be zero-mile, road legal and unregistered. It’s even signed by King Carl himself. It’s for sale at Alastair Bols for a whopping £70,000.

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