[Closed] Best looking motorbike ever?

Best looking- the old air cooled Duke 750ss/900ss, Jota already posted.
RC30 or NC30 in original R/W/B colours.
MV Agusta.

Best sounding? Race piped V-twins and V-fours are up there. Winner for me were The norton rotaries that raced in BSB (not called that then though) in the early nineties. The only word that captures it is armageddon. That had to be a pinnacle of bike race spectating, the screaming IL4 bikes against the booming ducati 888, the droning Honda RVF and then the Norton spitting flames and howling into the distance. Real hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck stuff.

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I’d really like to get myself a really nice old school café racer

I don't think there's a definitive best looking bike ever,I prefer stuff with minimal bodywork,cafe racers,Kawa Z900,Yam 350 LC,some Brit stuff.I think the best looking bike with a fairing is a Duke 916.
Best sounding bike is easy,that Aprilia motoGP triple,hearing that thing at Donington with Laconi on board,I've never heard anything like that..

He he he he... my one is prettiest*.

Not got any photographs yet, cos it only got wheeled out the van 30 minutes ago, and I had to go for a very quick play... but ooooh so pretty.

It is also rather nippy.

* This is a blatent lie, it is so not pretty... but it does look ace!

conkerman - the futura's good, but really detuned engine, so not as fast as the zx-9r. also not as sharp with cornering and doesn't have that lovely air induction growl. I found the zx-9r comfy and so's the futura, so that's one thing. v-twin low dowen torque is good, and the hard luggage is excellent - plenty of space and no real performance handling issues when it's fitted.
TBH though, unless it's long distance, i think the falco is maybe a better bike - it was just the flash gordon style of the futura that worked for me.

Another vote for the Britten here. Gorgeous in a form follows function way.

In a purely aesthetically-motivated direction, the greatest looker has to be Lawwill's Street Tracker conversion from a few years back. That thing just pushes all my buttons.

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At last.........some classics on a STW motorbike thread!
I'm posting for MrCM who has these little beauties.........

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OK, I'm very biased, and have an MX hooning past, but I love these two;

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KTM MC250.

And the daddy of them all,

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MAICO 490!

😡
LJ.

EDIT: Oops, they're not standard road bikes, but they could be... 😳 Still amazing though.

Arr the lovely maico 490

truly a bike to rip your arms off!!

79 ish?

That Maico must be bloody lethal. 490cc single stroker 🙂

Zoinks

Fettle and Conkerman,

Yeah, '79-81, truly amazing machine, and a lot of them still exist in twin shock racing, a mind-blowing experience, right from kicking one over (trying) to picking it up if (when) you crash.

😆

LJ.

lJ ,had a 1980 yz 465'

just starting it was fun!

good times 😀

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Simply stunning. My heart skips a beat everytime I see one.

lJ ,had a 1980 yz 465'

just starting it was fun!

good times

Agreed, best fun ever, maddest I ever had was an RM500D, can't find a picture of that though. Don't know if you can get it in OZ but www.classicbike.co.uk in their December 2008 ish had a test or the 490 and the Y465g, worth cheking out if you can.

LJ.

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Yum, how gorgeous is that? And ubelievably lovely to ride, a real thoroughbred 🙂

("Mr munqe chick" posting) for bigbutslimmer and conkerman; I put 25,000 miles on a Falco. Great bike with a stonking mid range. The slight dip in the power ar ~5500rpm only accentuated it taking off at 6000, accopanied by a nice deep growl from the airbox as you hit 6000.

It had a very sporty riding position with wide and low bars, no more "touring" orientated than the Ninja 600 that replaced it. Most prillas come with a too-small battery so I had numerous flat-battery/clock reset/burn out starter solenoid issues until I replaced it with a more powerful battery.

It could have done with a stiffer rear shock spring to balance the forks too.

All pretty minor gripes countered by great real-world performance, excellent build quality and distinctive looks. Both the Futura and Falco are underrated and second hand bargains. Oh they all benefit from a smaller front or larger rear sprocket. The engine is lumpy below about 2000rpm which made town riding a pain, sorted by going +2 on the rear sprox for me.

Cool,

Cheers for the info.

The only issue I have with the prillers is that I have inordinately short legs and the prillers were a bit tall 🙂

TBH, the majority of my bikes over thelast 10 years have been twins so low rev luminess is taken for granted. I had a Honda Firestorm and that is another criminally underrated bike. Get a cheap one and have the suspension sorted and you have an awesome road riding tool. This bike also benefits from a reduction in gearing, but you nmeed to be careful as throttle on wheelies are very, very easy 😀

The Firestorm was replaced with a BMW R1100S, Great handling (honest, pretty much best handler I have ridden!) but pretty low on power and awful BMW switchgear!

I had a VFR800 for about a year, but that was too boring, so I bought the ZX9, its great, and still modestly comfortable.

I had a friend who put a CR500 on the road with TZR wheels, he used it in a few hillclimbs, it tried to kill him on a regular basis, and the last straw came when it seized on the way to be MOT'd , he had a mate following him on a CBR400 who couldn't catch him,all he saw was lots of tyre smoke and a large rubber mark down the road, until he'd managed to whip the clutch in.Sold soon after,no pics I'm afraid............

Deffo not the only skid mark on that day I reckon!

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Cor, where do you start.

Very old bike, Oh baby. This is a proper bike 🙂
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Oldish bike
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The Z1 and KH were mentioned earlier on.

Getting a bit more modern...

Suzuki Katana

RC30
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NR750, the engine internals of this motor are engineering porn!
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ZXR750
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ZX-7R was a looker as well.

And this little beauty. Pant wettingly gorgeous. They are doing these for 6 grand new 🙂
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And there had to be a Ducati in there somewhere. And not the usual one 🙂
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I also love these with an unreasoning passion, but when they (rarely) come up for sale I've never been fast enough to get one.

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Laverda SFC 1000 '86-ish, beautiful in my eyes. Didn't much like the final version with spoked wheels though.

LJ.

For purity of purpose this one has it, though this one has the wrong exhausts, they look better in chrome!

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Ducati 900SS 1978.

LJ.

Sorry, but that Laverda is bouwfing!

Does this count as a bike?

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916 (inc all variants.. 748, 996,998)

MV Augusta

NC40 (inc Rvf and VFR400s)

NR750 (the back is a bit weird)

All yum.

I am afraid the Britten is fuggly... I appreciate the fine engineering and the man (RIP), but it's not pretty.

As far as all those old bikes go; yeah they may make beautiful bits of engineering too, but as complete bikes they're not.

Maybe it comes down to what you were exposed to as an older teenager?

NR750 internals.

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Makes X0 look a bit pony 🙂

MAN! those valves are long!

There are some very ugly bikes on this thread. The confederate, Interesting and unusual but pretty - no way jose. Same for the duke monstro with the 4 valve engine. The 2 valve ones are clean and pretty - the 4 valve ones have too many bits and bobs bolted on to look anything other than a mess.

Zedsdead triumph is about the nicest bike on here

"And the daddy of them all, MAICO 490!"

Unfortunately not. They always looked brilliant but were a nightmare. Plus there were/are loads of other better bikes. In the classic series they get thrashed every time. Still, they do look ace.

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Class

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yamaha yzf250, not "pretty" but definately "good looing"

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and the bonneville t120

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Mine had black wheels. Ah, mad and happy days!

Quite like mates Harley

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surprised to see so many Harleys on here - dont get me wrong, I love 'em to bits (good job seeing as I currently own an 07 streetbob), but knowing the usual level of bile posted on here, I expected a flurry of 'harley gayvidson' responses.

I like the Night Rod.

Can't ride one (legs are too short).

Currently Bikeless as My 9R was sold at the weekend. 🙁

Man! That Norton is sexy.

RDs may be dangerous, but they sure are uuuuuugggly.

Friends don't let friends ride Yamaha

...or Suzuki

And that MZ 😯

I have a hankering for an old style stroker 🙂