Most beautiful bike ever built, what is it ?

[Monstyr]

Hard to think of a prettier thing than the RS250 Mk 1


I was on the lookout for one of these a long time ago now, but ended up getting an NC35 instead

[Yorick]

For me it's always going to be the bikes I lusted after as a teenager, the KR1-S, an 888, an N2 Powervalve, TZ250A or B (before they stuck the silly wasp arse back end on), etc.

If I had to choose one bike for sheer beauty so I could put it in a glass case and just stare at it, then Schwantz's 1989 GP bike...

I think that's the one I rode

[Skub]

Race bikes have a beauty all of their own. You know there is nothing there that doesn't serve a purpose,no fluff or gee-gaws,just the lines of a tool for the job.

[Taipan]

A lot of people seem to be selecting bikes for their status as landmark or specially impressive machines rather than their looks, which isn't the question asked. In fact a lot of those are either pretty standard or even dog ugly. For me beauty needs to be organic. It must flow, with lines that look as if they are designed on one sweep of the pen not by separate people. It should be uncluttered, with no more twiddly bits than it needs to emphasise its own elegant lines.

I'd say the 916 is still way up there, but there's maybe one bike that's always going to give me wood, and it's this one.

cagiva 500.jpg

That's not true. I got into bikes reading MCN as a kid and the bikes on road tests were the bikes that became my iconic ones. Race bikes for me are covered in bikes and of no real interest as I much prefer bikes showing their engines, which is the heart for a motorbike. 916 aside, it's very rare that i like the look of a sports or race bike, so it's very unlikely I'd see one as a beautiful bike.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

1983 RD350LC II the original YPVS with nose fairing and bellypan, a very pretty bike but I don't want to ride one, or for that matter own one, the frames flex, the brakes are poor and fitting new rings every 6000 miles is a bit boring.

[hilldweller]

The moment I saw that heading the number 916 shot into my head.

When it came out it was so far ahead, in looks, it was instant orgasm.

[formula400]

this

i know its new but id love one, a few old 2 stokes are cool, but this is epic.

Ducati 899 Panigale by MCNews.com.au, on Flickr

[Yorick]

this

i know its new but id love one, a few old 2 stokes are cool, but this is epic.

Ducati 899 Panigale by MCNews.com.au, on Flickr

Ducatis have never done anything for me. Don't think the 916 is anything special either.

[formula400]

916 is a great looking bike, but I’ve loved the 899 since it was released.

[weeksy]

916 is a great looking bike, but I’ve loved the 899 since it was released.

Tis very very nice. I'm hoping Mrs Weeksy asks for one for Xmas

[formula400]

Wish my would ask for one, she could have 2

[demographic]

I've done this one before and I think my answer is pretty much the same now as it was years ago.
Britten V Twin.


Tularis.


I also remember reading about the Ducati 851 in Performance Bikes and being very impressed, might even have been the same issue that had this Woods Rotax in it.


I also liked the NR750 racebike that was designed to get around the rules that meant V8s had a significant weight penalty over V4s in the racing rules. Of course being Honda, if someone else came up with it they would have got it banned.


Those rules never existed on roadbikes so to me the NR750 roadbike was an overcomplicated, underpowered folly.

[G.P]

I think racebikes are a different category - I love that Schwantz 500 GP bike though
I admire the Britten for its engineering but to my eye its inelegant and verging on the ugly. I saw it race in NZ and its a fantastic sight to see in action but no way beautiful to my eye.

I prefer the look of the Ducati 888 to the 916 I think its aged better then the 916.
Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder

[MrLongbeard]

A lot of people seem to be selecting bikes for their status as landmark or specially impressive machines rather than their looks, which isn't the question asked. In fact a lot of those are either pretty standard or even dog ugly. For me beauty needs to be organic. It must flow, with lines that look as if they are designed on one sweep of the pen not by separate people. It should be uncluttered, with no more twiddly bits than it needs to emphasise its own elegant lines.

Piffle and nonsense, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
For you it's flowing lines etc which for me translates as bland euro bubble race bike, I on the other hand find beauty in engineering details or practical problem solving etc. and prefer to see them on display where you'd see them locked behind closed doors as dog ugly.

It'd be a rum old world if we all liked the same things

[ajlog]

I have always loved the look of the post war racers, they represent the essence of a motorcycle, 2 wheels and engine and frame, taken to the max with what was technologically available at the time.
Their beauty lies in the simplicity of wheels, big engine, a few parts to tie it all together and for the rider to interact with the machine, and from that necessity of function comes a beauty in the lines and proportions that still exists today.

The Matchless G50 to me best displays this form.



Or it could be that I am just a fashion victim caught up in the current trend for Cafe Racers

[weeksy]

Or it could be that I am just a fashion victim caught up in the current trend for Cafe Racers

No, i'd say that's very pretty for sure.

[ogri]

Little fekker that started the life of chaos

[singlesman]

That brings back memories, had exactly the same model FS1E, and the only bike I’ve owned that I can remember the registration number of, OWL 103P. Wonder if it’s still out there?

[Lutin]

That brings back memories, had exactly the same model FS1E, and the only bike I’ve owned that I can remember the registration number of, OWL 103P. Wonder if it’s still out there?

According to the GOV.UK website, it is untaxed and the road tax was due on 1st October 1982.

[demographic]

That brings back memories, had exactly the same model FS1E, and the only bike I’ve owned that I can remember the registration number of, OWL 103P. Wonder if it’s still out there?

Mine was LHH 709P and I've checked and its not on the database.