Suzuki

Bonhams Spring and Autumn Stafford Sales are two of the highlights of the global auction year for rare and storied motorcycles. Every year there are records broken, and many of the world's most expensive motorcycles have crossed the block at this venue. This year was no exception.

The motorcycle marketplace is recalibrated each year with the January Las Vegas sales, and this year saw new records and the changing tastes of the buying public. While vintage bikes performed well, the real movers were two-strokes, seventies classics and Japanese motorcycles.

Bonhams' Stafford Motorcycle auctions are held each spring and autumn at the Staffordshire County Showgrounds in the United Kingdom, and these auctions invariably throw up some fascinating motorcycles.

Suzuki's cult classic Katana is back for 2019, a throwback to what many consider the ultimate 1980s sportsbike. There's no pop-up headlight, but the new Katana 3.0 is a very sexy machine that reminds us that the 80s in now well into the retro zone.

Sean Mills, of Big CC Racing in Berkshire, UK, has a serious claim to the world's fastest street-legal motorcycle after rider Phil Hall used his variable boost, stroked-out turbo 'Busa to hit 271 mph (436 kmh) at the recent Straightliners event at Elvington Airstrip.

Suzuki has augmented its hideous but uber-practical V-Strom range with a 250cc-class parallel-twin to welcome a wider range of riders into the soft-road touring family. The V-Strom 250 ABS has 25 horses, plenty of luggage provisions and a face like a locomotive with a beak.

Full specs and details have dropped on the adorable 2019 Suzuki Jimny, a miniature retro G-Wagen lookalike with true off-road capability at a fraction of the price. And we see nothing here that makes us like this humble, fun 4x4 any less.

Suzuki has released the first images of its upcoming new Jimny 4x4 … and it looks like an adorably baby-faced take on a mini G-Wagen. Bug-eyed, tiny and boxy, all it needs is the roof off, four ridiculously goodlooking male models and some orange mocha frappuccinos.

The shape of future sports motorcycles evolved considerably over the last few days as the world's leading sportsbike manufacturers and MotoGP contenders evaluated new aerodynamic fairings at the second last test of the MotoGP pre-season at the Chang International Circuit at Buriram, Thailand.

The motorcycle auction marketplace evolved rapidly at the year-defining Las Vegas auctions this year, both on a macro and micro level. Mecum's five day sale was the largest motorcycle auction ever held, while Bonhams set a new world record by fetching $979,000 for a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning.

The 2017 Tokyo Motor Show kicked off this week and flooded the scene with new concept cars. All types of passenger and commercial concept vehicles are on display, ranging from SUV utility vans, to futuristic cargo delivery pods, to AI-driven motorcycles, to sleek sports cars.

This year the Autumn Stafford Sale seemed more eccentric than normal, with some extraordinary motorcycles selling for not very much, and at the other end of the scale, several of the most expensive two-stroke motorcycles ever sold at auction.