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Jul 25, 2023

10 Great Bikes That Never Made It To America

For whatever reason, Americans never got to ride these bikes With America being such an important market for any motorcycle manufacturer, you would think that they would all be falling over each other

For whatever reason, Americans never got to ride these bikes

With America being such an important market for any motorcycle manufacturer, you would think that they would all be falling over each other to send each and every motorcycle they make there. It appears not, however: for whatever reason, there are many models that have never been and never will be officially imported to the U.S. Given the specifications of some of the models, not to mention the customizing possibilities, means the Northern Hemisphere’s biggest motorcycle market is missing out on some great motorcycles. So, not wanting to make your day any worse than it already is, here is a list of ten great bikes you’ve never been able to buy in America.

Related: This Uber-rare 2003 Petronas FP1 Is a Race Bike for the Street

Bimota is a specialist company that builds its own sports bike frames for production engines. The letters in the name tell you which engine has been used - YB for Yamaha, HB for Honda, DB for Ducati and BB for BMW and so on. In the 1970s, motorcycle chassis design had stagnated and Bimota carved a niche for itself building infinitely better frames in which to fit production engines. The BB3 used the engine from the BMW S 1000 RR as a stressed member of the chassis, carbon fiber was used extensively and all-in weight was a mere 390 pounds. Designed to be as close to a World Superbike racing motorcycle as possible, this road-legal rocket was only available in Europe and Japan.

Engine

Inline-four

Power

190 horsepower

Torque

Not Available

Weight

394 pounds

Before Honda gave us the Africa Twin 1100 adventure bike, it took the V4 engine from the VFR1200 and put it in an adventure touring chassis, creating the VFR1200X Crosstourer. The 1,237cc V4 engine utilized a single camshaft per cylinder bank with variable valve timing to simplify and add lightness. 130 horsepower and 93 foot pounds of torque was available alongside typical Honda reliability, and it offered excellent road manners in a large, comfortable and extremely capable chassis that made it one of the best long-distance tourers of its time. Not that the Americans would know, however.

Engine

V-Four

Power

127hp

Torque

93 foot pounds

Weight

610 pounds

The last of the old-school Japanese dinosaurs: huge lump of an engine in a tubular steel frame, with twin shocks at the back and a style that hasn’t changed one bit from the early 1970s. Despite the bulky appearance, weight was only 525 pounds and the 1,247cc inline four-cylinder engine was unbelievably smooth, producing a modest 106 horsepower but also 80 foot pounds of torque for strong but not excessive performance. It’s the ultimate Universal Japanese Motorcycle: simple - air-cooled engine and five speed gearbox, for goodness’ sake - effortless performance and secure handling. You would have thought it would be a shoo-in for U.S. distribution, but apparently not.

Engine

Inline-four

Power

106hp

Torque

80 foot pounds

Weight

525 pounds

In the 1980s and 90s, the Japanese manufacturers made a mouth-watering line of sub-400cc motorcycles for the home market to take advantage of vehicle taxation laws. The best thing was that many of them had screaming four-cylinder engines and the CB400 Super Four was one of them. With a 12,500rpm red line, the engine of the CB400 produced 55 horsepower and 29 foot pounds of torque in a super lightweight package. Notably, this was the first Honda motorcycle engine to have the VTEC variable valve equipment installed, that would close off two of the four valves per cylinder below 7,000rpm to keep things civilized but switched camshafts to enable four-valve operation and unleash the beast within. You have to hear it to believe it but, sadly, not in the U.S.

Engine

Inline-four

Power

55hp

Torque

29 foot pounds

Weight

437 pounds

Related: 2022 Honda CB500F

If the Honda CB400 sounds like overkill, that’s nothing compared to the Kawasaki ZX-25R. Appearing in 2020 and destined solely for the Asian market, that’s a 249cc inline four-cylinder engine in there, revving to 18,000rpm, with 51 horsepower and 22 foot pounds of torque, pushing along 401 pounds wet through: the performance is out of all proportion to the size of the engine. Disc brakes all round with ABS, Showa suspension, up-and-down quick-shifter, traction control and there’s even a data logger that you can connect to via a phone app. It’s as close to a Supersport 300 race bike for the road as you’re ever likely to get… if you live in Asia, that is…

Engine

Inline-four

Power

51hp

Torque

22 foot pounds

Weight

401 pounds

An intriguing answer to a question that no-one asked: can a twist-and-go maxi scooter be configured to go off-road? There’s no doubt that the adventure bike is the big-ticket item right now for all the manufacturers, but this has led to some of the more bizarre creations and the Honda X-ADV has to be one of them. Basically, it’s a Honda Integra maxi-scooter, complete with 745cc parallel twin engine, 53 horsepower, DCT automatic gearbox and under-seat storage with dual-purpose tires and a little more ground clearance. Because of the configuration, the weight is worn low, unlike many adventure bikes, which makes sense for an off-road motorcycle. The Japanese and Europeans love it, apparently…

Engine

Parallel twin

Power

53 hp

Torque

51 foot pounds

Weight

520 pounds

CCM is a small manufacturer in the north of England, producing some super minimalistic, funky-looking models with excellent dynamics and huge grin-factor. Carl Fogarty - nickname Foggy - is a British institution after winning four World Superbike titles in the 1990s, so putting his name to the Spitfire limited edition was a great marketing move. Like every other model in the CCM line-up, each bike is built in extremely limited number, entirely by hand, is outfitted with top-shelf components, and is powered by a 62hp, 600cc, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, single that was developed by BMW back when it owned Husqvarna. What makes the Foggy unique is its headlight cowl, tail section, and front fender, bronze Marzocchi forks, and full bronze chrome powder-coated, hand-TIG-welded frame. The Stealth Foggy also gets Brembo radial-mount quad-piston calipers, black 19” machined wheels, a carbon fiber rear fender, and a black quilted Alcantara seat with bronze accent stitching. Not that you'd know it in the U.S.!

Engine

Single Cylinder

Power

62 hp

Torque

48 foot pounds

Weight

N/A (featherlight!)

Related: Best Single Cylinder Bikes On The Market

We’ve seen one maxi-scooter in the Honda X-ADV but what about the most ridiculously insane maxi-scooter? That would be the Aprilia SRV850, born out of the equally mad Gilera GP800. It is excess all areas, with an 839cc, V-Twin engine, producing 76 horsepower and 56 foot pounds of torque, giving ridiculous performance at the merest twist of the right twist-grip, with no gears to worry about. Style-wise, it borrows a lot from the RSV4 superbike, including the ability to lay a streak of melted rubber on the tarmac exiting slow corners. Heading to the shops, taking the long way there, has never been so exciting…in Europe, at least!

Engine

V-Twin

Power

76hp

Torque

56 foot pounds

Weight

549 pounds

The motorcycle that might just have single-handedly been responsible for the popularity of the custom/café racer scene around the world, given that the vast majority of home builds are based on the Yamaha SR400. Underneath the uninspiring bodywork is a still tube frame and an air-cooled 400cc single cylinder engine, both of which have the ability to be dressed up in so many different ways, from café racer, to bobber, to chopper, to flat-track, hell, anything you pretty much want to make it. It’s endlessly malleable and a godsend to custom builders, which must be making the Americans tear their hair out.

Engine

Single cylinder

Power

23 hp

Torque

20 foot pounds

Weight

384 pounds

Kawasaki actually has a couple of possible entries into this list, the parallel twin-engined Triumph Bonneville competitor, the W800, and this lovely little 250cc version, the W250 Estrella, which almost out-Triumphs Triumph in the retro stakes. Like the Yamaha SR400, the W250 Estrella has been the basis for thousands of custom-builds, partly because it already looks so right and partly because it is so simple and easy to work on, helped by the fact that there is a healthy after-market parts and accessories availability. 17 horsepower isn’t much, but there are even big-bore kits to improve that, while the chassis and brakes are more than up to handling a bit more power.

Engine

Single cylinder

Power

17 horsepower

Torque

13 foot pounds

Weight

357 pounds

Harry has been writing and talking about motorcycles for 15 years, although he's been riding them for 45 years! After a long career in music, he turned his hand to writing and television work, concentrating on his passion for all things petrol-powered. Harry has written for all major publications in South Africa, both print and digital and produced and presented his own TV show called, imaginatively, The Bike Show, for seven years. He held the position of editor of South Africa's largest circulation motorcycling magazine before devoting his time to freelance writing on motoring and motorcycling. Born and raised in England, he has lived in South Africa with his family since 2002. Harry has owned examples of Triumph, Norton, BSA, MV Agusta, Honda, BMW, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Kawasaki and Moto Morini motorcycles. He regrets selling all of them.