A couple of days after Adam and I checked out the Newport Car Museum, we also had the chance to meet Gordon Razee (the son of Ralph Razee) and the man behind Razee’s Motorcycle Center.
Ralph from back in the day.
Impressive longetivity!
Rhode Island in March is not a warm place – anyone riding at this time earns my respect as they have to be dedicated. It also doesn’t hurt to have giant hand covers and heated grips.
There were a few bikes lined up in front of the dealership that stood out to me, such as this Husqvarna 701 SM:
BMW F900GS.
Royal Enfield Classic 350 (I’m stunned by how similar this looks to a RE 350 from 50+ years ago).
Kawasaki KX250 in the sweet 40th Anniversary livery.
Moto Guzzi V85 TT – I was in Spain last month to cover the press launch for the 2024 model for RevZilla.
I actually went to Spain to review the V85 and the new Stelvio – turns out Razee’s had one of those inside as well.
I really like the XSR900 (here’s my review) and I think the new colorway is cool, but angles like this emphasize one of my styling complaints: the front of the frame dominates the visual balance in an unflattering way.
The Ducati section was particularly interesting (ignoring the new Monster, which I think has lost a bit of its charm).
There was a well-preserved 748, a gorgeous 900 Superlight, and a 750 F1 Montjuich!
Ducati produced three limited editions of the F1, and the Ducati 750 F1 Montjuich was the first and rarest.
From ducatiusa.com: “The 750 F1 Montjuich is a sports version of the original 750 F1. The motorcycle was first announced after the Milan Show in 1985, on the heels of the great racing success Ducati achieved on the Montjuich Park circuit in Barcelona, Spain. [It] entered the market in 1986 and was known as the F1 “special” since it was a more costly rare model…The Montjuich was a real step ahead of the stock 750 F1: it was faster, more effective and overall a real sports bike.”
Just 200 were produced, and only 20 were imported to North America. Upgrades from the standard F1 included ported cylinder heads, hotter cams, higher compression pistons, a lightweight clutch and straight-cut gears, among other things. The most interesting aspect is because these hand-built low volume bikes, there was no standard spec. Carb sizes and tire specifications were often different from bike to bike.
There were a couple of older surprises, including a 1977 Husqvarna 360 Automatic and a 1965 BSA Spitfire Hornet. The latter is available for $6,995.
They also have a small building across the street for storage purposes, so it was mostly new bikes but there was a lovely 1974 Ducati 750 Sport that had stolen the place of a Kawasaki ZX-6R.
Ducati released the 750 GT at the 1970 Paris Salon, but sales weren’t great. Fabio Taglioni decided to make a sportier version, revealing the 750 Sport at the Salon of Holidays in Turn in November of ’72. Before Ducati would begin deliveries in mid-late April, Paul Smart would pilot a Desmo 750 to victory at the 1972 200 Miles of Imola – something that started a wave of demand for fast Ducatis and cementing the 750’s place in motorcycle history.
Razee’s is the closest dealership to Iconic’s new presence in Bristol, Rhode Island. We want to have some loaner bikes available for people when they visit us so Adam and I just ordered a couple of Kawasaki KLR650s and a couple of Honda Groms as the speed limits are super low in the area and you can’t split lanes.
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That wraps things up for now, but here’s a magnet in Gordon’s office that made laugh. So enjoy your day, and remember – it could always be worse!
