Keith Hale's lovely 100,000+ mile 1974 Ducati 750 Super Sport is just one of
many great Ducatis entered in the Online Round of the Ducati Superbike Concorso.

After a great showing in its' first year, the Ducati's Superbike Concorso is back for another year. Consisting of five rounds of shows, each has a Grand prize trip to Italy to visit the Ducati factory and the Milan Motorcycle show as VIP guests, along with six other runner up prizes, the Concorso is both a gorgeous showing of great Ducati machinery from the past and present, and a chance for Ducatisti to compete for the trip of a lifetime.

Round three is this coming weekend, August 1-3, at Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio. Round four will be at the MotoGP races in Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 12-14.

The Online Round is ongoing, and you can visit and vote by going  here. If you have a Ducati superbike you'd like to enter, go here.

Got the urge for something different? We've always been big fans of Kawasaki's two-stroke triples, and the smaller 400cc S3 is one of the more unusual of the bunch. We had the chance to spend a couple of weeks riding one last year, and found the bike to be a great little two-stroke piece of the past that's fun to ride today. Check out our review of a 1975 Kawasaki S3 here.

The S3 for sale appears to be in quite nice condition and shows just less than 8,000 miles. Though it sounds like it's in need of a little care and tuning, this will surely make a great little ride for the two-stroke streetbike fan.

See the auction here.

Vintage Motorcycle Days  at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, is finally here, and we learned today that VMD will also host the launch of the new limited edition 50th Anniversary Triumph Bonneville.

The press release states: "Based on the standard Bonneville T100, the 50th Anniversary pays homage to its 1959 namesake with a unique paint scheme. Just as the "Tangerine Dream" livery of 1959 created a stir in the motorcycle universe, the 2009 colors Meriden Blue and Exotic Orange will make their mark on history again. Only 650 Bonneville T100 50th Anniversary edition bikes will be produced, a testament to the engine capacity of the original Bonneville. Each unit will be individually numbered and identified with a commemorative brass badge on the handlebar clamp."

Looks neat to us! Going to VMD? Be sure to see it in person! - Landon Hall

Unrestored and in nice usable shape, this 1973 Ducati 450 looks like good clean fun to us.

A rare motorcycle, only 350 examples of the 450 Mark 3 were made in 1973, with a total of just 613 made in the Mark 3's production run from 1973-1974. The bike features Marzocchi forks, Borrani alloy rims with stainless spokes. Largely stock except for the addition of a K&N Air Filter, period Girling rear shocks, Japanese seal-beam headlight assembly, and  a toggle-type headlight switch on headlight shell, the bike would make a great rider. The seat has been recovered in the original pattern. According to the owner, lights and all controls and gauges work as they should.

For more info, check out the auction here.

One of the most fun little Guzzi's we've ridden in years just happens to be this 1966 Moto Guzzi Stornello, our entry in the Motogiro America. The Guzzi belongs to tiddler fan, collector and friend of the magazine Stewart Ingram. Back in 2007, Editor Backus and I flew into San Francisco the day before the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours d'Elegance in Half Moon Bay, Calif., and hopped the train to Ingrams' house. Once there, he showed us his great collection of small Italian motorcycles and was kind enough to lend us the Stornello and a newer Ducati Monster to serve as our transportation around the Bay area for the weekend.

Though suffering at the time from a bad set of steering head bearings, the Stornello proved to be reliable and fun throughout the weekend, as Backus and I rode more than 300 miles up and down the California coast, covering the Legend show and also getting in a nice ride up Highway 1 to Point Reyes Station, Calif., and back the Sunday after the show. Though not a fast machine by any stretch of the imagination, the 125cc, four-stroke Stornello was a great little ride for the tight, narrow streets of San Francisco. We even made a few early-morning runs down the infamous "crookedest street in the world," the one block section of Lombard Street that's known for its red bricks and hairpin turns. The left-foot heel-toe shifter required a bit of extra brain-training to ride smoothly at first, but with a bit of practice, the tiddler became a fun, easy to ride bike with great charm and a lovely, slightly-worn patina. Backus fell in love with the bike and threatened to bring it back to Kansas with him, but sense prevailed, and we thanked Ingram and left the little bike at his place and flew home. Who could have guessed that the Stornello would also wind up being friend of the magazine Dave Miller's Motogiro America ride more than a year later?

Miller, you might remember, teaches motorcycle restoration at City College in San Francisco. We highlighted his popular restoration classes in a story called "Making the Grade" in the July/August 2006 issue. Miller and Ingram are friends, and when Ingram offered up his Stornello to Dave as a ride for the upcoming Motogiro America, Dave jumped at the chance.

After freshening the top end of  engine, attending to the steering-head bearings, and a small amount of fiddling and fettling, Miller has the bike all tuned up and ready to go, and is looking forward to the many miles of the Motogiro he'll ride in the upcoming week aboard the Stornello. Though not perfect cosmetically, both Miller and Ingram agreed that it was best to restore the bike mechanically, but to leave it in its period paint, chrome and vinyl. That means if you get a chance to see any of the Rally next week, it will be easy to pick out Miller and our favorite Stornello. After all, it will look just like it does here in our photos! -- Landon Hall

While Moto Guzzi may be most well known for classic bikes such as the many versions of the Le Mans, along with the Eldorado and the later Daytonas, the standard-style T5 is an odball we've always appreciated.

Designed to be the new basic model in Guzzi's lineup, the T5 was introduced in 1983 and used an 848cc version of the small-valve, square head engine. Designed by Giulio Moseli and De Tomaso's styling bureu, the bike featured a small, squarish front fairing that holds all the insturments and surrounds the rectangular headlamp, yet lacks any kind of true windshield.

This example has just over 11,000 miles and is in original, unrestored condition, though it hasn't been run in about 8 years, so it probably needs the normal tinkering and tuning most bikes need after they've sat too long. It does have just a few nicks and chips, as most old bikes do, and the current owner also mentions that it has a small crack in the rear tail section and a few other things that need a little attention. But all told, it looks like a nice classic well deserving of a little time and attention.

To see the auction, go here.