richard hammond's motorcycles

#motorbikes #hammond #drivetribe #bikes #motorcycles #bikethrottle

4y ago
206.9K

VISIT WWW.BIKETHROTTLE.COM FOR THE BEST BIKE VIDEOS - DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE!

It's safe to say Richard Hammond has come a long way from his days of presenting 'Used Bike Heaven' on obscure satellite channel Men & Motors.

Gradually rising along with TopGear and now making a few quid with Amazon's 'The Grand Tour', he's able to splash out a bit on some of his dream bikes. We'd all do the same if we could. Here's what he's had in his garage over the years.

bimota sb8r - 1999

Porn.

Porn.

The black beast above is Hammond's own SB8R and it's a big, scary lump of Italian porn. The 1000cc V-Twin is borrowed from the Suzuki TL1000R which has then been breathed on by the Rimini factory, larger throttle bodies upping power to 138bhp. It may not sound like much today, but you'd be a fool to forget just how much torque these motors make.

The chassis is also super-trick, the lower half being constructed from carbon fibre. This was almost unthinkable tech at the time. Ohlins, Brembo and carbon adorn this jewel everywhere. Ownership of a rare Italian sportsbike is never something we'd recommend, but the Bimota is one of those bikes that just lures you in.

kawasaki z900 - 1976

The Z900 is a real seventies icon from Kawasaki. The four-cylinder motor made about 80bhp and topped out at 133mph, making it the world's fastest production bike at the time. Of course it feels baggy nowadays but Hammond mentioned he lusted after these big capacity bikes of his childhood, the Zed definitely being the poster bike of the era. Richard chose the Zed for his first spin of 2017 back in March. Good choice.

loads of ducatis...

Image courtesy of The Toms - The Classic Life Tribe

Image courtesy of The Toms - The Classic Life Tribe

Who wouldn't fill their garage with as many Ducatis as possible, given half the chance? Richard appears to have done just that from this shot of his bike barn - taken by The Toms of The Classic Life tribe who met Richard back in April.

In the centre is his 900 SuperSport, which he recently made a short video about.

Play video
0:09

I think they call that 'character'

There also appears to be a 916 SPS Foggy replica tucked away in there, as well as another 916, an 851, a 900SS and a few others. It's safe to say Hammond is Ducati mad.

norton commando 961 se

It's styled like a classic with all the benefits of modern technology. The 961 SE was a limited-run from the newly acquired Norton brand which was launched again in the late 2000's.

Every example of the SE quickly sold out, even at £16,000 each. It's easy to see why, the thing is more ornament than motorcycle. Carbon fibre wheels, top-spec Ohlins R&T forks and twin shocks at the rear and styling to die for. Hammond is a lucky guy to have one of these in his collection.

brough superior ss100

If you're not familiar with the SS100 it's worth taking a look at their history. Famed as the machine of choice for Lawrence of Arabia, it was coined as the 'Rolls-Royce of motorcycles'.

Incidentally, Lawrence was aboard his Brough SS100 when he was killed in a crash in 1935. Any motorcycle collector would love one of these in their collection, but prices are absolutely astronomical. One SS100 recently broke the record for most expensive motorcycle sold at auction - £315,000.

The previous record was for the predecessor, the SS80. Richard also has one of these in his collection.

Image by The Toms of The Classic Life tribe

Image by The Toms of The Classic Life tribe

Image by The Toms of The Classic Life tribe

Image by The Toms of The Classic Life tribe

Speaking to Motorcycle News back in 2014, Richard listed his current crop of machines:

"A 1927 Sunbeam Model 2,

1950 BMW R51 RS replica,

1959 Norton Dominator racer,

1976 Honda Gold Wing

1976 Yamaha FS-1E

Honda SS50

Kawasaki ZXR750H1

Suzuki GSX-R1100

Kawasaki KR1-S

Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk1

Bimota YB9

Ducati 916 SPS Foggy rep

Two BMW K1s

Suzuki GS1000

BMW K100RS

R100RT

R90S

...and his daily ride which is an R1200RT

Join In

Comments (14)

  • Number of bike owned=N, number of bikes needed=N+1 :D

      4 years ago
  • ...and no MV Agusta... ahiai...

      4 years ago
  • No Triumph? No Vincent? No BSA? No mid 70s CB750? My god man, are you mad?

      4 years ago
  • Can you imagine the DVLA and insurance paperwork!

      4 years ago
  • There is a Suzuki RGV 250 missing, Richard

      2 years ago
14