(FORTUNE Magazine) – When Sylvester Stallone visited the plant in Rimini, Italy, where each Bimota motorcycle is built and welded by hand, he reportedly asked the company to give him one for free. (MY NAME IS ROCKY AND I WANT THE BIMOTA, screamed the headline of one Italian newspaper.) Bimota said it would be happy to give Sly a bike--if only he would give them a check.

Had Stallone written a check for, let's say, an elegant Bimota SB6, it would have come to $20,250. For the same money, a motorcycle enthusiast could buy a trio of Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster 883s ($5,195 apiece)--with enough cash left to buy lots of leather accessories. Now, a Bimota may seem rather effete next to a big, bad Harley. But riding a hog won't let you (a) break the speed limit in 2.5 seconds, (b) feel the wind blowing through your hair at 170 mph, or (c) impress members of the opposite sex by using ultra-high-coefficient friction brake rotors to stop your bike with its rear tire in the air.

--Ed Brown