Stupid bikes you have owned

[cheshirecat]

and should have known better, knowing bought fully aware of friends advice and reviews.

Mine was a Honda 400F, gutless, most boring of all Honda's, only slightly alleviated by fitting Yoshimura cam, a decision even more reprehensible by selling a tricked out CB750.

[R650R]

Bought a dodgy RGV250K once that was well past its use by date, limp motor and soggy tired suspension. Too young and dumb to know how worn out it was.
End up selling it to a mate (like you do), after fucking gearbox with wrongly placed washer, broke internal cassete casting, $80 for new one not too bad a disaster...
Some sick fecker encouraged us to enter into the Two hour at Manfield (all you have to do is finish sonny, lots of bikes don't...) where we got blackflagged in qualifying for being too slow.
That was after being passed on the inside by the legend that Robert Holden was with the tyres of his 996 duke up on the ripple strip and spilling petrol in the pitlane with our two litre milk bottle funnel.
Ahhh those were the days where you were young and stupid in equal measure and having fun! :)

[AllanB]

The old 400F inline 4 with the sweeping headers? Or the yawn 80's twin cylinder?

[awa355]

I bought a new Gemini 125 back in 1973. Taiwanese, I think. Seized on the way home after about 6 k's.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Gemini125.png

[unstuck]

PE 400, was a fucking nightmare of a thing. XS 650,horrible.:eek:

[skippa1]

PE 400, was a fucking nightmare of a thing. XS 650,horrible.:eek:
+1 on the XS650.....what a fuckin dawg

[GrayWolf]

Kawasaki H1a 500

everyone knew the reputation, for power delivery and handling.... yet we went out and bought them, apart from the 750, and the 900, there was NOTHING quicker.....
and I guess there was that 'oooooo you own a Widowmaker' factor !!!

[trapster66]

I bought a new Gemini 125 back in 1973. Taiwanese, I think. Seized on the way home after about 6 k's.



looks exactly the same as kawasaki G5 fancy that... yours was probably better.

I bought a honda CM200T :whistle: traded it on CB400N :doh:

[The Pastor]

dr 650.

Man what a shit bike.

[MIXONE]

PE 400, was a fucking nightmare of a thing. XS 650,horrible.:eek:

+1 to both.

[Big Dog]

When I owned one I thought the XS250 was the best thing since sliced bread. About the only bike I have no regrets about selling.

Since I have learned what a difference proper engineering can make.

A while ago several bike mags I regularly read all did best / worst polls on bikes from the 80s to 2005(?).
This was not multi choice and all the magazines had different bikes in most of the ranks. What did they all have in common? XS 250 was rated worst.

Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[buggerit]

XZ 400 , was fucking horrible, bought it new as a cheap commuter in swauckland but too slow and had a bad feeling about it so traded it 6 months later on gsx750es
Got a ring from the bike shop where I traded it to see if it was still under warrenty as it had shat itself on top of the harbour bridge on
a test ride, funny how you sense a change in your own ride that you cant put a finger on, sometimes it pays to go with your gut:yes:

[Motu]

Matchless G9, what a peice of shit - rode it home and was still sitting on it when the wiring burnt out. Worst handling bike I've ever owned. No stain on Matchless, it was a good bike when new, but totally fucked by the time I got it. But don't regret it, I leaned a lot on that bike.

[GrayWolf]

When I owned one I thought the XS250 was the best thing since sliced bread. About the only bike I have no regrets about selling.

Since I have learned what a difference proper engineering can make.

A while ago several bike mags I regularly read all did best / worst polls on bikes from the 80s to 2005(?).
This was not multi choice and all the magazines had different bikes in most of the ranks. What did they all have in common? XS 250 was rated worst.

Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

It's strange, Honda always made good 4T bikes, and had a go at 2T (they were a bit fragile, methinks) out of the other 3, Yamaha made the best 2T, not always the absolute quickest, but generally the most robust and reliable, considering the huge amount of abuse L platers dished out to 250's ... I'll agree that as Yam never made anything bigger than the 400, I will accept the GT500/750 suzook's are a proven bike.
Yet for some reason Yamaha had the hardest 'path' in the 4T engine reliability/robustness route in the 70's.

[Oscar]

Yamaha DT250D.
What a bi heavy pig, wouldn't go around corners and it's party piece was dieseling.

[HenryDorsetCase]

and should have known better, knowing bought fully aware of friends advice and reviews.

Mine was a Honda 400F, gutless, most boring of all Honda's, only slightly alleviated by fitting Yoshimura cam, a decision even more reprehensible by selling a tricked out CB750.

Don't be dissing the CB400F (4 cyl). You can bag the CB400N because that was a piece of shit.

[HenryDorsetCase]

+1 on the XS650.....what a fuckin dawg

they go for crazy money now.

[pritch]

Yamaha DT250D.
What a bi heavy pig, wouldn't go around corners and it's party piece was dieseling.

I have liked whatever bike I had at the time and wouldn't mind having a good example of most again. One exception would be my Yamaha RT360. It didn't diesel but I had two different rated spark plugs in the head and I would stop and swap to a harder plug once the engine was hot enough if going any distance on the highway. The bike was ideal for zapping around Wellington's hilly streets but otherwise uninspiring.

The RT360 was new when I bought it but the gearbox shat itself. When asked what had happened the shop staff could only tell me that the RT360 wasn't Yamahas best model.

I never owned one but I escaped a Norton Commando by the skin of my teeth. I was looking at one with intent to buy while the salesman studiously ignored me. The apprentice, who I knew, walked past and quietly mentioned that every Commando they had sold had blown up in under 2000 miles. "Thanks, see ya."

[98tls]

PE 400, was a fucking nightmare of a thing. XS 650,horrible.:eek:

You think the XS was a bad choice mate for reasons still unknown i many many years ago handed over coin (earnt by myself which makes it worse) for a XS650 Special:lol::mad:Only on the fucking internet would i own up to that,the thing was so bad that i left the thing somewhere and never bothered going back to get it.

[Ender EnZed]

CBX750

The VFR I replaced it with was easily three times the bike.

[swarfie]

You think the XS was a bad choice mate for reasons still unknown i many many years ago handed over coin (earnt by myself which makes it worse) for a XS650 Special:lol::mad:Only on the fucking internet would i own up to that,the thing was so bad that i left the thing somewhere and never bothered going back to get it.

+1 A mate of mine bought one new...dunno what the hell he was thinking, the fool. Wobblyest motorcycle ever made :sweatdrop:facepalm:

[98tls]

+1 A mate of mine bought one new...dunno what the hell he was thinking, the fool. Wobblyest motorcycle ever made :sweatdrop:facepalm:

:lol:I rode mine 2up to a pissup in Dunedin,great do really highlights included some good looking tart in a cunt length skirt whose boyfriend didnt seem to care that when she introduced me to him my hand was in her knickers then later that night being driven around dunners by some tart moaning about how unhappy she was with her policeman husband whist choking on a huge doobie,at some stage she pulled over took off all her clothes then much to my annoyance gets back in the car carrys on driving whist ignoring my efforts to shag her.:wacko:Anyways thats where the bike was left.

[swarfie]

:lol:I rode mine 2up to a pissup in Dunedin,great do really highlights included some good looking tart in a cunt length skirt whose boyfriend didnt seem to care that when she introduced me to him my hand was in her knickers then later that night being driven around dunners by some tart moaning about how unhappy she was with her policeman husband whist choking on a huge doobie,at some stage she pulled over took off all her clothes then much to my annoyance gets back in the car carrys on driving whist ignoring my efforts to shag her.:wacko:Anyways thats where the bike was left.

Cool, sounds like you had better things on your mind than foul handling bikes. Well shod of it I say :laugh:

Hows the Motorsport coming on? I did about 30k on my 1975 one in the late 70's. Cool old thing and probably another bike I shouldn't have sold :facepalm:

[kave]

When I owned one I thought the XS250 was the best thing since sliced bread. About the only bike I have no regrets about selling.

Since I have learned what a difference proper engineering can make.

A while ago several bike mags I regularly read all did best / worst polls on bikes from the 80s to 2005(?).
This was not multi choice and all the magazines had different bikes in most of the ranks. What did they all have in common? XS 250 was rated worst.
Good to see I'm not the only person to have suffered through owning an XS250, they are absolute pigs to ride. If it was my first bike I probably would have given up on riding and gone back to car ownership.

[GrayWolf]

You think the XS was a bad choice mate for reasons still unknown i many many years ago handed over coin (earnt by myself which makes it worse) for a XS650 Special:lol::mad:Only on the fucking internet would i own up to that,the thing was so bad that i left the thing somewhere and never bothered going back to get it.

I also had an XS650 Special (heritage custom version) wtf the diff was I never worked out.
Yes they had 'unusual handling' :eek: and vibrated like the biggest sex toy imaginable, but as has been shown, the donk was a bloody good one, in the UK they were ripped out and put into hardtail frames 'wholesale' in the 80's. It was a Bonneville that had the same vibration and performance, but didnt break down :laugh::laugh:

Now if you wanted to really admit to owning a hideous Yamaha twin, you could have gone 2 bikes better (worse) TX500 or TX750 :devil2:

[Oscar]

I have liked whatever bike I had at the time and wouldn't mind having a good example of most again. One exception would be my Yamaha RT360. It didn't diesel but I had two different rated spark plugs in the head and I would stop and swap to a harder plug once the engine was hot enough if going any distance on the highway. The bike was ideal for zapping around Wellington's hilly streets but otherwise uninspiring.

The RT360 was new when I bought it but the gearbox shat itself. When asked what had happened the shop staff could only tell me that the RT360 wasn't Yamahas best model.

I never owned one but I escaped a Norton Commando by the skin of my teeth. I was looking at one with intent to buy while the salesman studiously ignored me. The apprentice, who I knew, walked past and quietly mentioned that every Commando they had sold had blown up in under 2000 miles. "Thanks, see ya."

I had two mates with DT360's and they used to make outlandish claims about perfomance (the 100mph top speed being the most notable).
After a drag race against my 250, I could only conclude that Yamaha were delivered a bad batch of speedo's for the 360.

[Voltaire]

I never owned one but I escaped a Norton Commando by the skin of my teeth. I was looking at one with intent to buy while the salesman studiously ignored me. The apprentice, who I knew, walked past and quietly mentioned that every Commando they had sold had blown up in under 2000 miles. "Thanks, see ya."

OMG....I've over 5000 miles on mine...must be due to blow :rolleyes:

I gather the original 750 Combats rarely made it past 5000 miles. They were not up to the advertised hype. The Interstate Combat was even less up to the task it was named after.

Bike I disliked the most and I love BMW airheads was a late 80s R100 RT. The fairing and the tiller bars were horrible.

[caspernz]

The most hideous bike I've owned has to be a Yamaha XZ400. Shaft drive of course, and basically a shrunken motor version of the XZ550, itself not bad but performance was not it's strong point. Then again, the GN250 that came before it wasn't exactly a fire breathing monster either :shutup:

Next on that list would be a Honda CBX550. Nice bike, odd inboard disc brakes and all, but just a bit...what's the word here? Boring? Still, it went quite well until it dropped a valve and poked a rod out the side of the block shortly thereafter. Fast on the clutch saved me from sliding down the road. Come to think of it haven't owned a Honda since that CBX550 :no:

[Grumph]

Good to see I'm not the only person to have suffered through owning an XS250, they are absolute pigs to ride. If it was my first bike I probably would have given up on riding and gone back to car ownership.

The XS250 came with a performance limiter....if you were game to hold it wide open for long enough - not that far actually - it started to starve for fuel. The tap was too small bore believe it or not. I sorted one for a youngish Vicar many years ago. i think he went up the tunnel road regularly and it would starve before the tunnel. i warned him when i gave it back that it might not see the tunnel mouth if he gave it the message all the way up....never saw it back again thankfully.

[Big Dog]

Good to see I'm not the only person to have suffered through owning an XS250, they are absolute pigs to ride. If it was my first bike I probably would have given up on riding and gone back to car ownership.
Most of the pics on the net look a lot like a gn. Mine was more square with a deep nacelle tank similar to an FJ. Four exhaust headers are a bit of a clue there were a few variants.
When mine disappears down the road in a trail of sparks there was diesel on the road to be sure but the primary contributing factor was the bearings spitting out of the rear hub mid corner. Apparently an early experiment with conical bearings. One set either side as opposed to cylindrical. More resistant to crushing during assembly. :tugger:
Cue 6 weeks wait on bearing to arrive from japan. Everything else on the bike was sorted in 10 days. 6 weeks is a long time to hitch to and from work.

Frigging thing slowed down in a tailwind. Something about having a small ram on the intake. Starving the carb of oxygen in a tail wind.
Until my next bike I just assumed a bike was supposed to pitch to the right when you cracked on. :weird:
Until my next bike I assumed it was normal to pitch left under brakes.
Oh the list goes on...

Oh and mine blew its gear box 100 km after I traded it in. Bike shop serviced it and sold it to another learner. They did not even make it home and back to polytechnic. They personally got 37kms.

Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[Big Dog]

The XS250 came with a performance limiter....if you were game to hold it wide open for long enough - not that far actually - it started to starve for fuel. The tap was too small bore believe it or not. I sorted one for a youngish Vicar many years ago. i think he went up the tunnel road regularly and it would starve before the tunnel. i warned him when i gave it back that it might not see the tunnel mouth if he gave it the message all the way up....never saw it back again thankfully.

That might explain why the bloody thing would suddenly decelerate for no apparent reason. Back off for a second and resume throttle position and every thing was grand again.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[skippa1]

they go for crazy money now.
Same as everything I gave away or sold cheap.....:no:

[bigreddog]

ccm640sm...pile of steaming shite.

[Oakie]

Don't be dissing the CB400F (4 cyl). You can bag the CB400N because that was a piece of shit.

Yeah ... I had the 400F and it was nice. I did see it described in a bike magazine though as "the blandest of bland bikes".

[swarfie]

ccm640sm...pile of steaming shite.

What donk is in that? Suzuki DR650 I presume? That would be bland. I've got a CCM 604 Dual Sport with a Rotax 600 air cooled belt driven single cam motor in it and apart from the wooden seat it's a grin every corner whether it's on it's motard 17" wheels or it's 18"/21" dirt hoops :headbang: A nutters bike that suits me down to the ground :laugh:

[vifferman]

I have liked whatever bike I had at the time and wouldn't mind having a good example of most again.
I can agree with you on the first bit, but not the second. I've owned all Hondas, but of those only the two VFRs would be keepers. I wanted to buy the crashed VFR750 back from the insurance company (only cosmetic damage), but my SpousalUnit threw a spazz.
The others were all too crappy.

[kave]

Most of the pics on the net look a lot like a gn. Mine was more square with a deep nacelle tank similar to an FJ.
Mine looked like this one (but in black): http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery%20%20A/Yamaha%20XS250%2082%20%202.jpg
It looked like a junior version of an xz400. Not only horrible to ride, but ugly as well.

[Richard Mc F]

and should have known better, knowing bought fully aware of friends advice and reviews.

Mine was a Honda 400F, gutless, most boring of all Honda's, only slightly alleviated by fitting Yoshimura cam, a decision even more reprehensible by selling a tricked out CB750.

Oh good god was this at Reporoa.......single mens hostel...............please no yes eeerrrrrrrrr maybe

[Big Dog]

Mine was red. Naked. Kind http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/09/erydesug.jpgof like this but with 4 rusty headers. Wider tank. Rectangle mirrors. Rhomboid rather than rectangle mirrors.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[cheshirecat]

Oh good god was this at Reporoa.......single mens hostel...............please no yes eeerrrrrrrrr maybe
Nah, about 12,000 miles away near Godalming, home of Yoshimura UK importer

[GrayWolf]

Mine looked like this one (but in black):
It looked like a junior version of an xz400. Not only horrible to ride, but ugly as well.

Thats the 'second generation' the early ones did not look like half an XJ lump. Performance was on par with the Nonda CB250 super sleep (super dream)

here's pretty much what we rode in 'the day' back then......

http://tinyurl.com/kdeboam

[bigreddog]

What donk is in that? Suzuki DR650 I presume? That would be bland. I've got a CCM 604 Dual Sport with a Rotax 600 air cooled belt driven single cam motor in it and apart from the wooden seat it's a grin every corner whether it's on it's motard 17" wheels or it's 18"/21" dirt hoops :headbang: A nutters bike that suits me down to the ground :laugh:

it had a freewind motor in it....the motor was a bit tedious but it was the cycle parts that were the problem....rust would form before your eyes.

[swarfie]

it had a freewind motor in it....the motor was a bit tedious but it was the cycle parts that were the problem....rust would form before your eyes.

They mustav gotten all Pommy like (short arms, deep pockets...I know, I work with a load of the miserable bastards :laugh:) since 01 when mine was built, it's all stainless steel fastenings and parts.

[jasonu]

I've never owned one but Hardly Davidsons are pretty stupid.

[98tls]

Cool, sounds like you had better things on your mind than foul handling bikes. Well shod of it I say :laugh:

Hows the Motorsport coming on? I did about 30k on my 1975 one in the late 70's. Cool old thing and probably another bike I shouldn't have sold :facepalm:

Not much happening with it really,been really busy at work etc etc,have bought some bits ie new guards in excellent nick/coil and a few other things,no rush i just like having the thing in the shed and it puts a smile on my dial every time i go in there...cool little project bike indeed.

[98tls]

I also had an XS650 Special (heritage custom version) wtf the diff was I never worked out.
Yes they had 'unusual handling' :eek: and vibrated like the biggest sex toy imaginable, but as has been shown, the donk was a bloody good one, in the UK they were ripped out and put into hardtail frames 'wholesale' in the 80's. It was a Bonneville that had the same vibration and performance, but didnt break down :laugh::laugh:

Now if you wanted to really admit to owning a hideous Yamaha twin, you could have gone 2 bikes better (worse) TX500 or TX750 :devil2:

Was it the 500 or 750 that loved to shit itself big time.

[Grumph]

Was it the 500 or 750 that loved to shit itself big time.

750 did the bottom ends - 500 cracked heads. Both had poor oil feed to the top end too so seized cams were common.

[awa355]

I bought a TX750 new in Jan 1973. Did 12,000 miles on it and never had one bit of trouble. A lot gave problems, some didn't. Not Yamahas best model but mine was a beauty. The low down torque and smoothness was what got me hooked on motorbikes forever.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/TX7501973-1.jpg

Sure, if I rode one today it wouldn't be the bike I remember, but back then as a 20yr old on a brand new 750, it was magic.

[GrayWolf]

I bought a TX750 new in Jan 1973. Did 12,000 miles on it and never had one bit of trouble. A lot gave problems, some didn't. Not Yamahas best model but mine was a beauty. The low down torque and smoothness was what got me hooked on motorbikes forever.


Sure, if I rode one today it wouldn't be the bike I remember, but back then as a 20yr old on a brand new 750, it was magic.


By 73/74 the TX750 had been 'sorted'.. Yamaha made an extended sump, and I believe they modified the Omni Balance system , between the two mods the oil no longer got frothed up to the extent there was reduced oil pressure.
I knew a mechanic who owned one he had extensively worked on, reckoned it out grunted the 750/4 Nonda and was smooth. Modern oil would also make a huge difference to these older bikes, but I doubt there are many TX's left in one piece worldwide these day

Some bikes DO stay the bike you remember.... I rode a H1a again a few years ago, first thought was, geeeze not the scary power I remember?? Then I came to a series of bends,, and it all came flooding back!! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

[F5 Dave]

RF900. Maybe wasn't stupid but grew to hate it. Nothing compared to a mate who had an early XS250 which had a rubber frame and no power. Replaced by a GPZ305 which was a revelation until it ate it's cams. And again, and then again.

[Hobbyhorse]

A 1956 BSA Bantam .... I have never walked so far beside a motorbike since!!

[Rcktfsh]

The most hideous bike I've owned has to be a Yamaha XZ400. Shaft drive of course, and basically a shrunken motor version of the XZ550, itself not bad but performance was not it's strong point. Then again, the GN250 that came before it wasn't exactly a fire breathing monster either :shutup:

Next on that list would be a Honda CBX550. Nice bike, odd inboard disc brakes and all, but just a bit...what's the word here? Boring? Still, it went quite well until it dropped a valve and poked a rod out the side of the block shortly thereafter. Fast on the clutch saved me from sliding down the road. Come to think of it haven't owned a Honda since that CBX550 :no:

Not a Honda fan but wouldn't call the CBX550 boring, pretty competitive proddie race bike in their day.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/Rocketfish/CCI25022014_0000.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Rocketfish/media/CCI25022014_0000.jpg.html)

[MVnut]

[QUOTE=Rcktfsh;1130745369]Not a Honda fan but wouldn't call the CBX550 boring, pretty competitive proddie race bike in their day.

What class was the 550 in?

[kiwifruit]

MV F41000S :facepalm:

[MVnut]

MV F41000S :facepalm:

Blasphemy:bash:

[kiwifruit]

Yeah. Cool bike to look at, and occasionally start but not for riding (without a standby vehicle)!

[F5 Dave]

Not a Honda fan but wouldn't call the CBX550 boring, pretty competitive proddie race bike in their day.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/Rocketfish/CCI25022014_0000.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Rocketfish/media/CCI25022014_0000.jpg.html)

I like some of Freddie Mercury's music but I wouldn't want to party with him (like most Honda owners). Back in the 80s a bunch of mates had them and I caved (not that way) and bought one as they were more fun than the heavy 750s around or at least the ones I could afford.

Did over 60000k on it. The RZ350 that replaced it of course was much better still

[avgas]

All were probably good bikes new.... but when I got them they were fucked.

Kawasaki K100........its smoked and made more noise than motion.

Yamaha SRX4.........It had yamaha's attempt on a carb. Which just flooded all the time, and was assembled like bad mechano. It was also slow and gutless and needed 1 more gear.

Rode a mates CBR250 once. Wouldn't say it was horrible. But so boring in comparison to the other 250's.

[caspernz]

Yeah ok guys, the CBX550 that I had isn't remembered fondly mostly because it went into self destruct mode. Also keep in mind the bike I had before it was an FZ750 (yep the five valver) which was stolen, and the CBX was acquired second hand.