best/worse loan bike

[matthewt]

What's the best loan bike a shop has lent you and the worst.

Prompted by a yellow cbr400 Motomart lent me while the Brutale is getting it's 12k service. Oh and the cbr400 has a KB sticker on the windscreen so I'm guessing it might be Blakamin's old bike.

Best: Ducati Monster s4r, I had this for nearly a week when my F4 was in for a service. I didn't want to give it back !!

Worst: BMW F650. Nothing wrong with these bikes but the one I was given felt as if the front wheel was held in by rubber bands. On the first round-about I went though I swear I could feel the wheel bend and flex outwards.

[marty]

can't say for bikes, but for cars - team mcmillian lent me a 2004 325i when the mini was being serviced. drove it to cambridge and back (300kms) and no questions about the empty tank when returned. the worst? ebbett holden having daewoos as their loaners. drop off the $70000 hsv, get a $3000 lanos.

[F5 Dave]

The worst was getting a ride home on the back of a GP125 when the so called mechanic garked the ignition coil by not using a proper flywheel holder.

The best bike was a GB400 when the same ignition coil decided to fail when I was on the dyno as it did a couple of other times until I found someone who knew how to rewind coils properly (JH Rewinds Yay).

What was so good about the GB? Well it’s the only bike I’ve been loaned by a shop as dyno guy was a mate & it was his wife’s bike.

Generally I try to keep my bikes away from mechanics. Big shops are the worst as it always ends up being the ‘boy’ doing the work, esp. if you have an old bike as much of the time I have had.

I remember how upset my old girlfriend was when I returned from dropping off her new bike for a warranty & returning on a GN250 :scooter: . What made it worse was it was the bike she traded in & she thought she might get something more flash.

[sedge]

Boyles lent me a tiny little Zephyr 550 cruiser thing when my bike had to stay in later than expected... I was all knees around my ears and the giant freaking comedy upright windscreen made it all wobbly above a 100ks.

No offense to Zephyr owners, but they aren't my cup of tea and I really didn't want to be seen on it <shudder>.

Going in to work the next morning the exhaust pipe detached at the collector box and I had to ride through town on this thing like a circus clown on a midget bike with a big screen, catchy clutch, crazy 2krpm idle and no exhaust... and how many people do think saw me ?... every freaking body. (luckily I don't know 'that' many people).

I still haven't lived it down... see my avatar... that's an actual photo.

Sedge.

[DEATH_INC.]

Best,a 350Goose with about 100kms on it(heaps of fun),Worst a Marauder.......

[Blakamin]

What's the best loan bike a shop has lent you and the worst.

Prompted by a yellow cbr400 Motomart lent me while the Brutale is getting it's 12k service. Oh and the cbr400 has a KB sticker on the windscreen so I'm guessing it might be Blakamin's old bike.


:spudwave: :killingme :killingme :thud:
I laughed till it hurt... yup thats my old bike... must be a hell of a letdown after the MV..... cant believe they want $3450 for it either (saw it on the net today, I think its haunting me)
whaddya really think of it???

[edit] front indicators are not up to WoF standard.... aftermarket shite (one reason they gave me a shit trade in)

[matthewt]

:spudwave: :killingme :killingme :thud:
I laughed till it hurt... yup thats my old bike... must be a hell of a letdown after the MV..... cant believe they want $3450 for it either (saw it on the net today, I think its haunting me)
whaddya really think of it???

[edit] front indicators are not up to WoF standard.... aftermarket shite (one reason they gave me a shit trade in)

What do I think ?? shit where do I start. Everytime I look at it I find something new that needs "doing" (and a new piece of duct tape holding something together). Riding wise it's fine. Seems to tip into corners just nice but doesn't feel right on the way out of the corner if you give it a little gas.

Even this bucket of bolts makes me want to get a sports bike again (bugger !! M/mart had 2 new MVF4-1000's in there :confused: )

I think they had $3k on it when I picked it up this morning. I actually enjoy riding different bikes, good and bad, so I should really get out there and ride a few more.

[Blakamin]

What do I think ?? shit where do I start. Everytime I look at it I find something new that needs "doing" (and a new piece of duct tape holding something together). Riding wise it's fine. Seems to tip into corners just nice but doesn't feel right on the way out of the corner if you give it a little gas.

like the rear indicators...that dont match.
forks are bent... really badly.. left one actually has a kink in it...
it got ridden, never cleaned... only thing i did was fix the wiring...
still a nice light bike compared to the bro-in-laws mrs potential gsx250... it was huge and soft!!!
$3000... lol... I let them have it for $1500... not bad considering I swapped it for my $1900 worth of zeal and it only cost me crap paint (I couldn't handle all that yellow)

[What?]

Worst: Nifty Fifty.
Best: Nifty Fifty.

[inlinefour]

Worst: Nifty Fifty.
Best: Nifty Fifty.

Worst= nothing, I had to walk.
Almost worst= a Lead scooter, would make a good anchor...
Best= 1994 Honda Hornet 900cc, would like to have kept that one, but they unfortunately wanted it back :msn-wink:

[loosebruce]

Best = XB9R while the TL was getting fixed up and i had to run a few errans. Hard to give it back, even with the XB's lack of straight line ooommpphh
Worst = Bandit 400 (really old rattly one) (which kinda made it fun in a scary kinda way to ride)

[Juan]

Worst.. 600 Hairnet... complete bag of poo... not looked after in anyway, sure they gave it me to see if it would get knicked over night!!!

Best.... Aprillia Tuono, barking mad thing... wheelies everywhere... :eek:

[StoneChucker]

TWICE I've been shafted, and had to walk from the bike shop to work, from work to home, from home to the bike shop again. And yes, walking won't do ME any harm, but thats not the point...

Ohhhhh, y'all better have a bike for me when I come in for my 10K service, or I'm gonna spew sparkplugs at ya'll. hehehehe

Luckily I've managed to ring dad who works near by to pick me up when possible.

[Sparky Bills]

Worst:SR250.. Still managed to get a bloody ticket for 123km!!!(who would have thought it could go soo fast)
Best:Probably the one thats left the biggest impression on me is a 996S Ducati.
What a bike!
Glad to hear that the CBR is leaving an impression on you too Matty! :)

[Bonez]

Never needed a loaner. Mind you've I haven't let a mechanic touch my bikes since I found the w/shop "boy" revving the guts out of the Integra back in '80 something. :bash:

[Blakamin]

Glad to hear that the CBR is leaving an impression on you too Matty! :)
That CBR has left "impressions" everywhere.....

[avgas]

worst case i had was KX125 that didnt start - so i had to walk home. Which was lucky cos i saw 3 cops on way home.
went back the following day and mechanic found out that the sparkplg had died. But i picked up my RG - and she flew so i was all happy.
Best was the 955 when my bike lost it fairings on a corner by my dads.
been promised a blat on a 200hp busa from a mates shop in the states if i got no transport while im there

[matthewt]

Best:Probably the one thats left the biggest impression on me is a 996S Ducati.
What a bike!
Glad to hear that the CBR is leaving an impression on you too Matty! :)

I was trying to angle Todd towards the 996 in the shop but he wasn't having a bar of it.

I've found at least 2 redeeming features on the cbr 1) a good steering lock and 2) the battery works well when you're trying to start the mofo at 6am and the freakin choke is all over the show.

All I can say is I'll be looking forward to getting my bike back today.

[James Deuce]

The worst is a toss up between a Suzuki B120 with no rear (bouncey, bouncey, bouncey) damping, and a ZZR600 that weaved at 50km/hr and felt like the swingarm was flexing 3 or 4 feet as you tipped into corners.

I've never had a loaner that was "good".

[Blakamin]

I was trying to angle Todd towards the 996 in the shop but he wasn't having a bar of it.

I've found at least 2 redeeming features on the cbr 1) a good steering lock and 2) the battery works well when you're trying to start the mofo at 6am and the freakin choke is all over the show.

All I can say is I'll be looking forward to getting my bike back today.
ahhh... the choke.... brilliant piece of engineering that.... never used it and it still started ('cept when the wiring was FuX0red)

[Grumpy]

Best,a 350Goose with about 100kms on it(heaps of fun)

Yep, my favorite too and I was always lucky enough to get some good ones... GS1200SS, SV1000, GSX1400.

The worst was a 400 Bandit. Ran out of gas on the motorway on the way to work. No worries, just switch to reserve.... :no: wot f..kin' reserve?