What's the worst bike you've ridden?

**Pwalo** · 17th November 2008, 11:47

Originally Posted by vifferman

Huh.
That reminds me of test-riding a couple of bikes back in 94-ish. One was a Honda 300 Bros,a nd the other was a GB400. I can't remember which one it was, but I'm pretty sure it was the GB: I pulled out to pass a car and the guy put his foot down and I had to back off, as it didn't feel like it was going to get past.

Yes indeedy, my FT400 was the same. Looked cool but once it got to 100ks it was soooo slow to accelarate.

But the worst bike I've ridden was a Yamaha XZ550 (the V twin thing). Had one as a loaner while my RD400C was being worked on. Man was I glad to get the RD back!

**nudemetalz** · 17th November 2008, 11:59

Amen to that, Pwalo, but one thing worse than that, is the XZ400. Same weight, even less power and dodgy carburetion !!

**inlinefour** · 17th November 2008, 12:56

Originally Posted by naphazoline

there's been a few.
an old 80's cb650 i used to own,was pretty ordinary.
but one bike in the same era,comes to mind. a kawasaki 550. i can't remember the exact model,but crickey, was it a real dog.
it had power nowhere,noises everywhere,and pretty much didn't do what you told it to do.
it was butt ugly,petrol hungry,and flat out,was probably around the 140kms mark.
i didn't own this bike,but rode it to work a lot at the time.it certainly put me off ever buying one,that's for sure.

i'd be more then keen to hear some of your horror stories.

When I was 8 mum decided to get me her Honda step thru as she hated riding it to work. At the start I though it was cool, but it didnt take long and the novelty ran thin. Not long later dad said if I could kill it he would help me get a trail bike. The rules was I was not allowed to put anything in the petrol or oils, so it had to be the way I rode it. I tried everything to kill it and probably it should have killed me the things I was doing. Even full speed in 3rd smacking the gears down into first didnt do the trick, but I was told it sounded and looked really cool snaking along the grass. In the end I realised I was probably not going to be able to kill it myself without doing harm. I told dad that if I pushed it off into the river or sea that might do the trick, but he said no because of the pollution (was young and all I was focused on was getting a trail bike). We was camping on a farmer land and even he knew what was happening and he was having a good laugh. I ended up digging another huge rubbish hole and I was going to bury the bloody thing, once Id taken the fuel and oild out of course. One of the family friends who was out visiting whated to know what the F I was doing. I told him and everyone that was about just started laughing. The same friend realising that the step thru was still road legal said he would swap it for a trail bike that he had but could not get going. We went and had a look at it and it was abvious that it had just been sitting in his garage for too long. With dads help we cleaned the spark plug, put new fuel in it and checked everything over. All it needed was a new cable for the frount brake. Didnt take long and it was going but not very well, but the more I had it running the better it ran and my first good blast on it appeared to blow out all the cobwebs. Mum and dad at that stage didnt know about me riding on the backroads after school while they was at work, but the amount of fuel I was going through it became very obvious. I liked that bike even on the day I sold it because I had something much better. Swapping a step thru for a green TS185ER was a great deal in my view, pity I abused the step thu too much and it expired a few months down the track.

**OregonKiwi** · 17th November 2008, 13:34

Originally Posted by EJK

Suzuki AD50 Address.

I didn't want to take it really...

Yeah right!!

**Badjelly** · 17th November 2008, 14:18

Originally Posted by Duke girl

A F***ing push bike.

There was probably something wrong with the motor.

**Moki** · 17th November 2008, 15:19

My z1300 when the crankshaft went taking along with it all 6 pots.

**vgcspares** · 17th November 2008, 15:26

Rode a ZX1400 with warped discs - you can imagine how easilly it got to 200kph but maybe not how much I regretted it when the front end shook so much I thought it was going to fall off

**Divot** · 17th November 2008, 16:56

Triumph Speedmaster

**DarkLord** · 17th November 2008, 17:18

I'd have to go for the Nifty Fifty's as well.

Horrible bike, well the one I rode was anyway. Speedo didn't work, no suspension whatsoever, tyres couldn't grip anything to save themselves plus the thing was frighteningly unstable.

I heard that bike met its end by being ridden into a fence and snapping in half.

**vtec** · 17th November 2008, 17:44

I loved the nifty fifty. Fixed one up for my brother to use while he was down south at Otago University. Rode it to a cocktail party one night. was pissing down with rain on the way home, was motarding it foot out with both wheels sliding round a roundabout, and then the foot platform touched the road and she just washed out from under me. Bent the number plate straight and she was good to go again hahaha. Awesome

A bike I thought was awful was a TL1000s, handled like anus, but with dangerous amounts of torque. Those bikes are just stupid.

My dad had a CBX550 or something like that from the early 80's. What a waste of metal. No go, no handling, no brakes and it weighed heaps... WTF! I was expecting something with some go. I had an RGV250 at the time, and I was worried the much larger engine would be too much for me. It was such a disappointment.

**MotoKuzzi** · 17th November 2008, 18:51

Jawa 350? twin 2 stroke. One I had only started with a push, running along side fast as I could pushing it with throttle full open, then all of a sudden it would light up and ya had to be bloody quick to throw ya leg over or get dragged. It was my first bike and had to push it miles along Napiers Marine parade to get it home from where I bought it. Strangely enough I kinda wish I still had it.

**carver** · 17th November 2008, 20:04

a KLR650 would be another shit bike

**carver** · 17th November 2008, 20:10

Originally Posted by Pwalo

Yes indeedy, my FT400 was the same. Looked cool but once it got to 100ks it was soooo slow to accelarate.

But the worst bike I've ridden was a Yamaha XZ550 (the V twin thing). Had one as a loaner while my RD400C was being worked on. Man was I glad to get the RD back!

i had one worse

a shitty yamaha XZ400

that was a sack of shit, never buy one.
the electrics, carbs, handling, power, brakes, fork seals...the whole bike...

is shit, like you have to fix it once a week

**Wannabiker** · 17th November 2008, 21:05

For me its a tie between a Honda Z50 mini bike circa 1970's and a Buel Blast....a Harley with an amputated cylinder and a gearbox from a traction engine...it scraped the footpegs around every bend in the road and had no power. The novelty wore off quickly.