What is the worst motorbike you ever owned,and why?

Honeydog

Just thought we'd have another take on the "worst" theme.

Honeydog

Mine was a Yamaha SR 125. Can't remember the year but it would've been sometime in the 1980s. It replaced an RXS 100 which I was mad to sell as it was cheap to tax, insure and went forever on a sniff of petrol.

The 125 was a huge disappointment. Slower than the 100, handled like a shopping trolley and was an awful shade of maroon. Don't know what I was thinking about. Just wanted a bigger engine I think but it was a mistake.

Notmyrealname

Honda CB125T. I paid £50 for it in 1988. I think thats ample explanation of why it was a dog.

Paradigm

Easy...Kawasaki H1 500!

In a straight line it was amazing for it's time but... it oiled plugs so badly that you had to carry a spare set (or 2).
The frame was made out of some flexible bendy material that meant bends were taken with a quick prayer.
It rarely gave anything above 25-30mpg.

Trebor16

Laverda Mirage 1200TTS. Build quality was variable, the vibration above 4000rpm was like holding on to a pneumatic drill, but the piece de resitance was when a valve spring broke while I was in the South of France. It gave symptoms of an electrical fault, only running on two cylinders at low revs, but number three pot would chime in above 2500rpm.

On getting it home a closer inspection revealed a broken valve spring ( a known fault), but the bike was three months out of warranty. The importer didn't want to know and considered a 15 month old bike with 10000 miles on the clock as high mileage. The factory wasn't prepared to get involved because the importer had offered no support. I wrote to the importer again, in light of the factory comments, but they still refused to assist.

It cost me a months wages to fix the heap of crap. When Laverda went bust a year or so later I wasn't unhappy.

Trebor16

Honeydog wrote: »

Mine was a Yamaha SR 125. Can't remember the year but it would've been sometime in the 1980s. It replaced an RXS 100 which I was mad to sell as it was cheap to tax, insure and went forever on a sniff of petrol.

The 125 was a huge disappointment. Slower than the 100, handled like a shopping trolley and was an awful shade of maroon. Don't know what I was thinking about. Just wanted a bigger engine I think but it was a mistake.

RXS100's went like brown stuff off a shovel, but the 6 volt electrics were weak at the best of times. Their days were numbered when they changed the driving test regulations which meant to get a full bike licence you had to take the test on a bike with an engine capacity between 120 and 125cc which could do at least 62mph. Taking the test on a 100cc bike meant you only got a full licence for up to 125cc. Even though the RXS100 met the speed requirement it was disqualified on its engine size.

Honeydog

Trebor16 wrote: »

RXS100's went like brown stuff off a shovel, but the 6 volt electrics were weak at the best of times. Their days were numbered when they changed the driving test regulations which meant to get a full bike licence you had to take the test on a bike with an engine capacity between 120 and 125cc which could do at least 62mph. Taking the test on a 100cc bike meant you only got a full licence for up to 125cc. Even though the RXS100 met the speed requirement it was disqualified on its engine size.

They did indeed go fast for their engine size. I rode that bike in all weathers too. Snow/ice you just got off and pushed it if the going got too bad!

caleyles

A Suzuki gsx400f, All my mates at that time had yamaha RD400s or RD350LCs which blew me away Thankfully as time progressed I moved onto A Katana and latterly Hondas with A CBR600F A Nice Mid Size bike with more than enough speed to have fun on our twisty highland roads. Only thing being that it is comfy two up but lacks torque and gearchanges are plentiful

petrolhead69

an mz ts250. pushing the unreliable pile of crap was great excercise followed by a ktm250 motocrosser, that had multiple breakdowns, and loads of compression and a left hand kickstart, a recipie for injury. the katoom was a flying machine when it worked which made up for it.