Bikes you should never have bought

[weeksy]

Prompted by the other thread.

What's the bike you should never have bought? You purchasing regrets and why.

I'm not actually convinced I have one. Closest would be the GPX750R as Mrs Weeksy hated it after 1 ride, but I paid buttons for it and got out of it for about £100 profit in the end. I actually enjoyed making it nicer, so regret would be a harsh thing.
I've never bought a lemon other than a 1098 that wouldn't start, ever! But that went back to the dealer.

[Rockburner]

I didn't buy it, my Dad did - but my first bike: a Suzuki GP100. It was "tired" when we got it, wouldn't run below 6000 revs (ie, it would just completely die) and was a pile of shite.

The replacement Yamaha YB100 which was bought specifically for test passing (iirc all 3 of us used it), might have been more reliable, but was still a sack of shite. it was so underdamped we all suffered sea-sickness when riding it.

[Mr Nozzle]

Piaggio X10 350, an aircraft carrier sized maxi scoot. Within a month of owning the battery died, 3 hours to get to the thing. Oil leak that the source just couldn't be found. Valve seals blew and had to have the engine rebuilt. Great storage space under the seat though.

[Sadlonelygit]

Gsx750se pop up katana.
Heavy, maybe 70hp, ergonomics only a baboon could use. Electrics that made Lucas look reliable!
Good headlight tho'.

[Taff]

K2 Gsxr 750.
I was in no way responsible enough to be riding a bike that fast and capable on the roads.

It lasted 3 months before I decided to get rid of it too protect my licence and life

[Count Steer]

Only a BSA A7 that had been 'rebuilt'. It had been put back together worse than the original build.

I bought a BMW F850GS that I didn't like much but that's just one of those experience things.

[Bustaspoke]

I've had a few over the years..
When I was 18 I bought a Suzuki GT250 from a farmer,the fact that he turned up with it on the back of a trailer wasn't a good sign.I soon discovered that he'd rewired it,I was a skint apprentice electrician at the time & this was my introduction to auto electrics.When I could get it running right it was a rocket,but often it wasn't running right.I sold it to one of my mate's when I bought a X7,the thing made such an impression on both of us that more than 40 years later we can both remember its registration,REK603M.He even bought another GT250 a few years ago to remind him of REK.
My XT600 wasn't the wisest purchase,that's been another learning experience & I'll never get my money back,ownership's been both infuriating & rewarding.I'm planning on getting it running again,but there's no hurry.
I once bought a Kawasaki,a Z650,I bought the wrong bike as I was in a hurry to get a bike for easter.The rattle can paint job should have sent the alarm bells going & when I checked the log book I realised the bike had double figure owners recorded.I went to Assen for the Dutch TT on it & a couple of years later I did a Eurotour on it.I remember the fuel tap failing in Barcelona,pissing petrol all over the hot motor,then a few days later it was running on 3 & drinking oil,turned out a valve stem oil seal had failed & I was in northern Spain but managed to nurse it back to Lancashire.
Looking for a positive,I like messing around with bikes & all 3 of those were learning experiences

[Taipan]

mk1 Gilera Nexus. Plagued with electrical problems and eventually, it stopped running completely and I finally gave up. Sold it to a mechanic from Yorkshire who said worse ways he'd make up a loom for it, but it never went back on the road?

[Yorick]

CB900 in 87. Wouldn't rev past 7,000 and a pig to start. Was all I could afford as was racing.
In the winter I used my racing YPVS to go to work on coz it had a fairing to keep me warm.

[Ditchfinder]

GPz305, jesus why did nobody stop me. There was a perfectly nice BMW r65 for sale 2 streets away for less money, a slug, I know but at least it would have had character.

I shouldn't really have bothered with the Triumph either given the number of hours I've spent working on it compared to riding it but it's a peach of an engine which I would never otherwise experienced.

[Cousin Jack]

Only one, my 1st bike, a BSA C12. It was crap.

[v8-powered]

Deauville 700 - it was shit.
I had fond memories of an old NTV650 which was great, the 700 was gash in comparison and sold within a few weeks.

20200531_102038.jpg (1009.65 KiB) Viewed 881 times

[gremlin]

Aprilia Shiver, if only for the name....

Oh, and the shit build quality. And lack of parts that necessitated c. 6 months in In Moto's workshop awaiting parts, seemingly being walked from Italy, because the engine ate itself in less than a year.

And then the VW Golf that broke it and my bloody ankle when it was finally fixed.

[Skub]

If you rule out all the Hammerite dogs a mate and I shared as Winter bikes,I don't believe I've ever owned a bike I regret. Every one was enjoyed for what it was and if it shit the bed,I fixed it.

Matey and I had a procession of 'end of life' Honda CB125s most of which were embarrassingly on their last legs,but they were Homdas,ergo not proper bikes anyway.

[mangocrazy]

Nope. Every bike I've had served its purpose and in most cases was swapped for something that was an improvement, as in my Ducati 851 being PX-ed for an 888 SP3. My Honda C200 (90cc) got traded in for a CD175, which in turn was replaced by a 305cc CB77. I tend to hoard bikes anyway and do buy for the long term.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

1979 GSX750ET in 1988, heavy, slow and shat itself, should've bought the CB750F I actually liked but bought the Suzuki because I thought it would be more reliable.

[Sunny]

1985 E reg Kawasaki ZX400. My first bike, bought because I was obsessed with ZXR600s, but knew I should get something smaller first.
I was 21, and ZXR400s were pretty rare and out of my price range, when this 15 ish year old ZX400 turned up for sale in the local bargain pages for a whole £700.

It was the closest I was going to get, on what I could afford to spend, and it was a bit of a lemon, with a slow puncture in the front tyre, which I was not aware of for far too long, so it handled like a dog

I pretty much killed it after 11 months of ownership - poor thing limped to the 1 year finish line held together with cable ties and gaffer tape, at which point I promptly bought a Hornet, with my whole one years no-claims

What I should have done was bought a 125 or 250 and learnt to ride properly on something underpowered, with handlebars.
Clip-ons have never suited me.

Before:

IMG-20240321-WA0002.jpg (22.77 KiB) Viewed 823 times

After (at my first VD mem meet in 2003!):

IMG-20240321-WA0001.jpg (90.89 KiB) Viewed 823 times

[Nordboy]

My CB1300 in red and white. Loved the look of it and wanted one when they came out. Bought a barely used one, rode it a couple of times and hated it.
So I sold it within 6 months.

[Sadlonelygit]

1985 E reg Kawasaki ZX400. My first bike, bought because I was obsessed with ZXR600s, but knew I should get something smaller first.
I was 21, and ZXR400s were pretty rare and out of my price range, when this 15 ish year old ZX400 turned up for sale in the local bargain pages for a whole £700.

It was the closest I was going to get, on what I could afford to spend, and it was a bit of a lemon, with a slow puncture in the front tyre, which I was not aware of for far too long, so it handled like a dog

I pretty much killed it after 11 months of ownership - poor thing limped to the 1 year finish line held together with cable ties and gaffer tape, at which point I promptly bought a Hornet, with my whole one years no-claims

What I should have done was bought a 125 or 250 and learnt to ride properly on something underpowered, with handlebars.
Clip-ons have never suited me.

Before:
IMG-20240321-WA0002.jpg

After (at my first VD mem meet in 2003!):
IMG-20240321-WA0001.jpg

I was at that one!
I think I'm top left with back to camera in black textile jacket.
I remember SM was wandering around with no shoelaces in his boots, and yorick holding court inside the pub!

[Sunny]

After (at my first VD mem meet in 2003!):
IMG-20240321-WA0001.jpg

I was at that one!
I think I'm top left with back to camera in black textile jacket.
I remember SM was wandering around with no shoelaces in his boots, and yorick holding court inside the pub!

Photo by @Druid, who was my local VDer at the time, and kindly shepherded me there (not to mention taught me to adjust my chain etc!)