What was the worst bike you have ever owned

[Beancounter]

My second mkII TDM850. 1998 'S' reg with 24,500 miles on the clock that I bought in 2000 for £1,500. It had full service history, full Givi luggage, Scottoiler, alarm and looked in decent condition.

This being my second TDM850 I was well acquainted with the foibles of the wet weather mis-fire and the high fuel consumption. New emulsion tubes from Factory Pro sorted out the fuel consumption and some self-amalgamating tape around the plug caps/HT leads shold have sorted out the mis-fire but didn't. This fault alone left me stranded a number of times - once on a TRC weekender in Wales, once on the M8 just outside Edinburgh on my way home to London and once at Oxford services on my way to a TRC camping weekend. This was eventually traced to a loose connection on one of the ignition coils under the tank.

The lower mount for the shock sheared off at 30k miles. Replaced the shock with a Hagon but it never handled that well so I went to a track evening at Brands Hatch to try to learn in safe conditions. Bike bounced everywhere and I came home early. The following weekend Maceccht was changing my fork oil and springs and found there was no oil in the right hand leg at all (no hint of a leak either).

One of the exhaust valves burned out shortly after the shock mount incident.

The alarm packed in. The fuel pump (vacuum) packed in but not before dumping several litres of fuel over my friends new tarmac drive.

It wouldn't start in the cold despite having a fully charged or new battery. The choke didn't work.

Ironically, it was at its most reliable when the exhaust valve burned out. A neighbour of Maceccht's gave me £600 for it in 2014 when I was quite prepared to let it go for free. Of course, that wasn't the end of it, aforementioned neighbour never used the bike and in 2019 decided to sell it but it ended back in Maceccht's shed needing new brake calipers and carbs stripping/cleaned.

[The Spin Doctor]

I've never actually owned a bike I really hated. Most of them were carefully considered purchases, particularly once I was using them for work. I could always find some redeeming features, even for the old XJ600.

But the worst bike I ever rode was the SRZ660 single. I always have been fond of single pot bikes and the XT660 was a pretty fun machine. So the idea of one in a TZR250 chassis - another bike I really liked - had a lot going for it.

In the event the bike was a disaster. The gearing simply didn't work on the road, the front brake caused the forks to twist, the chassis transmitted the vibes, the headlights were awful, and the finish was truly appalling.

Second worst? My brother's old CB550-FK. I had a 400F at the time so was expecting more of the same. It turned out to be an overweight wallowing hippo of a bike that wobbled in a straight line and didn't want to corner either.

[Nobby]

But the worst bike I ever rode was the SRZ660 single. I always have been fond of single pot bikes and the XT660 was a pretty fun machine. So the idea of one in a TZR250 chassis - another bike I really liked - had a lot going for it.

In the event the bike was a disaster. The gearing simply didn't work on the road, the front brake caused the forks to twist, the chassis transmitted the vibes, the headlights were awful, and the finish was truly appalling.

That's interesting. I'm in "discussions " about trading one of my bikes for an Srz. I may have to give it a bit more of a thought.

[cheb]

Like many others I've not really had a truly dreadful bike, most of any unreliabilities have been my fault. Two that stand out, but in a Dutch mountaineering champion way, are a KX250 that I could never get to run well. It was my first proper performance 2T so that might explain it. The second was the Guzzi Lemanish which I just didn't fit. Glorious engine and handling, but the wrong shape.

[Bigjawa]

3rd and final CBR1000F, on a q plate, full luggage and a V&H 4-1, wouldn't rev beyond 6k with the baffle I, then when it was out it was peaky as fuck., Needed new tyres which it got and then the fucker nearly spat me off at 100+ Put it up for sale that night and some eejit gave me what it stood me, then I saw it covered in stickers and LED lights a while later. Turned up for sale this year on Gumtree for 3 times what I paid for it with substantially reduced mileage on the clocks.

The 60k CBR I had before was a much better bike in every way.

[v8-powered]

Difficult one for me as despite owning a lot of bikes they've all served a purpose...

Probably put the NT700 Deauville in the mix despite being a great commuter for most.
I disliked the gearing, 1st seemed too short but 2nd too long - would often shunt or stall trying to roll-on the gas in 2nd gear, too vibey and very slow.

[KungFooBob]

would often shunt or stall trying to roll-on the gas in 2nd gear

That was the fake NGK plug caps that Honda used. They needed replacing with proper NGK caps. The Honda ones broke down when the engine got hot.

Did it on my 700 Alp with the same motor.

[v8-powered]

would often shunt or stall trying to roll-on the gas in 2nd gear

That was the fake NGK plug caps that Honda used. They needed replacing with proper NGK caps. The Honda ones broke down when the engine got hot.

Did it on my 700 Alp with the same motor.

I did absolutely everything to that bike to make it ride better including the latest NGK plug caps. Just couldn't get on with it....

[The Spin Doctor]

That's interesting. I'm in "discussions " about trading one of my bikes for an Srz. I may have to give it a bit more of a thought.

Give it a ride. Roger Tuson (of the Riders Digest) absolutely loved his!

[The Spin Doctor]

Difficult one for me as despite owning a lot of bikes they've all served a purpose...

Probably put the NT700 Deauville in the mix despite being a great commuter for most.
I disliked the gearing, 1st seemed too short but 2nd too long - would often shunt or stall trying to roll-on the gas in 2nd gear, too vibey and very slow.

The solution to that was not the plug caps in my experience, but high quality iridium plugs. My XBR also did the stall on roll-on thing. I dropped it once, turning right across a gap in a stream of traffic coming the other way - one bang from the engine (just enough to get it moving) then a pop as it stalled and stopped dead.

[porter_jamie]

cbx550. inboard disks.arrrrrgh

[Bigyin]

But the worst bike I ever rode was the SRZ660 single. I always have been fond of single pot bikes and the XT660 was a pretty fun machine. So the idea of one in a TZR250 chassis - another bike I really liked - had a lot going for it.

In the event the bike was a disaster. The gearing simply didn't work on the road, the front brake caused the forks to twist, the chassis transmitted the vibes, the headlights were awful, and the finish was truly appalling.

That's interesting. I'm in "discussions " about trading one of my bikes for an Srz. I may have to give it a bit more of a thought.

There is a bloke with an assorted bike collection that come into my work every now and again. Last couple of time he was on a Srz. He liked the way it rode but his one was a bit of a bastard to start. He reckoned it either caught first kick or he collapsed with exhaustion if it didnt as no matter what he tried it wouldnt catch if it failed on first go

[KungFooBob]

There is a bloke with an assorted bike collection that come into my work every now and again. Last couple of time he was on a Srz. He liked the way it rode but his one was a bit of a bastard to start. He reckoned it either caught first kick or he collapsed with exhaustion if it didnt as no matter what he tried it wouldnt catch if it failed on first go

You might be thinking SRX, the SZR has a leccy boot.

Probably because I don't think Spin know which is which either as he called the SZR, SRZ

[Bigyin]

You might be thinking SRX, the SZR has a leccy boot.

Probably because I don't think Spin know which is which either as he called the SZR, SRZ

Just looked at images and yup you are right, its an SRX

[asmethurst99]

You might be thinking SRX, the SZR has a leccy boot.

Probably because I don't think Spin know which is which either as he called the SZR, SRZ

Just looked at images and yup you are right, its an SRX

My one had a valve lifter type thing and if the cable broke than it could be hard to start (I think so ....it's 25 years ago)
Walking back from Whitechapel today I was idly thinking about getting a Goose ...

[KungFooBob]

I was idly thinking about getting a Goose ...

They're quite cheap these days, but I think all the bits to tune the DR350 motor are getting thin on the ground... they're also tiny.

Back when I was 17 (in 1995) I had £2800 to buy a bike

I really really wanted a 250 Hornet. Went to look at one at Transit Motorcycles in York, it was £3200 and he wouldn't shift. He did have a Goose and a 400 Bros.

I took me two hours to decide, I bought the Bros, it only had 500km on the clock.

[Trogladyte]

CB250G5. Bought it to do my test on, and it managed that OK. But it was slow, heavy and underpowered. The fact that I had a zero-maintenance approach in my teens probably didn't help much. The cam seized on the A303 in Sparkford. My Dad got it recovered and it sat in his garage in Taunton for ages, as I had lost interest. He sold it to some poor sap for parts eventually.

[bevvo]

CB250G5. Bought it to do my test on, and it managed that OK. But it was slow, heavy and underpowered. The fact that I had a zero-maintenance approach in my teens probably didn't help much. The cam seized on the A303 in Sparkford. My Dad got it recovered and it sat in his garage in Taunton for ages, as I had lost interest. He sold it to some poor sap for parts eventually.

Did you pop in for the haynes manual while you were there?

[Claude]

Hmm. The zxr750 was certainly the most fucked. Painted yellow bent frame and every bracket was bolloxed. Spent a fortune at D&K getting replacement parts including the frame.
The zxr400 was probably the most disappointing. I knew nothing about cans etc when I bought it and was expecting big boy noise. It didn’t have it and as I remember the engine wasn’t particularly exciting. It did look better then the bandit 400 it replaced though.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I test rode a ZXR400 before I bought a GSXR400, I was disappointed with the ZXR, from what I'd read in the press I was expecting a bike with a 140mph top speed and an amazing front end where I could feel exactly what the front tyre was doing, what I rode was a bike with a flat engine that maybe if you revved it hard enough and long enough it might have scraped 140, but 135 was more realistic, and the handling was a bit meh, nothing special, the GSXR was just as fast, handled better and was more comfortable (that should probably be less uncomfortable)