What bikes are just not fun?

[Horse]

A mid-80s BMW R45 - a gutless, insipid, sack of shit. 30hp meets 450lbs of Teutonic twattery. that handled like a plate of sick.

I went to Europe with a couple of other riders.

Not only did one have an R45, it had a full-size RT fairing and high bars.

It struggled to move, let alone do autoroute speeds

[mangocrazy]

A mid-80s BMW R45 - a gutless, insipid, sack of shit. 30hp meets 450lbs of Teutonic twattery. that handled like a plate of sick.

I went to Europe with a couple of other riders.

Not only did one have an R45, it had a full-size RT fairing and high bars.

It struggled to move, let alone do autoroute speeds

I hated it with a passion. There was no front end feel at all and it couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Mopeds thrashed it at the traffic lights GP.

[The Spin Doctor]

Honda cb400/4 - no brakes, no grunt, no mid-range no top-end rush

WITCH... burn him!

[Horse]

Honda cb400/4 - no brakes, no grunt, no mid-range no top-end rush

WITCH... burn him!

I wasn't sure

.


Or
.

[Ditchfinder]

Honda cb400/4 - no brakes, no grunt, no mid-range no top-end rush

WITCH... burn him!

They might look pretty but that don't make it fun

[ZRX61]

Z250 twin....absolute fucking turd. Worst bike Kaw ever made.

[Ditchfinder]

Z250 twin....absolute fucking turd. Worst bike Kaw ever made.

Closely followed by the GPz305

[Rockburner]

Z250 twin....absolute fucking turd. Worst bike Kaw ever made.

Closely followed by the GPz305

Ah - now - there I have to disagree.

True the 305 didn't have a lot of life in it (reputedly about 45,000 miles before terminal issues), but they could be a lot of fun, for a low-powered thrasher. They handled fine (once the forks were pushed up through the yokes about an inch or more).

(longish story)
Heading for the IoM once year (Manx iirc), a mate of my brother joined us on a GPz 250 (iirc), which promptly dropped it's chain about 25 miles into the 250 mile journey to the ferry. We left the bike at a car-mechanics, and piled all his luggage on top of all MY luggage on my ZXR400, and I hoiked him back to the family pile to pull my Mum's old GPz305 out of the shed (she was doing the trip on a Zephyr (Mirth 1) irrc). So - This kid is dropped onto the 305 with a weeks worth of luggage, and him and me hit the motorway... 100+ all the way from High Wycombe to (iirc) Keithley services where, somehow, we actually met up with the rest of the group.
For the rest of the week matey kept up, just, with our tomfoolery with no issues (bear in mind I was on a ZXR400, and Rev Fred was on an RGV250)

So - despite their issues, I have a begrudging respect for the GPz305.

[Ditchfinder]

So - despite their issues, I have a begrudging respect for the GPz305.

I once got it to a ton but it felt stupidly unstable from 70 upwards, dropping the forks through never occurred to me as a callow youth but may have sorted out the very vague front end.

The brakes were very good but massively overpowered the damping in the forks to the point they bottommed out in the event of an emergency stop.

[Bigjawa]

XJ600N Heavy, gutless, drank fuel, a two wheel cure for insomnia.

Revere/NTV650 The epitome of "Honda"

ZZR400. A ZXR400 engine in a full size (and weight) sports tourer. Lots of revs, lots of noise, fuck all fun.

[Dodgy69]

It's not the bike...it's the rider.

[Yorick]

Here's a thing. On the road my 200 gee gees are an ample sufficiency.

But on track it feels shite and I want 50 more. The straights feel slow despite what the speedo shows.

[wull]

Here's a thing. On the road my 200 gee gees are an ample sufficiency.

But on track it feels shite and I want 50 more. The straights feel slow despite what the speedo shows.

Sufficient for what? I’m calling you out on this one, I’ve seen the pics you post, you ride like an old granny on the road so enough of the absolute BS

As the post above it’s the rider not the bike so your “200 gees gees” are more than enough for ripping the arse out of it on track, jeez, what the fuck is “gees gees” anyway

[Rockburner]

Here's a thing. On the road my 200 gee gees are an ample sufficiency.

But on track it feels shite and I want 50 more. The straights feel slow despite what the speedo shows.

Horses for courses, i bet the 60-ish in your off-roader feel meagre on the tarmac, but plenty fine on the dirt.

[Dickyboy]

I'm going with BMW f800gt - seems like it would do everything I'd want from a workhorse & be utterly dull, which is why I might get one as a second bike

[Count Steer]

I'm going with BMW f800gt - seems like it would do everything I'd want from a workhorse & be utterly dull, which is why I might get one as a second bike

Oddly enuff, the bike I disliked ^^^^ was an F800 variant. Dull fits although the ABS was so bad (as in kept interfering where it wasn't wanted) added a bit of on occasion.

[Rockburner]

I'm going with BMW f800gt - seems like it would do everything I'd want from a workhorse & be utterly dull, which is why I might get one as a second bike

Oddly enuff, the bike I disliked ^^^^ was an F800 variant. Dull fits although the ABS was so bad (as in kept interfering where it wasn't wanted) added a bit of on occasion.

I'm glad it's not just me....

I (felt like) I damned near was going to crash on an F800S, at the bottom of the hill down from Newlands Corner to Shere. There is (was?) a set of ripples in the tarmax approaching that staggered crossroads and I hit it with the brakes lightly on (just retarding speed a bit). Because the forks bounced on the ripples the ABS kicked in and it felt like the brakes had completely fallen off the bike.

[Count Steer]

I'm going with BMW f800gt - seems like it would do everything I'd want from a workhorse & be utterly dull, which is why I might get one as a second bike

Oddly enuff, the bike I disliked ^^^^ was an F800 variant. Dull fits although the ABS was so bad (as in kept interfering where it wasn't wanted) added a bit of on occasion.

I'm glad it's not just me....

I (felt like) I damned near was going to crash on an F800S, at the bottom of the hill down from Newlands Corner to Shere. There is (was?) a set of ripples in the tarmax approaching that staggered crossroads and I hit it with the brakes lightly on (just retarding speed a bit). Because the forks bounced on the ripples the ABS kicked in and it felt like the brakes had completely fallen off the bike.

My worst one was 2-up, coming out of the top car park at the Weald and Downland. Sharp left and steep, controlling it on the front brake (probably should've been rear but you get out of the habit ). ABS decided to kick in which resulted in an impromptu off-road session and a near head on into a tree.

(Never had a moments bother with the ABS on the 1150, it was totally predictable. Same with the R12 and K12s. I often wondered why some owners got in a bit of a tizzy about ABS - if theirs was like the F800 I quite understand!).

[Rockburner]

Oddly enuff, the bike I disliked ^^^^ was an F800 variant. Dull fits although the ABS was so bad (as in kept interfering where it wasn't wanted) added a bit of on occasion.

I'm glad it's not just me....

I (felt like) I damned near was going to crash on an F800S, at the bottom of the hill down from Newlands Corner to Shere. There is (was?) a set of ripples in the tarmax approaching that staggered crossroads and I hit it with the brakes lightly on (just retarding speed a bit). Because the forks bounced on the ripples the ABS kicked in and it felt like the brakes had completely fallen off the bike.

My worst one was 2-up, coming out of the top car park at the Weald and Downland. Sharp left and steep, controlling it on the front brake (probably should've been rear but you get out of the habit ). ABS decided to kick in which resulted in an impromptu off-road session and a near head on into a tree.

(Never had a moments bother with the ABS on the 1150, it was totally predictable. Same with the R12 and K12s. I often wondered why some owners got in a bit of a tizzy about ABS - if theirs was like the F800 I quite understand!).

That gen of ABS simply didn't work with soft sprung forks.

[Count Steer]

That gen of ABS simply didn't work with soft sprung forks.

Yeah. Serves me right for buying a bike with boingy forks (and a funny oily chain thingy where the shaft drive should be ).