revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Dont think we have done this one before on here anyway

What is the worst bike you have owned?

It can be for its looks, its handling, its reliability or just a complete disappointment in every way

For me it was a Yamaha XS400SE i bought as a "first over 125cc road legal" bike. I had been riding without a license for a while then finally decided to pass my test and a local very small bike shop had this XS400 in the window for a few hundred quid and it was immaculate. I didnt have a license so bought it without a test ride and rode it home into the garage and threw some covers and crap over it so my mum didnt notice it.

Passed my test a few weeks later and off i went as a bike courier using the XS. Within a couple of months realised it wasnt all i hoped it would be as it needed to be revved to get anywhere, had bugger all power, shit single front disc brakes and was just blander than bland. I had a 250 Superdream a few years later that was more fun to ride in all honesty.

The XS got binned to the back of the garage in favour of an RD250LC for weekends and a BMW R80 for work. Long story short i needed to use the XS on a long distance pick up from Birmingham but on the way down holed a piston on the M6 at Lancaster so i missed the job. got the bike back by train and had it rebuilt. 2 weeks late it holed the other piston

Left courier work to join the RAF and had to sell 2 bikes and keep 1 so advertised the XS and LC. Sods law a buyer wanted the BMW instead and the LC went so i kept the XS and used it to travel between training bases but kept breaking down with all sorts of issues. Finally sold it to a breakers in Nottingham when i was stationed at RAF Newton.

Fucking hated that bike

CB900 in 1988. What a load of shite. Never revved passed about 7k and was a bastard to start in a morning. I reckon I went to work as often on my YPVS race bike as I did on the Honda

Hmmm zx6 r, a1p model. It was the beginning of the end for me with sportsbikes and killed off the passion just by being so damn dull to ride.
Bought it cheap, sold it quickly.

BSA Starfire. Made when the British tried to keep up with the Japanese bikes coming into the UK. Overstressed, overtuned and ancient engine. Massively heavy frame.

Never had a terrible bike, just a few disappointments.

I sold a tourer... Honda Varadero and a commuter... Honda NCX700, to buy a bike that would do both just as well.

Only it didn't. It felt a bit bland, didn't really handle. Wasn't as cheap to commute on and wasn't comfortable as a two up tourer.

Lots of people like them, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have... 2014 Triumph Tiger 800XC.

I've only had one bike properly let me down... A Suzuki RG250 MK3 Gamma, cost me £250 and seized solid in the fast lane of the M18 at 90mph.

I've enjoyed every bike I've owned in some way.

KTM 640 LC4. Everyone told me it was twice the bike my Rotax engined CCM R30 was. They were wrong. Very wrong. The engine had no redeeming features. It vibrated worse than any motorised vehicle i've ever ridden or driven. Clutch bearing of doom with KTM laughing at any proposed warranty claims. Rust on spokes, spoke nipples, mirrors etc. Sub 2k miles and even the clutch cable snapped. Horrible, horrible bike.

Hmmm, tricky, probably 1979 GSX750ET, it shared most of it's cycle parts with the GSX1100, it was under powered and over weight, handled nicely though, it had a nasty habit of the sump plug coming undone whilst going along - it died after a good thrashing at Santa Pod, the two centre big ends have up. It has to be said though that my GT185 is a close second, bought a pair of them for £65, are one okay one out of the two, but it never handled very well, had terrible brakes and used to hole pistons when the float heights used to change by themselves - feck knows how'd it did this, but it did it at random times, sometimes it would go weeks, sometimes days between holes pistons. I must have spent more on pistons than the bike cost me.

Gilera Runner 200cc 4 stroke.
I bought it from Devon and ride it back to london, slow and no fun at all. Hated it. Absolute rubbish. Nothing like the 180 2 smoke with a few bits I had and it was chalk and cheese.

As for a real bike, 2008 Yamaha R6, I thought it was going to be the same as the 2006 I had, but it was a lot more ass up chin down race for me, never felt comfortable on it, did a track day as well, had it 4-6 months and swapped it for the triple. Best move I ever made

F reg transalp. Boring and costs me a load, including the two ecu's. Cbx 750 was nowt but trouble, but probably the Buell Ulysses was the biggest heap of shit I have ever owned, stranded more than once.
But if I could have one back now, it would probably be the Buell Ulysses. It was the most 'challenging' bike I have ever owned. Try and make sense out of that.

GSXR1000 K1. Fast, sounded glorious BUT I just never gelled with it. Kwackers and my R6 I could happily roundabout surf and wear out knee sliders , KTM 640 would scrap the pegs and have me giggling like a three year jumping in puddles but the Gixxer I was never really comfortable on. It just never felt right when cornering.

Biggest disappointment for me was my GPz1100. Despite lusting after one for ages, when I could finally afford one I never really gelled with it- it always felt long and cumbersome, and the power delivery didn’t feel as exciting as I’d hoped. Changed back to a CB900F (at that time I’d had a couple previously) and immediately felt back at home.

Nidge wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 7:19 am Biggest disappointment for me was my GPz1100.

Standard they feel like a big touring bike, the handling is worse than the GSX1100 or CB900 that were available at the same time, the Unitrak engine is a little more powerful than the GSX engine, but the older B1/B2 are less powerful than the GSX.
The electrics are hideously over complicated, not the fuel injection, which is actually pretty simple, but all the safety cut outs and the other complications.

SRX 400-Grey Bike had me sold on one but it was shite and worn out - My hamfisted spannering didn't help either

Nidge wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 7:19 am Biggest disappointment for me was my GPz1100.

I had a few 80s kwaks in the 90s. The best was a z1100r lawson rep. I also had the 1100 unitrak but it didn't have the same charisma although it handled better.

A couple of years ago, after lusting from afar, I bought a ZRX1200R in Lawson green but it was awful. probably better in very respect than the earlier bike but post-fireblade or post-R1 or even post-1200 bandit, it felt bland, heavy, agricultural.

Not had any terrible bikes.

My TZR250 was a bit of a shed. I did fork seals (without a clue), then it blew up on the way to Boxhill then the oil pump went etc. But I loved that bike as it was my first proper bike.

My Firestorm wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I wanted either. I had an idea in my head what it'd be like and shortly after I got it I realised it wasn't that bike. Still kept it 6 years as at the time I'd just had kids and bikes were a low priority. Still meant when I did swap it was for a brand new 690 so it served a purpose.

Not sure tbh.

My first road bike was a Suzuki GP100. Fun bike to ride but utterly useless for it's primary purpose: passing the test. Mainly because it wouldn't run under 6K revs and we never got around to fixing it.

Worst to ride was the Yamaha YB100, the suspension was so soft you got sea-sick. But it was reliable enough to pass the test.

Most unreliable was probably the Ducati TL600, a good rain storm would kill the front cylinder, but when running right it was glorious.

My worst was a Triumph Tiger like this one:


Bought while drunk on ebay. I thought it would be a nice upgrade from my XT600E but it was so heavy and vague. Also jumped out of gear mid corner to keep you on your toes.
Luckily it was stolen.

bevvo wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:39 am
Luckily it was stolen.

Of course it was

lostboy wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:40 am

bevvo wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:39 am
Luckily it was stolen.

Of course it was

No, really. It was recovered later that day on a housing estate where some kids had crashed and abandoned it. Probably couldn't lift it once it was over on it's side.

bevvo wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:39 am My worst was a Triumph Tiger like this one:


Bought while drunk on ebay. I thought it would be a nice upgrade from my XT600E but it was so heavy and vague. Also jumped out of gear mid corner to keep you on your toes.
Luckily it was stolen.

That's actually the only Triumph Tiger I like the look of. The next model was (IIRC) the one that looked 'bug-eyed' and then they went all angular. I like the simplicity of the big twin round lens lights.