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Whats the crappest bike you've ever owned and why?

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Laverda Dave:
My nemises was a Matchless 250CSR. It was ex-plod but the tank had been changed for a full chrome version. It was slow, vibrated like an SDS hammer drill, drank more oil than petrol (at least it made my John Brown Wheels leather boots completely waterproof). Bloody thing was so unreliable all the time. It broke down on the way to work at least once a week. When I took my motorcycle test on it the examiner said 'You intend to take your test on THAT, is it roadworthy'. The big end knocking eventually got so bad it was unrideable. The crank pin on the CSR was the same as in a G50 racer and was beyond my budget (and mechanical means at 17 to fix). I bought a ratty CB200 for £200 to replace it. I eventually sold it for £50 years later when I left home and had nowhere to put it.

Rozabikes Tim:

--- Quote from: Oddjob on April 09, 2020, 05:10:10 PM ---Mine was bright yellow, couldn't tell you what yellow as I just thought of it as custard vomited up. Tells you a lot when your willing to drop 200cc just to get more performance. No eleccy start, no guts, no handling, no brakes. I bought it because it was dirt cheap and now I know why, even the scrap man would pass it by.

--- End quote ---
Why were they so bad? We're they not a dressed up G5 which were not brilliant but not as bad surely?

davefirestorm:
I always say a brand new CZ175 I bought and kept for one year and 1000 miles was my worst bike but it was realy another brand new bike I bought a 1976 Triumph T140V Bonneville it was a nasty unreliable thing but being patriotic lol. I keep quiet about it😂😂I currently have a 3 year old Suzuki Burgman which has had quite a few issues Suzuki have been reluctant to sort on the 3 year warranty and the build quality or lack of it is shocking I’ve named it the BOSS ( bag of shite Suzuki 😡😡)

SumpMagnet:
Now....this was a no brainer for me.

I have owned some bikes that were worn out, damaged or suffering from neglect, but I don;t think it's fair to call them crappy because of that. A KH250 with a bent frame and knackered gear selectors....or an X7 with failing main bearings. Or a Z650 with ovalled out headstock....all things that ruined perfectly good machines which could/should have been fixed.

No....The award from me goes to the Yamaha MT07 I bought after my much loved SV1000 got wiped out by an idiot in the work car-park.

It was 4 years old with just 3000 miles on the clock. One owner. The engine was the trusty 660 lump I had had in previous bikes with no issues, only this was in a more road orientated chassis with better wheels and brakes. Should have been a great town bike. I owned it for 4 years and hated EVERY MINUTE after the first week or so to get used to it.

The tail bulbs kept blowing...and you couldn;t remove the light lense to swap the bulb...it was done from the other side which required dismantling about 5 nested brackets.
The thing had an underseat exhaust...so the rear light wires were routed under the mudguard. With connectors down there too. Mickey Mouse silly pinned brittle plastic things corroded to hell. So the rear light/brake light worked only when it was dry.
The brackets worked loose and the numberplate would fall off.... chafing the plastic bolts...or cracking the plate if you used metal.
The battery was under the tank and a nightmare to get to.
The oil tank ( dry sump motor) was low down at the front and would get covered in grit and dirt..so you had to clean it off to check the level
The seat had to be unbolted to get at anything ( including the tank rear mount.... ) and the base was plastic with no metal inserts to stop it getting chewed if overtightened. Both split on mine...
Then...finally...before I sold it...it destroyed the regulator and rectifier. And the battery. Which as it was laid almost flat...had to be overly expensive gel types.

Japanese reliability??? sure.... but the clocks bore the words 'Magnetti Marelli' .... yes. Assembled in Italy and all the electrics were sourced locally.

It also had clips and sticking out bits everywhere, so every time I cleaned it...I ended up bleeding! It never seemed to look clean even when I cleaned it.

But that was not the most hateful thing. No.

The gear ratios were stupid. First gear was so low you couldn't pull away from traffic lights and not need second before you got across the junction. The gaps in the ratios were odd, and if you tried gearing up a bit, it wouldnt pull top and had to nail it in every gear before changing up. So for most of it's life with me it had only 4 useable gears and a top speed around 80mph.....

Nasty thing.

It should have been a perfect town bike ...but Yamaha managed to ruin every bit of it  and make it feel like a home brewed special lashed up in a shed somewhere.

AshimotoK0:
Have to say C200 90cc . Even though it was my 1st bike, cheap and mega reliable,  the girls at school laughed when I arrived on it and one of them remarked "Where's the engine Ash" Left a deep scar that one. Never had the desire to get one again although I have got an S90 project.

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