This is the counterpart to the “Most Fun Bikes We Have Owned” thread. After three pages of pleasant banter about the most fun bikes we’ve had, Forum members started to comment on the least exciting bikes they’ve owned. THAT topic deserves its own thread, right? I’ll start, obviously. The least exciting AND most crap bike I owned was a 1983 Suzuki 650 twin. I bought it new and it was my first bike so I had nothing to judge it against at the time. And it turned me on to motorbikes, so maybe it did it’s most important job. I sold it to my buddy Dan for $500 in 1986. It only had about 10,000 miles on it and had run fine for me but for him... it broke down almost immediately with some indeterminate clutch/flywheel/drivetrain problem that Dan spent the next few years fixing only to have it break again. You’re welcome, Dan And after I’d owned a few more bikes I realized that not only was the Suzuki absurdly fragile but it was a slow, poorly handling pig of a thing. It’s one good quality was that it fell over pretty well—I dropped it a few times without drama or damaging expensive parts. First bike after all Shoulda started with something like a Kawasaki GPz 550, which was a nice motorcycle and very popular at the time but wtf did I know?
The most crap bike I ever had was my first bike which was a Kawasaki KC100, which was knackered when I got it. Fortunately I only had it for a few weeks until I passed my test, and then I got a GPZ500S. The most boring bike I owned was a Yamaha XJ600, it performed ok for what it was, but just really really bland, and I still don't know why I didn't get a Suzuki Bandit instead
Without a doubt, my Tiger 955i. Normally wonderful, but total s***e if for any reason it won't go. Once it stopped me with a dead battery and a puncture at the same time. Immovable. Now that's really boring, particularly when it was on a main road. Try pushing a Girly with a flat tyre.
1976 Honda cb-750 super sport, boring beyond belief, heavy, slow. I thought it would be faster and more fun than the cb-400f SS. Nope.
1995 Yamaha Virago 750, the gutless wonder. Pretty much hated that thing the moment bought it. I’ve ridden 300cc bikes with more power than that pile. Only kept it for about 4-5 months. Sold it to my bro-in-law, his first bike, and he loved it so at least it served someone well.
I had a cb250t dream, certainly not very exciting but it always went, could carry a pillion and though not crap, it was uninspiring. I later had a 250n which I used as a town dr bike, again not exciting but did what it was meant to do.
GSX-F650. A Bandit with a full fairing. Did everything well but was so dull I almost hung up my boots completely. For the last year I owned it I hardly did any miles on it as I really could not be bothered to get it out of the garage. Chopped it in for my T100 and rekindled my riding mojo instantly!
Just seen this thread and quickly realised that I've owned some serious munters in the past and now quite embarrassed about them...(Puch M50 Sports (why Sports!!!), Honda 250G5, 250k4, XS650...….but the worst was an old CX500, ate cam chain tensioners, had no brakes, about as aerodynamic as a Transit van, wallowed like a hippo and was frequently overtaken by bikes under 250cc....sold the maggot to a guy in Oxford who...yep used it for couriering, I put the money towards a Montjuic!
My wife passed her test on one of them, it still sits in our garage. As you saud, it really is gutless and also uncomfortable to ride with forward footrest controls
Not owned one . but has to be a Honda Deauville. Sluggish as fuck and boring as fuck . I rode one once and was so glad to give it back . On bikes I owned cb250N i had two strokes before that , much more fun . You need big bore 4 strokes to be fun
Mrs BB loved hers, partly why we still have it, she never wanted anything bigger, but something similar and a bit faster would have been nice. We did toy with selling it a couple of years back as she has not ridden it for about 4 or 5 years, but we tried "we buy any bike", but they made an insultingly low offer so we told them to feck off, they then offered more but we thought screw you. It is on blocks, one day I might fix it again and flog it,needs mot, new battery and probably a carb clean
here is mrsBB with it, probably the last time she rode it, it is still in fairly good nick and still quite low milage, a bit less than 13,000 on a 56 plate
+1 for the KC100. Bought it brand new in 1981 for £500 and it developed a crankcase problem after 9 months. That was fixed under warranty (after 2 months in the dealers workshop) then it had a starting issue which was never really sorted. Traded it in for a Yamaha XS 250SE
How about a VanVan 125? Now wife had one and I used to borrow it for the work commute. Gutless, umm, you could rev it but it didnt achieve too much. My secret but dont tell anyone ok? Was to work out the traffic light timings, yes it was that inspiring on the road, sad yes but a very real advantage. A friend on a Versys 650 couldnt beat me and repeatedly seemed gob smacked as I arrived at work before or at the same time as him (he was a part time motorbike instructor so knew the bikes). Naturally all clouds have a silver lining but can still rain on your parade..... One day, luckily on my own, someone had changed the light timings and the waiting car aided the emergency stop nicely ..... although bending the forks was maybe not the best way of coming to a halt
A 1976 unit 750 Triumph the single carb version of the Bonnie it was in v/good condition and low milage. When I went to collect it from the dealers it blow the head gasket when started just a sign of things to come. Despite cleaning it and putting a spanner on evey nut and bolt every week I never managed to get out for a ride and back without some thing coming loose and falling(silencer, carb float bowl to name but 2) off the piece of crap got on first name terms with the local recovery driver got rid of the piece of crap after 6 weeks or so to the dealer straight swap back for my Honda CB900. I have always regreted not throwing it in the local canal.
I’ve had two - my first bike on the road was a KTM Comet Cross 50. It smoked like hell, lights were no better than candles and when I broke a piston ring I couldn’t get parts. I think Comerfords were the concessionaires but had to order parts from Austria. I then made the mistake of trading in a two year old RD250 for an XS250, I think I liked the colour, red and gold, it only took a signature on the HP form at Motorcycle City. What a disappointment, very smooth but so slow and barely got over 70. I did the same again and traded the XS250 for a Z900 1a, great bike until I got a speed wobble at 80 odd, wrote it off and spent 6 months off work. Speed wobbles on those I learnt later were not uncommon. Learnt a big lesson, HP is not a good idea, especially when you only have third party fire and theft insurance!
I really struggled to like a Kawasaki Versys 650 I once owned. I was after a ‘do it all’ bike on a budget and thought this would fit the bill. Test ride was ok but after owning the bike for a while, realised how dull the bike was. Suspension was brutal on any bumpy roads, really vibey once winding on a bit. Hit with an ugly stick too! I was bitten by the new bike bug but have learned my lesson!
