Your LEAST reliable bike?

[Kris]

Ok I'll start..

1989 ZXR750 H1

Bought as my first big bike (33bhp restricted honest guv ) from a guy in the Midlands who had it as an 'almost finished' project..
Got it home in a van with a mate ,and rode it for a few days until it began to (predictably) break down. A lot. It sounded good, looked nice, but would cut out randomly and fail to restart for about 10 minutes. It meant every journey comprised of a 'fag break' which would have been great if I was a smoker.. I remember a particularly fraught experience on Maidstone Bridge at rush hour..

Anyway, finally took it to a friendly mechanic who lost patience with it and left it for 3 months.. He said the brakes were seized, engine had been 'messed' with and the electrics were a mess...

Sold it unceremoniously to a gumtreer for half what I paid. Total shite.


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NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[doggone]

Kawasaki VN750, only had it a year.
To be fair it was getting on a bit bought from a friend and first owner was Alan Turner (forget his real name) in Emmerdale.
Electrics the main problem on salty UK roads.
Next owner made it into a half decent flat tracker style custom it is still on the road somewhere

[pepperami]

Oh yer! That’s easy, as mentioned in another thread.
For me it was the pig shite Yamaha XS250’s.

As I said, I had three XS’s and they were all crap.
I’m not stupid and I know how to follow a workshop manual.
I have had bikes for many years and understand regular maintenance.
I’ve always treated my bikes with mechanical sympathy.

However, none of my XS’s were reliable and many times I’d have to use the car instead
Trolling down the road happily , only for it to suddenly cut out on one cylinder was a regular occurrence.
Even my CZ125 was better for reliability than my XS250 / 400’s
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[MarJay]

My Kawasaki KE100 never really ran properly.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[redeem ouzzer]

I'll excuse my YR5 despite it having had the engine out 3 times this year, it's tuned and in a constant state of development but did take me on holiday to the IOM last year without a single hitch.

My Bandit 400 VVT wasn't good. It fouled plugs due to running rich which left me stuck at work (then 40 miles from home) on a couple of occasions. It then tried to burn me alive on a Sainsbury's filling station forecourt when a couple of floats stuck while i was filling it up. I eventually sent it to a local workshop / dyno who sorted most of the carb issues out (this predates me having access to ultrasonic baths etc). It ran ok for a good few months but i had decided i didn't really like it so flogged it to someone who rode it back to St Albans from Hull with no issue, then a few weeks later started complaining it was running like a pile of shit and he was going to take me to court. It wouldn't even leave me in peace after i sold it...
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Be a REAL MAN!

[winz]

This is moreso to do with previous owners...

My 2001 Fireblade, bought sight unseen from the north. Broke down on my first ride out to in Somerset, charging system was gone, no problem, replaced that on the Blackbird. Got that sorted. Wiring was an absolute mess.

Month or two later went out to Wells, bike wouldn't start, turns out a spark was arcing to the fuel tank, garage out there got that sorted.

Took it for a service and checkup before trip to France, bloke said it was an absolute dog, not even worth replacing the oil in there. Too many bodges for it to be worth the price of looking it over.

Live and learn to buy super cheap bikes without looking at it.
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Current Bikes: BMW K1200S
Previous: Honda CBR929RR, Honda CBR1100XX, Honda CB600F

[Nobby the Bastard]

The eggcup Valdes.

I still cry about blowing the second engine in my two year ownership.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[martin734]

[Polarbear]

I'll lift this straight out of the most reliable thread......

My Suzuki GT500 was the most unreliable heap of shit I ever owned. Bought brand new it broke down shortly after i picked it up. Turned out the kill switch was shorting out.

I hated that bike with every ounce of my being. I hated it so much I never bought another Suzuki until 30 ish years later when I bought a Busa (which was fabulous). Maybe partly because I expected a larger version of a Yammy RD or a Kwak KH but it never seemed to run right even when it decided to give me a break and go.

I came back from sea after a 6 month trip and couldn't get it started whatever I did so I did the most sensible think I could have done and went out a bought a Z650C3.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[P.]

Bandit 400, no contest.

[stinkwheel]

350 powervalve. A mass if intermittent electrical faults combined with a peaky as hell engine.

Was great fun if it started and I had enough money to put fuel in it.

Probably had more breakdowns on my Jawa 350s but they were much easier to fix so it was overall more reliable in that it usually got me where I was going.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Sister Sledge]

[wr6133]

Yamaha V75a. Given to me a couple of years ago by a friend. Everytime I get it working something else breaks (40 years old and mostly original). I'm considering turning it in to a table.

[ThatDippyTwat]

Derbi Mulhacen Cafe 125.

Pushed that far enough and often enough that I said sod fixing it, and flogged it.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[chickenstrip]

[redeem ouzzer]

It's odd cause i've had a YPVS and never had an issue and i've been exposed to many many others which havn't had issues either....
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Be a REAL MAN!

[pepperami]

Ah well! Now back in the day.
As a bunch of lads we all wanted 350 Powervalves.

A couple of the lads managed to get them.
They did have a few issues and ended up not coming out with the group from time to time.

I bought a bog standard RD 250lc (no valves) and had no issues with it .
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[stinkwheel]

[chickenstrip]

[Fisty]

Yamaha Thundercat.

It was a one owner unmolested bike, but every fucking electrical connection was rotten. Then the rad went, then the alarm that had been fitted by Yamaha randomly killed the bike as you were riding it.

A wheel cracked and leaked air. and it never ran right.

The only bike I have ever been pleased with being stolen.
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[RhynoCZ]

[Undinist]

Suzuki GSX250. The regulator-rectifier would die. Soon after I replaced it the battery would die, having been mortally wounded by the dying regulator-rectifier. Or the alternator would die, probably for the same reason. Maybe the bike would have become reliable if I'd replaced all 3 things at the same time. But I was a broke despatch rider. I hated that bike so much. Should never have bought it. But I thought the styling of the tank and side panels was very cool. Should have got a CB250RS like everyone else.

[Courier265]

I had an original CB250 nighthawk in petrol blue, sadly it was a piece of
shit, every other week I was replacing something. Finally the gearbox
went so it was scrapped. The previous owners must of thrashed the
bollocks off it.
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CBF500 - 2 x Inazuma 250

[Robby]

Honda VFR400 NC24. What a total piece of shit that bike was.

And the VFR750 RC24. That took a lot of work to get reliable, then was wholly underwhelming to ride.

In fact, most of the Hondas that I've owned have been unreliable enough to not trust. Certainly not bikes I would ride more than 5 miles without breakdown cover.

[Undinist]

I had that same version of the VFR. What a boring bike. I never could understand what people liked about them. It put me right off buying an RC30, back when they were affordable.