View Full Version : The worst bike ever made
What is it?
I'm not talking just the last few years, but at least after the war.
Or maybe a top 10 of most hopeless bikes.
Have to be road bikes, not racers.
MT
Top 10 ugliest?
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top_10_Ugliest_Motorcycles_Of_All_Time
Had to laugh at one entry:D
maultin
22-01-08, 09:33 PM
anything by OCC - lovely looking (if you like that sort of thing) but hideously impractical
Any CZ, XS250, late 70's early 80's Ducatis (Darmah etc), any Spanish built moped,
Pre-revolution harleys (basically, all of them except the v-rod derived stuff). More so if they've been customised to make them even more impractical than standard.
dizzyblonde
22-01-08, 09:56 PM
Top 10 ugliest?
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top_10_Ugliest_Motorcycles_Of_All_Time
Had to laugh at one entry:D
I gather that the person compiling this was a tractor fancier, the Buell is an improvement on the original Hardly dangerous machine:D
markmoto
22-01-08, 10:02 PM
Top 10 ugliest?
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top_10_Ugliest_Motorcycles_Of_All_Time
Had to laugh at one entry:D
Obviously written by an idiot!
Buell ugly!! never not in my eyes kick ass streetfighter
SV1000 UGLY WTF? ?
The honda rune and triumph rocket i like ok it might just be me im strange :D
Written by a Canuck who owns a "large capacity V-twin American motorcycle with a double barreled name", what do you expect?
Sid Squid
22-01-08, 10:40 PM
CZs weren't so bad, rather rough and ready it's true, but pretty much unbreakable as long as it got oil put in it. Even handled OK ish, (by the standards of 1975ish), as they're strong, slow though and brakes not great, but not significantly poorer than contemporary bikes
Yamaha XS250/400 - Particularly the 250 which is the very same bike as the sincerely overweight, wobbly, stodgy 400 but with even less power. Everything breaks and rots, no really - everything. Utterly dreadful.
Honda CB500 - No, not the one you're thinking of. This one made in the seventies. Knackered in no time engine fitted with 18 yards of piddly thin and stretchy camchain, ponderous handling, pathetic spindly forks, the worst brakes imaginable and slooooooowwww. Truly dire, and that's when it's spanking new.
More to come when I can face the thoughts of them.
dizzyblonde
22-01-08, 10:51 PM
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/qf/c/ModernMechanix/2-1936/lrg_speed_bike.jpg (http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/01/11/speed-bike-has-natural-airlines/)
well it did say bike....not motorcycle!!!
GastonJ
22-01-08, 11:01 PM
Have to add the MZ ETZ 250 and the Ural (Cossack) matters not which one, for the ugliest bike on the planet. Designed by blind for the blind.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k295/hovi5/zxzxzxzxz.jpg
Sid Squid
22-01-08, 11:33 PM
MZs aren't bad. Low tech and dated certainly, but not bad, very rugged.
Anyway, didn't this thread ask about bad bikes? Not just a list of bikes a given individual may or may not like.
Honda CB500 - No, not the one you're thinking of. This one made in the seventies. Knackered in no time engine fitted with 18 yards of piddly thin and stretchy camchain, ponderous handling, pathetic spindly forks, the worst brakes imaginable and slooooooowwww. Truly dire, and that's when it's spanking new.
I'd forgotten about the original CB500, reputed to have the longest camchain in history. I don't know how they managed to screw up what was a good bike (CB450 Back Bomber) and make the 500 so dire.
How about the Kawasaki Z750 Twin, and for sheer ugliness the Kawasaki EN454
http://www.classickawasaki.com/images/Z750.JPG
http://www.motorcycleminnesota.com/080104/22/image1.jpg
Have to add the MZ ETZ 250 and the Ural (Cossack) matters not which one, for the ugliest bike on the planet. Designed by blind for the blind.
Both are actually bloody good rugged bikes that will take a pounding and be easily repaired with basic tools and a complete lack of spare parts. Sure they're slow, basic and ponderous, but they're what I'd class as great bikes, not bad ones.
dizzyblonde
22-01-08, 11:46 PM
how about a Russian made Jupiter
how about a Russian made Jupiter
Dunno much about them. Mates have owned Urals (Urinals) and Dneprs for a laugh and loved them. One of my mates is taking his Dnepr to the Elefantentreffen Rally in a week or so, along with a motley collection of sh!teoldbikes (SOBs) including a CD200 Benly ridden by a 5' 0" tall girl.
dizzyblonde
22-01-08, 11:58 PM
they is fuggly! or how about a velocette scooter?
timwilky
23-01-08, 12:14 AM
Somebody has already beat me to the Cossack Ural. A bloke I worked with at Leyland was the president of their owners club and made me go to one of their meets.
So I nominate what I went to that on. Honda CX500
MZs aren't bad. Low tech and dated certainly, but not bad, very rugged.
Anyway, didn't this thread ask about bad bikes? Not just a list of bikes a given individual may or may not like.
Spot on! Things like MZs, CZs, Urals, Nevals etc were just very low spec - promised very little and so, in that sense, didn't disappoint. And could be fixed up with a Rizla, some chewing gum foil and a small button if they went wrong.
The BAD bikes to me were things that promised loads - and went wrong. Early Honda CB250s with rivetted wheels: heavy, slow, rusty, dreadful handling. First of the Kawa Z250 twins had a few crankshaft problems, and the early Honda V-4s had iffy engines too. Z200 cylinder heads...in fact, I can't remember many of that era that didn't have some sort of problem! Warranty claim day was always a long one.
But the make I just would NOT touch when I was in the trade was Moto Morini! I couldn't see anything redeeming about them at all.
GPZ 305, total utter poo.
plowsie
23-01-08, 09:57 AM
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k295/hovi5/zxzxzxzxz.jpg
SV650 Pointy
+1 :D :farao::smt109:smt077:rolleyes::cool::p:smt045
SV650 Pointy
I thought this was worst, not ugliest?
plowsie
23-01-08, 10:06 AM
Its both!
I'm seeing a pattern among the CBR riding fraternity, be careful of the backlash...
wyrdness
23-01-08, 10:44 AM
Somebody has already beat me to the Cossack Ural. A bloke I worked with at Leyland was the president of their owners club and made me go to one of their meets.
A mate of mine did a 'long way round' on one, from Russia to the US, IIRC.
wyntrblue
24-01-08, 11:19 AM
what about a BSA ariel 3
now theres a horrid bit of nastyness that should never have been inflicted on the world
Biker Biggles
24-01-08, 08:24 PM
Norton Navigator.Triumph Tiger Cub,BSA Starfire,Royal Enfield Continental GT(Five speed box.Only neutral worked)
All about as reliable as a Kings Cross ***** on a wet tuesday.So my Dad told me.;)
Spot on! Things like MZs, CZs, Urals, Nevals etc were just very low spec - promised very little and so, in that sense, didn't disappoint. And could be fixed up with a Rizla, some chewing gum foil and a small button if they went wrong.
The BAD bikes to me were things that promised loads - and went wrong. Early Honda CB250s with rivetted wheels: heavy, slow, rusty, dreadful handling. First of the Kawa Z250 twins had a few crankshaft problems, and the early Honda V-4s had iffy engines too. Z200 cylinder heads...in fact, I can't remember many of that era that didn't have some sort of problem! Warranty claim day was always a long one.
That's what I was aiming for - MZs etc were designed to be simple basic transport that was easily maintained and cheap to run, which they mostly achieved. I'm looking for those bikes that should have been great, but somehow ended up truly awful. Think exploding engines & gearboxes, astonishing consumable use, sluglike performance, space hopper handling, examples of design madness and instarot chassis and bodywork.
But the make I just would NOT touch when I was in the trade was Moto Morini! I couldn't see anything redeeming about them at all.
Well, the early 3 1/2 sport had a lovely little engine, light weight and good handling for the age. OK the electrics were 70s italian suspect, but it wasn't that bad.
There could also be a prized for the most amusing or inappropriate name for a bike - The Suzuki LS650 Savage is the one to beat, a bike that is anything but.
MT
GastonJ
24-01-08, 10:04 PM
In that case the Suzuki GT500 - sit at lights pull the clutch in and wait while the oil pump stops. The oil pump was run from the clutch gear, nastiness in itself.
Gentlemen, I give you the horror that was (for there are probably no running ones left) the Honda CB250 G5.
In its short lifespan this model managed to accumulate a total of 23 camchain tensioner modifications, none of which worked. For each modification a centre punch mark was added next to the engine number. I recall seeing one that had 21 centre punch marks, and it rattled like marbles in a tin can... it had less than 10,000 miles on the clock.
On top of its disgustingly slow, unreliable and gutless engine, it didn't handle and had abysmal brakes. The 250 Dream that followed it was a pile of gopping tut, but it was light years better than the G5.
Quite how Honda managed to make such a pig's ear of the successor to the wonderful CB250 K4 is beyond me.
northwind
25-01-08, 12:22 AM
The Buell Blast was pretty horrendous for a modern bike... Not as bad as many that went before, but then all the mistakes that made it rubbish had been made before so there was no excuse. :smt021
Steelman
25-01-08, 12:22 AM
In that case the Suzuki GT500 - sit at lights pull the clutch in and wait while the oil pump stops. The oil pump was run from the clutch gear, nastiness in itself.
Heh heh... I used to have a T500; smoked like a chimney but good fun if the oil flowed correctly :rolleyes:
Most of the worst bikes have already been mentioned, but I would gladly nominate the worst car that had a bike sized engine (600cc) - I give you the slowest cage ever, the 2CV ;)
My displeasure with them stems from having changed an engine 3 times and each one had the big end go :mad: Junked it in the end :takeabow:
Heh heh... I used to have a T500; smoked like a chimney but good fun if the oil flowed correctly :rolleyes:
Most of the worst bikes have already been mentioned, but I would gladly nominate the worst car that had a bike sized engine (600cc) - I give you the slowest cage ever, the 2CV ;)
My displeasure with them stems from having changed an engine 3 times and each one had the big end go :mad: Junked it in the end :takeabow:
I borrowed an air-cooled Honda 600 car thing from my uncle once. One of these and the same colour too:
http://www.motorbase.com/uploads/2006/06/13/fs_frontcomp.jpg
The engine looked like a CB500 lump, and I mean the early 70s pile of snot CB500, not the modern one, it was so sloooow. The gearchange was a laugh, engaging reverse gear meant I scraped my knuckles on the floor because the lever moved so far. It fried the main fuseable link in its electrics on a trip from Trowbridge to Bedford and I completed the 12 miles from Milton Keynes to my mum's gaff with a set of jump leads running from a spare battery down by my feet, out of the driver's window and under the bonnet to the car's battery, and the bonnet was bungeed down to stop it flying up. Once at my mum's I soldered a thick piece of copper in where the link had been and drove it back to Trowbridge. It never played up again.
timwilky
25-01-08, 01:16 AM
I cannot believe that as a kid, unlike my mates I would letch after a Munch Mammoth when my mates would instinctively reach towards crotch at the mention of commandos, rocket 3, tritons and even bonnies. Now a douglas/rudge/vincent/ajs/ would be guaranteed to generate 5 minutes of sticky passion in them. For me it was always the unobtainable Munch Mammoth.
Looking at them today. Boy were they ugly.
Apologies for dredging back to the beginning of this thread (did not see it before) but that list of ugly bikes, they are just embarrassing themselves. Buell = Beautiful. MotoSelect in Farnham had a Honda Rune at their open day and it was fantastic I still have photos of it in my phone I think.
And that comment on the SV could someone please explain how you are supposed to see more of the engine than you can on an SV (excluding Ducatis that have spilt their guts all over the road).
As for the SV650 in White is that an official 2008 colour? I think that's fantastic that Suzuki are keeping up with fashion following the 848.
northwind
25-01-08, 01:52 PM
And that comment on the SV could someone please explain how you are supposed to see more of the engine than you can on an SV
The photo he used for the article had the chin fairing on. That's the optional chin fairing for the hard of thinking ;)
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