Crap Bikes

It was the only accommodation I could find at the time, wandering about on the moors lost, just like Heathcliffe in Wuthering heights but pushing a Triumph Daytona.

 

Crap bikes?


My career started on a new 1973 Yamaha DS7. The bike was a flawed gem......the Bridgestone tyres were lethal, especially in the wet. Hard, waxy plastic they were suited to temperatures in the high 70s and not UK climes. In the wet there was a Van der Graaf generator going off under the tank. Metal plug caps lapped up the rain! Avon tyres and Lucas caps cured each Achilles heel and I did 25,000 miles with one seizure - entirely my fault - 3 miles short of my planned fuel/oil stop at Tebay.

Yamaha DT250MX huge fun - did masses of green laning and commuted into London.

Honda C70 (oh the shame!)

Honda CX500 b-o-r-i-n-g but it just worked. It did have an alarming tendency to fall into corners with an odd, high c of g.

Ossa 250. A hoot. Crude but effective but sh1t alloy castings and broke the rear brake back plate dropping off a sandy bank. Swapped it for a new colour portable tv. Fool!!!

Germany. Army. Tax free! BMW R100RS with every available extra including self levelling suspension. Rode all over Europe and mechanically never missed a beat but it was the first with lights on all the time and my commute to work was just too short to replace the starting charge and dry the exhausts so flat battery and premature baffle rot. It needed a slightly beefier battery and stainless pipes.

Kids! SWMBO said 'lose the bike' so a lean period with stolen excursions on Canam, Armstrong (ridden in the Iraqi desert and snows of a Bosnian winter. Brilliant but a bit lardy!) Maico, Pan European. The Maico was another killer on soft sand but scarily fast

2nd Childhood. Nostalgia bites. T100 fits the bill. Exceeds expectations and almost feels like a reincarnation of the 1982 BMW without the transverve shake and shimmy on a swift change down. As forgotten skills return keeps thinking a Street Triple would be nice......I could always tell her it has a smaller engine and I am downsizing.......


Crap bikes? A tautology (contradictory!)

 

Actually, it's an oxymoron. A tautology is saying the same thing in different words, (Pedant mode off.... )

 

Worst bike I had was a Yamaha DT 80 and a Vespa 150 both bike's tryed to kill me at least twice . looking back now maybe it was because I was younger and had no fear
Ops meant to say had no idea of how to ride them.
Tucker

 

Only had two bikes that ever broke down on me. 1975 Suzuki GT250. Piston decided to let go due to ring flutter, too much red lining? Then my trusty 1973 T120. Rode that thing back & forwards from uni to Dorset every weekend in all weathers. Eventually head lifted. Local place on Greenwich renewed gasket, skimmed-head. Bloody thing went like a rocket for about 150 miles. Burnt hole in piston. They skimmed so much offhead but used std gasket. Not bikes fault. Have been v lucky with the other 12

 

This is going to be popular.
Triumph Sprint 955

From brand new
Brakes needed bleeding once a month
Oil leak from sump
Would go into a tank slapper without warning from time to time.

Triumph would only sort out the oil leak
Had it three months and got shot of it.

 

You're right (....so popular)
Had one from new for about 8 years / 40,000mls, gearbox was a bit agricultural and suspension didn't cope too well when loaded up with pillion and luggage but got me round Europe every year without a single problem (oh I did get a flat battery once leaving park lights on over night).
Admittedly when I traded up to a new 1050 in '08 it was a big improvement.

 

Yup, got a mate who bought one a few years later and still has it now.
I can only assume mine was a Friday afternoon 'special'....

 

Nice base for a hipster/cafe racer though.
You can even google "cx500" and it suggests "cafe racer" to complete the search criteria!

 

That’s the luxury model, it’s got a fairing!! Mine was basic but saw me through a winter of london despatch riding with no problems! I thought it handled well too! Maybe two wrongs can make a right! I.e. bad rider bad bike makes a good combination

 

Careful you’re talking @steve lovatt here, I don’t think he can grow a beard!!

 

I tried once and looked like I'd spent a week sleeping rough! More "scruffy homeless biker" than "Hipster cafe racer"
(The CX500 will be progressed this weekend if my mate can get his welding act together)

 

Was that turbo logo in reverse so the fast car drivers in front had an idea the the bike that just couldn’t quite overtake you then was in fact an ‘impressive superbike’ and as you wouldn’t be able to see it in full in front of you??

 

i liked the cx650 eurosport still remember my old mate bought one for about £200 yrs ago non runner guy was clueless,he gave it to scotburn motorcycles in paisley turned out the fuel lines were on wrong way what a buy thst was bargain

 

I've been pretty lucky really, had so many but little trouble, had a kettle chain break that broke the casing behind the sprocket, Araldite'd the jigsaw parts together again and px'd it on quick for some thing or other, (would not sell it privately, dealers could support the next poor sod better than me!), and many years later an ex-plod BMW 800RT that the carbs would not stay balanced and the starter ring was phuqued so sold that on to a bloke in Shetland that loved it to pieces, he re-built it.

 

I used to work in a bike shop in Rochford, being near London there were quite a few riders using the trust stead of a CX500 for couriering , we used to service a lot, biggest problem was the water pump seal leaking and water getting into the alternator and big end shells slipping on crank shaft, all easy jobs to rectify, and pretty unbustable, especially with shaft drive, they used to rack up the miles!

 

Suzi TS 185 twinshock, the electrics were a nightmare! Alternator only pushed out enough for a dim headlamp OR brake light not both, so I tried not to use the brakes when riding after dark. Jolly fun, what?

CZ250 Custom purchased it 6 months old for next door to nothing. 6 volt electrics, dismal lights, worse than dismal brakes and Barum ( Teflon) tyres. Had to de-coke it every 6 weeks or so. But it was tough as old boots and always started no matter how cold and damp it got. I still miss it strangely.

 

I had the CZ's cousin, I bought 2 MZ 250's and built one good one, went bloody miles on it, never let me down, it (they) had Barum tyres too, I found the o,k. though especially as I had 4 to use.

 

Honda 160 twin, it was just worn out... a good twenty quids worth, plus a tenner for a slightly dodgy backstreet MoT, in the end it just conked out and I scrapped it.