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Bikes you've sold and HAVE NOT regretted...

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J

jvano

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Joined
May 29, 2007
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Location
Baytown, TX
First Name
Jonathan
Last Name
VanOmmeren
I was reading through the other nostalgia thread going right now and had this interesting thought. Just like the title says: What bikes have you sold and were glad to see the taillight disappear? A bike that just never ran right? A bike with terrible brakes or suspension? A bike that held fluids like a sieve? I've only owned two bikes ever, so I'm not much help in this one. For those of you who trade bikes like baseball cards, let's see where this one goes...
 
My 1962(?) BSA Dandy! My first set of motorized wheels but what a machine. 2-speeds -slow and not quite so slow, accessed through a pre-selector on the left grip. Select the gear then pull in the clutch and let go. Replaced it with a BSA C15 - much better!
 
What about bikeRS that's I've not been sad to see the tail lights for? :trust:
 
Squeaky said:
What about bikeRS that's I've not been sad to see the tail lights for? :trust:
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86 Suzuki GS550L - constant carborator issues, never did run right for very long and no one would touch it.
 
DL1000

:duck::duck::duck:


Once we got past the lust stage, she and I just could not get along; she even tried to kill/seriously hurt me twice, so we divorced in less than 6 weeks :-P

I still have some lust for her strong legs, but she just wasn't the "complete package" like my one true love :lol2:
 
Way too sporty in the ergos department:
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I really wanted a Harley and this was a mistake:
LC1500Intruder.jpg
 
Not that there was anything wrong with these bikes....

'04 Yamaha Star Warrior... my feet would fly off the forward mounted pegs at around 75.

'04 Yamaha FJR... a truly marvelous bike, it had it all. Do not ride this bike unless you have incredible will power (I don't).

'05 Ducati Multistrada (620).... Another bike that will amaze you in spite of its smallish size... sold it before the $750 - $1000 maintenence at 6K miles.

Total time of ownership of ALL three bikes ... about 6 months.

... BUT FOR SHEER MISERY.... A GENUINE TOAD!!! ... '03 BMW R1150R!!!!!!

When I reentered motorcycling after a 25 year interruption, I bought this thing brand new cuz I thought BMW had a good reputation. Here is a bike that was so uncomfortable, the longest I could stay in the saddle was 60 miles! I had spent over $500 trying to at least make it bearable. The seat was incredibly hard and "humped" and the foot pegs high enough to put my heels 4" from my butt. You couldn't even lift yourself up on them to move around on the saddle. The tranny had a huge jump from second to third gear that was always a surprise when negotiating slower turns. It always made me wonder if anybody at the manufacturing center even test road this abomination. To this day, I can't even look at another BMW without being reminded of that horrible experience.
 
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1980 or so Suzuki GS750. It was a nightmare of mechanical trouble.

I was happy I got what I did for home 1988 Honda Hurricane 1000...the cam chain tensioner was going bad for the 2nd time, and the entire 1st engine ate itself for no good reason. Honda was good to me on the engine and gave me the new parts. The cam chain was warrantied the first time...wasn't going to be the 2nd time. Traded it off on my first ZX11...and the new owner destroyed the Hurricane hitting a dear on the highway. The dude was a college defensive lineman, and never went down, but the impact tore up all the plastic, wrecked the front end and bent the frame.
 
1982 YZ-125... first year for water cooled. Yamaha had the bright idea to mount the radiators on the forks, between the upper and lower clamps. Coolant passed through the steering head on the way in and out. Those poor seals were just not up to the task, and leaks washed the grease out of the lower bearings a few times.

Couple that with two trips through the transmission in one racing season..... lets just say it was not my favorite machine. I was happy to see it see it go, even if its departure marked the start of a hiatus from bikes for a few years of being 'responsible'.
 
No offense to any Honda owners, but the VF500F was my first bike and a mechanics nightmare. A $2 seal caused me to remove the engine and crack the case. On most bikes its a ten minute fix. This is only one of the many examples that made me want to toss that bike off a cliff.

I hated twisting wrenches on that bike so much I refuse to ever buy a honda ever again. I do kind of miss everyone teasing me about the 80's red, white, and blue paint. You can never hear enough Top Gun Jokes. Hey Maverick, where's Goose? :doh:

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1999 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. Had more stuff break and spent more time in shop in 3 years and 30K miles, then my 1992 1500 Goldwing did in 7 years/80K miles.
I found out the hard way that H-D means "hundred dollar".:giveup:
Marty
 
1971 sportster, was a good bike till I "chopped it. 6" in the front legs 19" front wheel. custom paint and more chrome than I wanted to polish. Didn't handle for squat, and ride for a weekend , polish for a week. No more, I hate chrome
 
i thought i wanted a cruising bike for a while so we bought a 2007 suzuki m50. it was a great bike, ran great and almost zero maintenance. the problem was i could only ride the bike for an hour or so and just had to get off for a while. my wife couldnt even make it that far. i was happy to sell it to get my triumph!! much more better.
 
Both of mine were Beemers. Maybe I was spoiled, my first two BMW's (both bought new) were K75's and gave excellent service. I was left on the side of the road once with a K75, but the quick fix was simple and the permanant fix took just a few minutes. That was the only problem in 92K of riding them.

My '93 R100RT and '93 K1100RS weren't as reliable, but I did buy both used with 30K and 15K respectively.

The RT had the rear clutch splines disintegrate at 36K, left me stranded on I20, at midnight. Totally rusted out is what the mechanic told me, most likely stored near a salt water environment was his opinion :shrug:. $$$ to fix it. Sold to someone in Ohio

The RS had to have the clutch and all the other clutch parts replaced at 31K. The shop told me the adjustment nut was screwed all the way in, this from the last owner. I'd always kept the clutch properly adjusted at the lever. Never thought check at the actuating arm (which rarely needs adjustment), so I take some blame for that. Again ponied up the $$$ to fix that. A month later the ABS went south, front modulator failed. $1,900 for a new one (of two) :eek2: Exactly one year later the fuel pump went out (34K). Kept it for 2+ more years (w/o ABS) and it now resides in California with it's new owner.

I'm not soured on Beemers, a nice Airhead would still get my attention (no more Bricks). I hate that I had to pass up two I really wanted. A low mileage '74 R75/6 and an '84 R100RS. But I'll stick to my Bandit and Sprint for now.
 
:headbang:79 Sporty

It had its moments, but when it backfired so hard on the freeway it blew the carb off that was pretty much the end of our relationship.
 
2002 Buell M2 Cyclone.....what a piece of junk.....Stalling, leaking, smoking, shaking, rattling, overheating, vibrating piece of crap.

Should have know better....!!!!!
 
alancb said:
:headbang:79 Sporty

It had its moments, but when it backfired so hard on the freeway it blew the carb off that was pretty much the end of our relationship.
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I actually spit a little of my beer on monitor laughing at the image of you jettisoning your carb at freeway speeds.


I had a 1981 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim. From everything I've read they can be great bikes. Mine, however, was not. Of course, this could have been a combination of an old, badly maintained bike and it being my first bike and having no idea what I was doing with those carbs. I about fell over when I realized that a 4 cylinder bike had 4 carbs. (I'm telling you, I was new). Messed with it for almost a year. Sold it and 2 other bikes that I was "going to rebuild" and used the profits to buy my Nighthawk.
 
Suzuki GSX1100G. Miserable bike with an identity crisis. Didn't like it much before I found out it needed a new front end, as the it had been wrecked and then the title "washed" out of state to get rid of the salvage title.

Traded it even up for an EU3000, both Langley and I both thought we were getting the best end of the deal...
 
Didn't hate the bike, but when I was ready to sell my '83 Suzuki GS1100ES I spent some money to get the front end right, put it up for sale, then it disappeared out of the apartment parking lot. State Farm gave me more for it than I was asking on the sale, thanks to help from the Suzuki dealer inflating the value when they called. They had just made a lot of money fixing the front end.
 
2002 Wasakaki Concours. I used it to mix and transport concrete but other than that it was a loud, top-heavy and vibraty beast. Even with a 142 Ton crane, it was difficult to get on the center stand:

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