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

Shouldn't there also be a thread titled, "Bikes you have NOT sold and HAVE regretted"? :-P

That was Billy (Grover) up till a few months ago with his Beamer. BMW-Broke Man Walking.
 
Interesting reading! The more posts that appear, the more it seems one guy's junk is another guy's trophy. Also, all manufacturers are guilty of putting a turkey in the showroom now and then... Although some are great bikes intended for a different purpose. Then there are those that probably should have spent some more time in R & D before they hit the floors...
 
1st bike was a Honda VLX 600. It was a nice little around town cruiser that was totally wrong for me, but I was too new to riding to realized that while I liked the way cruisers looked, I wasn't going to like riding one. No wind protection, needed one more gear for comfortable highway cruising, and every bump was transmitted to my poor aching rear and lower back. I don't miss her even a little bit. Not her fault, but not the right bike for me.

2nd bike is a BMW K75RT. I still have it, but haven't written it much since my Wee Strom came home with me. I rode her again recently and find that the K75 is still the smoothest running bike I've ridden down the road, and the low center of gravity makes it feel much lighter than the wet weight would suggest. Only problem, the full fairing is close enough to my knees that it drove me nuts. Removing the lower half of the fairing made it better, but the corners of the upper fairing still stick into my knees and drive me nuts. That said, it was a great second "first" bike and was really forgiving when I would make beginner mistakes. She's never let me down so far, but Ive reluctantly come to the conclusion that while I love the K75 as a commuter bike I can't ride one in full RT trim. I can see myself getting an S model down the road, but rather than try and modify this one, I think it needs to go to someone who wants an RT. (As you can see I'm still in the reluctant to sell category on this one.)

3rd bike is my Wee Strom and I can't imagine at this point ever being happy selling it. It's a great bike that fits me great and is a blast to ride.
 
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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I have 36k miles on my '84 babycepter and haven't had any leak-related problems at all. My only whine is that the valve adjust intervals are every 6k miles (FSM says 8k, common practice is 6k). I bought the '01 to slow down the odometer on the '84. :giveup:

It's a man's bike, you'll be commanding (it to turn), begging (for more power), and praying (the brakes stop you soon enough) when you're on the perch of that little lady. :mrgreen:
 
It's a man's bike, you'll be commanding (it to turn), begging (for more power), and praying (the brakes stop you soon enough) when you're on the perch of that little lady. :mrgreen:

:rofl::rofl:
 
2006 Kawasaki Z750S. After a round trip to Huntsville from Tomball I was determined never to sit on that bike again, and that was after a corbin seat upgrade (downgrade.)
 
I have 36k miles on my '84 babycepter and haven't had any leak-related problems at all.

Just so you know, those old babyceptors are harder to kill that Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Mine had 54,000 miles on it when I sold it. It had been wrecked at least 4 times before I bought it. I crashed twice. It was completely submerged in a flood in nacogdoches in 2001. Two weeks later it ran with no problems for another 17,000 miles before I sold her. That bike wouldn't die. People who knew me when i had the bike still tell stories about it like it was some kind of miracle the thing still ran.

I hope my new bike is that resiliant but just a little easier to work on. :trust:
 
I've sold one bike, gave two away including one that I cut in half with a hacksaw in a juvenile attempt to make an offroad trike, and hauled another one to the scrap yard.

The one I sold was a '73 CB350 twin, paid $400 for it, had title issues, swore before the judge I acquired it legally, got a title, put $200 more into it, drove it about 1500 miles and sold it for $100.
 
I'm the third DL1000 on this thread so far...

LOVED the sound (Leo Vince pipes).
Very unstable at high speeds and in high winds.
Cursed the beast in windy Big Bend and in Hurricane Rita in Arkansas.
Not a machine made for my style of high speed touring.
It was fine around town, though.
 
Is that 3 digit high speeds or lower...

I was thinking of a DL1000 as a subsitiute if/when my GS dream is crushed...

I'd say at 90 and over things get interesting. :rider:

Unless it is crazy windy - then the pucker factor can hit at legal speeds and below...
 
79? Yamaha 650 special, hated that bike, was the first bike i bought for the street. had so many problems with it that the place i bought it let me trade it for another bike, the one I wish I never sold...VF1000F Honda Daddy-ceptor
 
1973 Honda Elsinore 250

Two serious trips to the hospital convinced me that MX was not my sport.

After that I have had 200k crash-free miles on the street. Maybe I learned something on that Elsinore, after all.
 
1973 Honda Elsinore 250

Two serious trips to the hospital convinced me that MX was not my sport.

After that I have had 200k crash-free miles on the street. Maybe I learned something on that Elsinore, after all.

You flushed it out of your system. :lol2:
 
bmw k1200ltc
Great to ride but a pig in the parking lot and mantaince was expensive.
40K in 2 years
 
Had a 78 250 Elsinore for my first dirtbike in 1996. Bought it for 250 bucks with a busted clutch cable but otherwise running. Replaced the shocks with a single unit from an 83 CR250, which worked GREAT btw, put some new tires on it, and rode it for almost a year. My cousin offered me 500 bucks one day for it, so I sold it! Haven't regretted it yet. I bet I could get it back from him, albeit in worse condition than when I sold it!
 
My 1951 Harley 125 hummer. Bad electrics (it would only charge at idle), rigid frame, the power of an anemic 50cc Japanese bike, but I was only 12, so it was plenty good at the time. It was pretty fast, old people could not begin to catch me so long as they were on foot. It had a 3 speed gearbox, so you never got confused either.

I think my KTM 495 fits the bill as well. Outrageous power and super suspension combined with brakes that wouldn't stop a Honda 50 going up hill. As I recall it was the last year for drum brakes. I finally decided that it had to go after another surprise near vertical downhill that I only managed to survive because of the supple suspension. The brakes were more advisory in nature than actual braking units. It was an open MX bike and maybe they figured that if you used the brakes you didn't deserve a KTM.

Pat McDonald
 
82 Virago
Thing would not keep running for over a tank of gas. Thought it was fuel problems, then eliminated all of that. Next out of desperation, worked on ignition, but all check out OK.

Bottom line, after about 9 months - adiós!
 
I didn't sell it, but I did total my 97 Suzuki Katana 600. I loved that bike so much and was sad when the insurance totaled it. I wound up picking up a 2000 Honda CBR 600 F4 to replace it and very much liked that bike.

A while later, a coworker picked up one of the old Kat 600's and asked me to ride it to see if I thought there was anything wrong since he was a noob and I'd owned one. Man, what a piece of crap that bike was by comparison to my new steed. I had missed that bike before, but as my friend rode off on his new bike I realized that I did not miss my old bike one bit.
 
79? Yamaha 650 special, hated that bike, was the first bike i bought for the street. had so many problems with it that the place i bought it let me trade it for another bike, the one I wish I never sold...VF1000F Honda Daddy-ceptor
Bought a 79 650 special in 80. Still sitting in the garage with 10200 miles on it. Sitting next to a 09 V-star 950 with 14000 miles on it. everytime I rode the 650 it would take 20 to 45 minutes to start it after killing the engine because I didn't know what the prime on the pitcock was for. One of these days I will get it running again.:giveup:
 
1975 Yamaha RD200. The gas tank on it rusted through and the reed valves were all ways sticking which killed top end speed.
 
The two bikes I borrowed for an extended swap that I could not wait to return was a Honda Pacific Coast 800 that had 120,000 miles on the odometer that felt very unstable and was leaking oil. The second was a Harley Sportster that was quite hot at traffic lights and had tremendous buffeting issues with it's large tombstone size windscreen.

<The best bike was a first generation FZ1 with a full Ohlin suspension properly setup for my weight.>
 
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