What is a Bike you Personally had great luck with

2009 KX450f. Best bike I have ever owned.

My Yamaha YZ250 2000 model, that bike just did everything right.

Red Ones...2, 3, 4 wheels, they just work.

'98 KX250. That bike was a beast.

I would say the 2 that stand out the most....

1987 CR125 - Thing was absolutely bulletproof. Raced and rode the shit out of it and maybe changed the oil twice a year. Air filter every few months. Didn't seem to matter what altitude we rode in, still ran like a champ and never left me stranded.

1999 YZ125 - Only did reeds and a pipe, but for some reason that motor was just fast. Smoked all my friends 125's at the time and just seemed to fit like a glove.

Although, in hindsight - going from a 87 CR125 to a 99 YZ125 is probably why the YZ felt so fast!

I had a '99 KTM 125 that I just rode the shit out of for about eight years. Damn thing just went and went went. Never a hassle and it was pinned (well, at least as well as I could, hahahha) the whole time. Biggest mistake I made was not putting an hour meter on it to see how much time it had on it. I loved that bike. *gets misty eyed*

05 yz250f, i always hated the forks and it was abit slow compared to the competition by the time i sold it (2012+ machines) but looking back i did hundreds of hours and the thing never broke, even when i crashed nothing ever broke or got bent!

unlike my yz250 2stroke..although to be fair the 2stroke was roached when i got it and the 4stroke was pretty much brand new / very low hours

1988 YZ 250 - low end like a tractor
1991 KTM 500 - my favorite KTM mint green seat!!
2001 YZ 250- still in my garage, 265 kit, wont die!!
2002 Honda 450- 1st year out, historical bro.

Really?! Mine was perfectly reliable too, but in the end I was convinced it wants to kill me. So many unexpected crashes..

2010 150SX. Never let me down. First piston at 50 h and a rebuild at 100 h. Sold it with over 120 h. Clean filters and good pre mix was all it needed..

1988 CR250 that my dad bought on a whim. I was riding an ‘88 RM at the time and never touched it again after riding the Honda.

2005 Kawasaki KX250 2 stroke. Magazines all said the suspension was bad and that it handled poorly but I loved it.. Near won a 250A enduro championship on it.

1999 kx 250 was a blast to ride and i won races on it. Good times on that bike.

2011 kxf 250. had a lot of fun and went to podium a lot of times. +160 hours when i sold it, never done a piston..

I loved my2000 cr250, when I first got my 2002 cr250 I couldn’t turn it and hated it...still had the 2000 at the time and was obviously faster on the older bike which pissed me off...after a few months the 2002 came good. I suspect it was because I was used to the flogged out suspension on the 2000 and liked it.

2006 YZ450F 200 hours on engine and only did valve checks.

'06 CRF450
'13 KX450

Both bikes had a very similar feel. Gobs of power, stone reliable.

Maybe I just have bad luck... but all I can share are bad luck stories!

I bought a 2003 YZ 125 used, with a 144 bore kit. I should have known I was in for trouble when the guy said. “Geese it’s been a while since I’ve ridden this, hasn’t been out since last week!” Got it home, first tank of gas, complete engine seizure. Then after a $2000 bill fixing that, it started fowling plugs every 1-2 hours, I had to start riding around with a wrench and fresh plug in my boot!

In 2007 bought a brand new RMZ 250, it must have been built on a Friday. After 30 hours it completely blew. Fortunately Suzuki paid for that one, but it still blew up once a year for the three years I owned it. The last time, I had it repaired and had just finished the break in when I got it back and the the thing completely seized again. My exes dad took it apart and found out that the mechanic who had worked on it had dropped a washer in the crank?

1987 CR125R - fantastic forks, handling, and engine! Turned novices into intermediates. There was no other match in the 125 class that year.

1996 CR250 - reliable, fast as stink, the culmination of that design. Holeshot machine.

2004 CRF450 with Ron Hamp full on engine mods and DLR Cycleworks suspension setup. Holeshots. Amazing machine.

1990 KX250. LOW END MONSTER and great suspension.

All the guys that change oil every ride and their piston every 15 hours reading this, be like:

2005, 2006, and 2007 YZ250Fs. I put about 200 hours on each of them. Clutch here and there, one top end each, tires, chains, sprockets, usually about 2 suspension rebuilds per bike. No issues whatsoever. I even didn't have the drain bolt on one tight enough, all the oil came out and it shut off in a turn. Tore it down and it was totally fine.

2014 Yamaha YZF 250 was unreal, had such a good year on that thing back in 14’. The engine picked up anywhere and was miles faster than any of the other bikes that year. Holeshots for days

Motor was so good.

Mine 07 KTM 250f. Bought that bike new that year , all new model. Murdered that thing but had 0 problems. Kept going forever.

One year later i bought the new 08 250f (same model but few little updates) , and had problem after problem

GASGAS EC125 94 lot of fun and reliable.

My '11 KTM 350SXF I have now has been great 150 hours before I ever had a problem. My '02 KTM 125SX was also a great bike. Crank blew out of that thing and it still ran. Sounded awful but it still ran.

KTM200 EXC

Does a 1976 Honda Z50a count? It was indestructible. I ran the transmission completely dry once (forgot to refill the oil after changing it!) and rode it to the back of the farm. On the way back it squealed like a pig, then locked up. I pushed it into the barn, filled the transmission with a couple cans of BG EPC and let it sit for a couple of days. (Remember EPC? "Extreme Pressure Concentrate", the stuff that'll make your big shift smooth but clutch plates slip like hell?

So then a few days later I went out to the barn and pushed the kick starter through the motion a few times. Then gave it a good kick. It started up! And would go into first gear! So I drained the EPC from the trans and refilled it with regular oil. And continued to beat the shit out of it until Dad decided I was too big for it and bought me a '78 RM80 which I raced regularly at the Austin night track.

1971 Honda trail 70w/clutch. Hey, don't laugh... you asked. If that's not what you're looking for then I guess every YZ 125 from latter 70s and early 80s I owned as well as the 87 CR 500 were all bikes that never let me down. There was the 1974 Yamaha MX 125 that while reliable.. would exhibit sudden full throttle syndrome at any time.
It's hard to pick just one with Jap bikes. They've got it down for the most part.