The worst bike you've ever owned

burn1986
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bossier city, LA, USA
burn1986 11/2/2022 12:55pm
11/2/2022 12:55pm
83 YZ125
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DUCati227
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Sutherlin, OR, USA
DUCati227 11/2/2022 1:03pm
11/2/2022 1:03pm
DUCati227 wrote:
1997 CR250... absolutely horrible. Engine was a beast! The rest of the bike was the Devil.
sandman768 wrote:
Here’s me on my new 97… the engine had great mid range & top end, I rode a lot of sand tracks, if you had a...
Here’s me on my new 97… the engine had great mid range & top end, I rode a lot of sand tracks, if you had a berm to hit, it was ok… flat turns brought out the big push from the front end… we used to call it the exercise machine…the frame just transmitted every jolt & bump right to your body…
You are 100% correct in your description.

I was thrown off during one of those front end pushes. Ended up with a burst fracture of my L1 with major nerve damage. The same vertebra that was compressed previously by one of those hard jolts you mentioned. That bike cost me so much in so many ways. I will NEVER forgive Honda for putting that thing on the market.
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Talisker
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Houston, TX, USA
Talisker 11/2/2022 1:36pm
11/2/2022 1:36pm
None..... and i owned a 98 CR250, a 00 RM250, and a 02 CR250. Those 3 bikes are regarded by most as three of the worst. Bikes are like women..... even if they are bat shit crazy... the pxxxy is still good!!!!
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MotoCosmo
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Bishop, CA, USA
MotoCosmo 11/2/2022 1:45pm
11/2/2022 1:45pm
I bought a 2020 SSR170 during the Covid armageddon. Do not recommend...
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The Shop

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viking174
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Huntington Beach, CA, USA
viking174 11/2/2022 1:51pm
11/2/2022 1:51pm
2010 yzf 450. Front end push was real… handled like an army tank.
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c0ncEpT
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Harrison Twp., MI, USA
c0ncEpT 11/2/2022 1:54pm
11/2/2022 1:54pm
R VanKamp77 wrote:
2022 GasGas MC350. Best on paper/theory, moneypit IRL.
toddw12 wrote:
Really? I've been a die hard Yamaha guy but rode a mc350 this past weekend and I'll be selling the 450 asap.
I feel the same way as VanKamp.

16 YZ250F to 18 350SXF. The Yamaha is a way better bike out of the box. Better suspension, better handling (IMO), more predictable chassis, Ect.

The Yamaha just instilled confidence in you. The KTM did not.
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1
Joey_Bridges
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Kingston, TN, USA
Joey_Bridges 11/2/2022 2:00pm
11/2/2022 2:00pm
Forty wrote:
1974 HD XLH Sportster E start only, but if you didn't fire it in the first 2 or 3 attempts it was a bump start situation...
1974 HD XLH Sportster

E start only, but if you didn't fire it in the first 2 or 3 attempts it was a bump start situation.

4 speed/right side shifter/brakes sucked/everything leaked/ above 60 mph the parts would fly off, mirrors would start spinning, it was like riding an accident, but it looked cool, and sounded cool.

I had a naked woman painted on the tank with custom pin stripes on the sides and then the fuel tank seam let go on the bottom left side and ruined the paint,

I've never had a bad dirt bike - all of them were fun as hell.

My 2000 yz426 was a bitch to start if I stalled it but that was usually my fault, otherwise it was a ripper.
sandman768 wrote:
Was that the AMF years?
Yes.
Had the same bike.
P.O.S.
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R VanKamp77
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Portland, TN, USA
R VanKamp77 11/2/2022 2:04pm
11/2/2022 2:04pm
R VanKamp77 wrote:
2022 GasGas MC350. Best on paper/theory, moneypit IRL.
toddw12 wrote:
Really? I've been a die hard Yamaha guy but rode a mc350 this past weekend and I'll be selling the 450 asap.
c0ncEpT wrote:
I feel the same way as VanKamp. 16 YZ250F to 18 350SXF. The Yamaha is a way better bike out of the box. Better suspension, better...
I feel the same way as VanKamp.

16 YZ250F to 18 350SXF. The Yamaha is a way better bike out of the box. Better suspension, better handling (IMO), more predictable chassis, Ect.

The Yamaha just instilled confidence in you. The KTM did not.
Confidence is the ultimate attribute a bike can give. Maybe tied with 'predictable' which the Yamahas are also best at.
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Caseclosed713 11/2/2022 2:14pm
11/2/2022 2:14pm Edited Date/Time 11/2/2022 2:17pm
I had a Yamaha RT100 as a kid, and it was a fine play bike. But, I started getting into mx and hitting jumps with it. I found out really quick that 3 inches of suspension travel doesn't absorb the impact of casing a double very well.
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Chance1216
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Chance1216 11/2/2022 2:19pm
11/2/2022 2:19pm
94 KX 250. Motor mounts constantly broke. Frame cracked. Bought a new frame. Less then a month later I had two more busted motor mounts. Great motor but, the frames were made out of bamboo.
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Baton Rouge 11/2/2022 2:21pm
11/2/2022 2:21pm
Well for me it is my 125 yz 1992 ! what a turtle it was and not reliable at all ! Same goes for my 250 kx 2000 !

Also, not a bad bike, but i didn't gel with my 350 2020, after all the 350 praising i heard i went for it but regret it (at the end i am more a 125/250 type of rider)

711stretch
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711, PA, USA
711stretch 11/2/2022 2:25pm
11/2/2022 2:25pm
1988 KTM 250 MX

hit like a wounded, weak kitten
2
Richy
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Richy 11/2/2022 2:27pm
11/2/2022 2:27pm
1991 YZ 125, in 1999 or there abouts. Was still really happy to have a bike and get to ride though.

Also had a TS 125 and an MTX 125 for brief periods as play bikes. Power like a moped and insanely soft suspension, but I guess that was kind of the point of them so I can't hold it against them. I actually enjoyed the Suzuki, for what it was.

Tried my dad's DRZ 400 when I was 15 and usually rode a CR 125, thought it was going to be a rocket, but quickly realised that was not the case.
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reded301
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KC, KS, USA
reded301 11/2/2022 2:43pm
11/2/2022 2:43pm
2014 KTM 250SX. Fuck that thing.
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GoggleFiend904 11/2/2022 2:44pm
11/2/2022 2:44pm
Probably my 14 250sx. My 04 cr250 is much better in every way
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NobleSteed
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Knoxville, TN, USA
NobleSteed 11/2/2022 2:45pm
11/2/2022 2:45pm
Either my 1999 CR125 or 2011 YZ450. Both Handled terribly. Yamaha was fast but everything else sucked. The CR overall sucked. I think Matt Walker even posted about having to use nitrous on one of those bike around that time.
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mx965
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Nashville, TN, USA
mx965 11/2/2022 2:48pm
11/2/2022 2:48pm
Worst brand new bike I've had was a 2k15 KTM 450sxf. Suspension was god awful. Had FC revalve it twice in the first 15 hours I had it and it was never right. Fucked with the clickers constantly to try to get it right.

Also, if you power washed it between motos and got anywhere near the air box it wouldn't start or would stall constantly. It was a badass looking bike at the time with all the parts on it and Estart was sick to have back then.
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Pit Row

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AgentOrange 11/2/2022 2:53pm
11/2/2022 2:53pm
reded301 wrote:
2014 KTM 250SX. Fuck that thing.
I'll vote third on this bike. Had same bike as well, sold it to a friend and rode it again a few weeks ago. What a pile! Vibrates, harsh feeling, didn't want to turn. Love my 20 350 XCF.
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madmaxperformance 11/2/2022 3:11pm
11/2/2022 3:11pm
ATKpilot99 wrote:
Sorry for the negative topic but thought it'd be interesting to hear some stories . Mine was a 2003 KTM 250 SX . I bought it...
Sorry for the negative topic but thought it'd be interesting to hear some stories .
Mine was a 2003 KTM 250 SX . I bought it new thinking I'd race it . Took it out for some practice days and racing never happened. Sketchy handling , harsh suspension, and a violent powerband . It also had hand numbing vibration .
An overall crude feel . The only positive was it was very light . Maybe some people learned how to set it up but I wasn't one of them .
Had the same bike. Talk about disappointment. What a pile that thing was. Unridable.
AztecLoc
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AztecLoc 11/2/2022 3:23pm
11/2/2022 3:23pm
2003 CRF450. Sold that thing as quick as I could!
1
Falcon
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Menifee, CA, USA
Falcon 11/2/2022 3:27pm
11/2/2022 3:27pm
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
2003 YZ250F bogging heavy up high feel lost a few races sitting on the side of the track. Trying to restart it and it hated starting...
2003 YZ250F bogging heavy up high feel lost a few races sitting on the side of the track. Trying to restart it and it hated starting hot. Last and only 4 stroke I've owned. It was gone within 9 months.
I say my 2004 YZ250F, for all the same reasons. It took 10 kicks to get it started when cold. There was no amount of praying, incantations, or carburetor adjustments that would make it work any better. 1st and only 4-stroke I've ever owned as well. Never again.
2
KurtJ99
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USA
KurtJ99 11/2/2022 3:27pm
11/2/2022 3:27pm
1988 Honda CR250. First of the "lowboy" gas tank design and lower pipe. Headshake for days, anytime, anywhere for any reason. Took alot of fork valving and giant torque on the steering stem to manage it.
I rode it brand new at Sandhill Ranch and then my buddies 1988 KX250 and couldn't believe the difference.
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themrtoad
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SE
themrtoad 11/2/2022 3:34pm
11/2/2022 3:34pm
Bought a new Honda Cr125 1998. Awful bike in every single way
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Zoom
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Zoom 11/2/2022 3:36pm
11/2/2022 3:36pm
1981 Honda CR250R by a landslide! First year watercooled and single shocked for Honda. Broke a lot and was heavy. Honda did their homework and follow up with a much improved 82 and 83 models.
6
philG
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philG 11/2/2022 3:46pm
11/2/2022 3:46pm
1988 CR250

Forks and shock felt they were off different bikes, bogged off jumps, the only bike i ever had to spend money on to get it even raceable.


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Cygrace74
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Westport, MA, USA
Cygrace74 11/2/2022 4:03pm
11/2/2022 4:03pm
2013 KTM 450. Motor mount bolts which are still a problem on ktm to this day. Lower shock bolt coming out and cutting my linkage in half which is still a problem to this day. Ktm motor finish is terrible and gets very weathered looking. Wheels were shit. It also from brand new had the front tire just barely touch the header enough to keep it clean and rust free, I imagined the frame was very slightly off just enough to not have clearance.
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clay42
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Rocky Face, GA, USA
clay42 11/2/2022 4:07pm
11/2/2022 4:07pm
1998 Cr 125
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