Worst reliability brand

Bolts are so soft I have never had an issue in 40 years. In fact I can’t tell a lick of difference in the Honda hardware I have been buying and the Kawasaki’s. Soft cases? Never heard of it. Just what design issue was a reliability problem?

As I said everyone has their own perspective on the matter. My experiences come from the early nineties two stroke era.

1990 KX80: Broken swingarm after flatlanding a small jump,air filter was impossible to remove without getting dirt to the intake side  many of the bolts had to be replaced due to rounded heads etc... 

1991 KX125: Aluminum kips valve drums kept braking due to a bad design. Oil drain bolt hole cracked on the engine case. Engine side cover cracked just from a small tip over, chain was eating itself trough the rear subframe spar, many bolts had to be replaced due to rounded heads etc... 

I haven't experienced similar problems with other brands but that is just my experience and situation today could be completely different        

My personal experience with bad engineering/poor build quality over the years and at the time when they were current bikes and when common faults were not known or easy to fix:

Honda CRFs (had 2012 as 450 and 250). Terrible fuelling, popping on deceleration, and also had to change the internal teabag fuel filter on both bikes fairly quickly. 4-spring clutch on the 450 was horrendous - swapped for a 6-spring Hinson and never looked back. Once mapping and clutches sorted, they were excellent bikes.

Honda CR250. 2003 and 2004 had the same issue with the electronic pv cables stretching, causing an unpredictable hit as the slackness impacted when the pv opened.

KTM 250sx. Had a whole bunch of them (pre-fuel injection), and generally bullet proof. The one recurring issue was the gear selector grabbing and refusing to powershift. Would hold onto gears. On my 2011, I changed part after part back at the time trying to get to the bottom of it and it was solved by simply stretching a tiny spring on the shifter paw. The later years were better but the issue never went away.

Suzuki RM125s. Had 2004, 2005, 2006 and now have a 2008. All of them have the same chocolate gearbox issue where the engagement dogs on the gear cogs wear off quite quickly, so I am a collector of used eBay transmissions when they come up so I have the parts ready, and on one of my bikes, had the gears machined/undercut by a drag shop.

They’re all so good now, it’s really hard to pick on the reliability of any of them.  The last bike I had to get towed off the track on was a 2017 CRF450R.  The kill switch (and as I recall, it had a map selector or something else built into it) was prone to getting water in it when you washed the bike.  One time at a race, the bike worked fine in practice and simply wouldn’t start for the race.  Miraculously, a day or two later the bike ran fine (after the drop of water in the kill switch evaporated).  About a month after that I was at a race and washed my bike after an especially muddy morning practice.  I started the race and everything was fine, then suddenly in the middle of the race the bike just died and wouldn’t restart.  Apparently, a drop of water was in the kill switch assembly and during the race worked its way into position to kill the engine.  I called a guy I knew that worked for Geico Honda at the time and he told me about the kill button issue.  After replacing the very expensive kill switch, he advised me to start putting a plastic bag over the left side of the bars and sealing it with rubber band every time I washed the bike moving forward.  After that, I kept a spare kill switch in my tool box and had to loan it to a guy that had the same problem a few weeks later.

You poll really doesn’t make sense, though, because fit and finish and reliability are two very different things.  Hammers are very reliable, but don’t need to be pretty necessarily.

Because Kawasaki had a bad batch of PV’s on their 125 30 years they are by far the less reliable bikes on the track. Got it.

Suck it Kawasaki 

If we are going to talk 2 stroke era, Kawasaki's had major PV problems with the teeth rounding and breaking off within 15-20 hours on every single Kawi 2 stroke with a PV. It wasn't just a bad batch.

 Kant Take Much.  

I bought a 2015 kawi 450…air forks sucked…motor was good…but fit and finish left a TON to be desired…it just felt and looked old after 20 hours…my brother just bought a 23 kawi 450 and is seeing a lot of the same (great motor, good suspension, great handling…but fit and finish suck).  

WTF are you talking about???

He doesn't even know lol

Those bikes were great the only issue is the 92 had a frame softer than jello. But they fixed that

I am pretty sure a tight cam cap got my '22 CRF250R at 15 hours. I get that things happen on the line and not every part will be 100% out the factory doors. Honda didn't want to help at all. That is where I have a problem. I think Honda might last the longest, if they built it right in the first place. I have heard their fastener quality has gone down hill over the years.

Meanwhile I know a guy who sucked mud up the vent tube on his KTM, and they warrantied it. The local dealer told me they had KTM cover an oil pump gear failure at 100 hours too.

I think the cam chain and transmission issues on the YZ250F are pretty well known as well as the transmission issues on the YZ250 that have been around for over 20 years.

Kawi is having crank and starter limiter gear issues on the KX250. They had fuel pump issues on the 2022 KX250 and KX450. They had some issue with not enough oil flow to the clutch basket on the 2021 KX250, but they fixed them under warranty.

Of all the manufacturers KTM is the one I trust the most to make it right if they ship a turd.

Not true. I have never had that happen and have owned them since '84. My '96 likely has 150Hr's or more and I have never replaced a bearing or anything other than pistons, brake pads and suspension service.

I liked my Kawi 250f but the fit and finish was by far the cheapest out of all the brands I have owned. The bike just sort of felt cheaper if that makes sense. 

Your examples are over 30 years old. I own a few dozen bikes from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Maico, CZ, Husqvarna and Suzuki. Compared to today they’re all piles of shit. 
 

Also post 90’s I have a 2001 CR125 (Plano Honda SX race bike), 2002 KX125 (Splitfire PC practice bike), 2003 KX250, 2015.5 KTM SXF250 (the first factory edition 250), 2016 KTM 150 SX, 2018 KTM 450 SXF, 2020 KX450 and just recently sold my 2023 Husky TC125. 

Kinda shocked to see Kawi at the top, I know people with other brands with issues all time and friends with Kawis with no issues. I think it comes down to how well a rider maintains there ride.

Stupid poll. So many variables. How well and often you maintain a bike changes everything…

So many pissed off Kawi guys.

I wasn’t going to say anything but, since 90’s model KX’s came up, I owned a 94 KX 250 and, a 00. 

The 94 had a frame that might as well have been made of glass. Eric Gorr touched base on the frame being the Achilles heel for the KX’s in his book. I cracked two frames on this bike. I purchased the bike new. Broke the motor mounts then, the lower section the  swing arm connects to. After cracking a second frame I gave up. 
 

My 2000 KX, I had the cylinder flake at 20 hours. 
After a replate it was a non issue. I felt like I had to maintain them twice as much compared to a CR. I loved the motor of the 94. They did make great power. But, these two bikes were enough to leave a negative impression on me at the time. 

Assuming (dangerous I know) that most folks who responded have owned multiple brands and also assuming their maintenance habits were the same on all brands....yet they still chose Kawi as the worst, would it be unrealistic to assume that maybe Kawi just doesn't have the reliability and fit and finish of the other brands?

And yet you bought another one.....

My 2011 KTM 350 gave me the most issues of any bike I've had. But, my 2017 KTM 450 was the most rock solid bike I've owned. 100 hours and it still felt brand new.

The Austrian clutch design is really hard to beat, their valvetrain and cranks are top notch. 

Agree. Tbh unless I know the person and know their maintenance habits, I never listen to anybody elses opinion on whether a bike is "reliable" or not. I have seen so many things over the years, guys going 3 rides on airfilters to the point that its caked in shit, overtightening Tclamp bolts and cracking fork tubes, overtightening chain breaking a hub, etc. 

I have a Husky, Yamaha, and Honda…and have recently sold a Kawasaki, Suzuki and another Yamaha.  This isn’t even close with modern bikes

Kawasaki…by far.  Even the Suzuki has better fit and finish.  Surprised on the KTM hits.  My Husky has been great so far.

my rank worst to best

Kawasaki

Suzuki/Honda have been tied tbh

Yamaha

Husky

My kid's 2023 250SX has been at the dealer for close to a month.  10 hours on it and it won't start.  They can't figure it out.  I was going to get a KTM 790 Adventure but i am getting a Tenere 700 instead.

Fair enough, but wouldn't those maintenance habits be the same for all brands of bikes they own....thus they would find that some brands hold up better than others?

I’ve had friends with bikes of all sorts, and the ones that always seemed to have the most issues were Suzukis followed by kawis. My buddy with numerous Suzukis was constantly dealing with blown motors, broken subframes, etc. He was a socal pro though so he was def a lot harder on his bikes than 99%. 

My 09 Kawi had the absolute worst quality fasteners, my 22 is a bit better but Honda and Yamaha hold every bolt to a much higher standard.

I’ve never had a major issue caused by manufacturing from any motorcycle i’ve owned since 1986, call me lucky I guess. The best fit and finish of any motorcycle I have ever owned have been my recent KTMs. I do however see a direct correlation between proper maintenance and reliability with all brands. I’ve watched a CRF grenade Idling on the stand does that mean all Hondas suck? turns out the guy used shit oil and hadn’t changed it or his filter in “he doesn’t remember when!” Guess what genius it isn’t your diesel truck, it has roughly 1L of oil in it and the filter is tiny, change them regularly with moto specific oil and new filters at least every other oil change and i bet most all “reliability” problems go away for any brand. 

Two more cents that won't change anyone's mind -

A good friend of mine has been the head mechanic/service manager for a Kaw/Suz/Yam dealer since 1976. I asked him a similar question a few years ago and he said based on warranty claims and personal experiences on the job he put them in two groups - Kaw/Suz most problems and lower build quality, Hon/ Yam less problems and better build quality.

And this is coming from a guy who hates Honda.

That's true but I've owned every brand but Suzuki, out of all of them the Kawi just had a cheaper look and feel to it. It was a good bike engine wise. 70 hours when I sold it, and valves were still in spec and the bike ran perfect. 

I would say my Honda and Yamaha seem to be the best quality wise. They just look like a higher end product.