The worst bike you've ever owned

Titan1
Posts
8592
Joined
2/3/2010
Location
Lehi, UT US
11/2/2022 12:48pm
2006 CRF250R for me…
5
burn1986
Posts
9739
Joined
4/16/2010
Location
bossier city, LA US
Fantasy
3280th
11/2/2022 12:55pm
83 YZ125
1
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DUCati227
Posts
54
Joined
1/18/2021
Location
Sutherlin, OR US
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
Posts
888
Joined
10/25/2018
Location
Houston, TX US
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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4

The Shop

MotoCosmo
Posts
74
Joined
8/29/2022
Location
Bishop, CA US
11/2/2022 1:45pm
I bought a 2020 SSR170 during the Covid armageddon. Do not recommend...
3
viking174
Posts
148
Joined
11/10/2020
Location
Huntington Beach, CA US
Fantasy
2074th
11/2/2022 1:51pm
2010 yzf 450. Front end push was real… handled like an army tank.
1
c0ncEpT
Posts
1264
Joined
5/13/2015
Location
Harrison Twp., MI US
11/2/2022 1:54pm
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.
2
Joey_Bridges
Posts
1563
Joined
1/23/2022
Location
Kingston, TN US
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.
1
R VanKamp77
Posts
507
Joined
8/15/2022
Location
Portland, TN US
11/2/2022 2:04pm
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.
3
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.
1
1
Chance1216
Posts
5166
Joined
4/1/2018
Location
Federal Way, WA US
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.
1
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
Posts
113
Joined
8/2/2018
Location
Carlisle, PA US
11/2/2022 2:25pm
1988 KTM 250 MX

hit like a wounded, weak kitten
1
Richy
Posts
2833
Joined
7/18/2020
Location
UK GB
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.
1
reded301
Posts
265
Joined
8/4/2021
Location
KC, KS US
11/2/2022 2:43pm
2014 KTM 250SX. Fuck that thing.
4
1
NobleSteed
Posts
1
Joined
11/2/2022
Location
Knoxville, TN US
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.
1
mx965
Posts
316
Joined
12/1/2013
Location
Nashville, TN US
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.
2
AgentOrange
Posts
249
Joined
1/21/2020
Location
Forest Lake, MN US
Fantasy
1273rd
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.
1
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
Posts
48
Joined
8/4/2020
Location
Redwood City, CA US
Fantasy
715th
11/2/2022 3:23pm
2003 CRF450. Sold that thing as quick as I could!
1
Falcon
Posts
10034
Joined
11/16/2011
Location
Menifee, CA US
Fantasy
765th
11/2/2022 3:27pm
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
Posts
1466
Joined
2/6/2017
Location
CA US
Fantasy
679th
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.
2
themrtoad
Posts
1192
Joined
5/29/2009
Location
SE
11/2/2022 3:34pm
Bought a new Honda Cr125 1998. Awful bike in every single way
5
Zoom
Posts
1101
Joined
10/21/2012
Location
Cypress, TX US
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.
5
philG
Posts
9630
Joined
5/12/2012
Location
GB
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.


3
1
Cygrace74
Posts
1122
Joined
7/2/2017
Location
Westport, MA US
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.
2

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