[KnuckleHead]

Everyone has that story of the one bike that drove them nuts or regretted buying. So which bike was that for you? For me I had a 1993 Sportster that broke down any chance it could. It didn't take long for me to cut my losses and move on.

 

[REKLOO5E]

im lucky, never had that issue yet. **FINGERS CROSSED

 

[cabecadeferro]

AJS 650 Twin 1956 If I remember correctly, if the weather forecast said it would rain in Mexico, the dynamo here in Brazil would stop working. It vibrated so much that the fillings in my teeth nearly fell out. In addition to the infamous cork clutch, which could not climb a slope ahead.

 

[FOURSEASONS1621]

89 softail. Was a 200 mile time bomb. Literally used to ride with a big tool bag strapped to the back seat. Every 200 miles it broke down until one year 2015 in Laconia NH it broke down and I bought a street glide on the spot and had a friend trailer the softail back home. I still own and fix the old gal but it never goes far from home anymore.

 

[Sq51lacfd]

78-79 DT400. This had oil injection. Concept was great, longevity.......not so much. Super low tech oil injector unit would clog, piston would not get oil, and........you can imagine the rest.

 

[Zedbra]

I had a 1983 V45 Magna that wasn't anything to write home about. Poor mileage, small tank, minimal rear suspenion, driveshaft jack and the inevitable driveshaft failure that wasn't worth the cost of repair. Looked good, was a Honda, but the V4 motors and models were a big dissapointment.

 

[Panman]

1948 Indian Roadmaster. Ride it out, push it in. People love em. Not me.

 

[Asphaltsurfer1]

1975 XL250 Honda. Too heavy. Too slow. Didn’t do anything well, wasn’t fun to ride but was as reliable as a hammer.

 

[Lurchen82]

2021 BMW R18

 

[Zedbra]

2021 BMW R18

Interesting - what made this one the worst?

 

[Lurchen82]

Valve maintenance every 6,000 miles. No repair manual available yet or ever.. so if you’re not mechanically it’s going to cost around $800 to get it serviced at the dealership.. as a matter of fact I’m going to trade it in tomorrow for a 22 PAS . I’d rather deal with the bugs and glitches of the H-D and the easier maintenance..

 

[Asphaltsurfer1]

Valve maintenance every 6,000 miles. No repair manual available yet or ever.. so if you’re not mechanically it’s going to cost around $800 to get it serviced at the dealership.. as a matter of fact I’m going to trade it in tomorrow for a 22 PAS . I’d rather deal with the bugs and glitches of the H-D and the easier maintenance..

Agree. I’m a BMW, especially GS, loyalist and really like my local dealer. However, hydraulic valves were one of the primary reasons I went PAS to minimize maintenance costs. Most car engines have had hydro/ VVT for decades. Bikes haven’t moved in the direction much.

 

[dieselshadow]

Why would they? BMW and Ducati rely on the service department to keep the doors open at the dealership. Awesome machines, but crazy expensive to maintain.... And I say that owing an AMF Bowling Ball Shovelhead.

 

[Asphaltsurfer1]

Lol. I think all dealers want as much service as possible but most know they need to curb it enough to not scar away new bike sales. Ducati moving to spring valve heads for 32k mile checks on their new Multistrada v4 is a move it the right direction.

I had a AMF 25th anniversary Sportster as my first Harley and first street bike. It only stalled on me once and that was driving passed a strip bar. It was a true Harley 😆