Bikes you didn't like nearly as much as you thought you would.

HD Sporster, something was always wrong with it.

my red lemon... 2000 ducati 996... you had to be riding it at 10/10th or forget it, massive heat, rock hard chassis/suspension, and a clutch pull that would make popeye bitch, and every year of ownership it sat @ the dealer waiting for parts... imo the most beautiful motorcycle ever penned, but even a hardcore sportbiker like myself, it was very hard to live with....

All the bikes I sold

+1

My 748 was a love / hate thing. Even getting to riding roads dealing with traffic, it was an ornery bitch. The bike wanted to be put on its side, pinned throttle or hard on the brakes. But once you got it to riding roads or in a track, it was fantastic. I really, really wanted to love it but in real riding terms it was a bike I could use 10% of the time.

The Hypermotard I test rode was a weird 'feeling' bike. Many here have said it was like you're sitting on the front wheel and I just never got the feeling that I'd bond with that riding position. But the fueling on the demo was far better than most current Ducatis - quick and predictable.

The S2R 1000 in the garage is about on my last nerve. Fueling below 4k is a joke, and the polymer tank has expanded (again) making it impossible to secure the latch. Strong midrange if you can get past the juddery bottom end.

2008 KLR-650. Did a lot of work to make it better off road which was a waste of money. Felt it was going to eventually put me in the hospital. Nice go slow bike but dangerous at speed off road. Sold it and got KTM 690r.

Suzuki DL-1000 V-Strom. Just overall boring and forget about it off pavement.

I have a 2 bike limit so have sold a lot of bikes I liked just to make room. Tragic but that's the way it is

2009 BMW F800ST

Many parts failed, it vibrated so badly that it numbed my hands to sleep within a few short miles.

No less than 6 bulbs blew out in the first few months. I went through three low beam bulbs before swapping to HID (which was awesome, btw, a blessing in disguise I guess)

I could live with the failed heated grips, failed switch gear assemblies, crumbling dipsticks, the paint peeling off the engine in big sheets exposing massive corrosion, my sidestand falling off twice, all the misc bolts and fasteners that vibrated loose and went AWOL, the scary slapping crunching camchain noise, the Exxon Valdez valve cover oil leak (this was rather eye opening once, as so much oil had spewed down onto the hot header pipes, that a great cloud of blue smoke billowed up from around my instrument cluster, and I thought: "Auuugh! my bike is catching fire! Abandon ship!" lol) the hideous ABS that would completely remove my ability to stop if I hit even the tiniest bumps in the pavement while braking.

Sailing right through a crosswalk and halfway into an intersection when trying to stop for a redlight, on a beautiful sunny day with zero need for any ABS action, had me in a rather surprised state, let me tell you. Apparently, the little unseen ripples in the asphault my tires went over, confused the computer enough to remove my ability to stop at all. I soon learned about the awful phrase: "Extended Brake Release"

I could live with my fuel tank really being only 13-ish litres instead of the 16 litres BMW claimed it was. (the US and Canadian models have the whole front of the underseat tank missing, because of the wonderful US requirement for the Emissions plumbing stuff. A large evaporative charcoal canister resides in the spot where the rest of the world's models have a larger fuel tank in that place)

The absolutely useless fuel gauge/computer "mileage remaining" estimator, allowed me to run dead dry empty with the dash cheerfully telling me I had 50 miles of fuel left. When I obviously couldn't trust that, I got still got suckered by the old fashioned tried and true use of the tripmeter instead, because for some bizarre reason, my fuel economy was wildly variable. I could have an insane swing of difference from one tank to the next.

It would stall at the drop of a hat, and I never stall my bikes. I can't count how many times I had a WTF! of the thing going *POP* and stalling, right in mid balance manoevering, fully loaded up with gear. The low speed throttle snatch was horrible, and it was geared so tall in first that I couldn't ride in slow or heavy traffic without sweating bullets that it was going to cough and die, or kill me from my clutch hand continual in out, in out, in out, and simply seizing my tendons up. (while having to rev it high, so it wouldn't be as likely to cut out)

Since I hadn't had the infamous stator death, the fuel pump and/or controller expire on me yet, I was just waiting for those things to strand me out in the middle of nowhere. My buddy with the same model year as mine, had among other things, his front belt pulley cog chew it's way right through the plastic sidecover, and fling itself off down the road, never to be seen again! Of course this was in a no cell coverage area out in the boonies, far from home in another country.

There were tons of other potential things like the rear bearing/axle failures, piston slap, melting headlight wiring, toasting highbeam reflector surfaces, etc., etc., that I was looking forward to, but that was just probably needless worry on my part. I totally admit that. But given all the failures I did have, and general shitty quality of my bike, I don't think I was being totally tinfoil hat about any of them possibly happening, either.

So. I could live with all that, even!

But the final straw was the BMW dealer service crap, and their insistance on trying to fleece me everytime I went in. The services were always hundreds of dollars higher than I was told they were going to be. They had a positive hard on for brake fluid flushes! Showing them I just had a f*cking brake fluid flush less than 3,000 kilometres and 5 months ago, they would STILL "recommend" a flush, and offhandedly insinuate "possible warranty denials" and "goodwill repair problems" for me in the future, if it wasn't done.

The last time, I went in for a switch gear failure, and since they were going to cover it under warranty, I thought I would be decent, and let them do an oil and filter service for me. A costly thing when done by a BMW dealer, but I was willing to give them their easy money to go with the "free" warranty job. I held my ground and said thanks, but no thanks, I don't need the third brake fluid flush in less than 2 years, when of course, they strongly recommend one to be done.


The nagging Service Due message and the various lit up lights, I assumed, would be reset while they were finished. (at this point, my bike only had about 8,000 miles on it) They call me, it's all done, come on down.

I start it up and go to leave their parking lot, and lo and behold, the Service Due, and associated flashing blinky lights are still all there. Of course I went back in and said what the heck, only to be informed: "We only reset those when you have a FULL Service done. Unless you get the full service, (including the ever popular brake fluid flush, lol) you would have to pay extra for us to reset the system. We have to hook it up to the computer, and so there's a minimum labour charge, we will make a note in your file "full service not done" blah, blah, blah.

FYYFF.

Never again BMW. I wouldn't accept a BMW if I was given a brand new one for free, and delivered right to my door.

I lost my shirt trading the hateful thing in for a Honda NC700X, but the relief and happines I felt riding away on the Honda was worth everything to me.

+1 more, my 888 was the same. Above 140kmh/90mph it was fantastic. Getting to somewhere where you could do that was painful.

Not giving me warm fuzzies for the F800R in the garage...that I haven't even ridden yet. :eek1

My first thought when starting up my new ST: (honest) Holy! I've just bought a $20,000.00 dollar KLR650! Auugh!" :huh

Just prepare yourself and you should be ok.

For every one of "me" (a disgruntled and nothing good to say about them dude) there are probably thousands of really happy, well taken care of F800 peeps. I was just unlucky with my deal, I guess.

You won't find a better, and more helpful and friendly site on the 'net than the F800riders.org folks, though! That was my one true good thing I take away from the whole sordid affair, the wonderful guys and gals there.

Hopefully it's no worse than the fan on the Buell. I was warned that that would make me "batsh** crazy."

I'm on over there ("Offcamber"). The F800R bunch is pretty quiet (at least by ADVRider standards), but I'm trying to stir things up. Like any forum "search" is a good starting place.

Multistrada 1000

Absolute hoot to ride but the instrument panel quit working after I washed the bike the first time. Discovered this was a well known problem. I was lucky it worked again after taking it apart and letting it dry out. Then I discovered the rest of the problems. Rear sub frame would crack on early ones, and I never felt secure riding it any distance waiting for the plastic gas tank to expand from ethanol fuel. It finally expanded leaking gas in my attached garage and I had to put the bike in the backyard due to the fumes in the house. Dreaded getting the tank replaced because it was sure to expand again. The local Ducati dealer bought it off me when I brought it in to see if they would replace the tank.

New girlfriend had trouble climbing up on the Multistrada so I was looking for more of a 2 up bike and found a '98 Valkyrie on Craigslist. This thing handles surprisingly well and is a blast to ride. It has such smooth torque it will pull from less than 1500 rpm up a mountain switchback in 5th gear, fully loaded for a week's ride with two people aboard.

my 2002 ZX6R just didnt feel at home on it, yet on paper it was perfect for me.. only kept it two weeks

If I want to accelerate hard, I take another bike. The V is enough to have fun on and it handles nicely. It thrives on practical, economical, versatile, fun. Low revs and light throttle equal almost 60 mpg. It's athletic feeling and offers a great view of the road and it's cheap enough that I'll take it and leave it anywhere w/o worrying about it. Kick it down a gravel/fire road and have a blast. Great public road bike. The fact that it bubbles up torque right off idle, yet still has enough oomph to have fun and feel practically strong in the mid-range, seals the deal. All while being comfortable, nimble, inexpensive, and economical. Great bike...as long as you take it for what it is.

And, no, you're not lugging it, as long as you're not putting much strain on it from the lowest revs (Hill climbs or crazy throttle openings when it's in mpg mode.). It's all very laid-back and efficient and it sounds really nice. I love riding the V like that. And opening it up and playing w/the handling. Very easy and fun.

Way better than I've gotten in 20k miles. Unless you were talking imperial gallons :)

What?

Nobody ever hated an SV ?

:huh

Speed Triple

This was my favorite looking bike for the longest time. Rode a brand new 2012 model and it just didn't do it for me.

Wow! After reading through this thread and really wanting to contribute, I've decided my old Kawasaki Mach III was terrible. Wheelied all the time, got me in trouble with the law and shook like a drunken lap dancer.

Other than that how was the play Mr Lincoln?

Fixed