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Are there "bad" motorcycles sold in the US?

Gary856

Gary856

Are we having fun yet?
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Location
San Jose, CA
Moto(s)
WR250F, MTS1200, FZ1, DR650, R1250GS
Name
Gary
Cars were bad in the '80s in general, but I thought Chevy Chevette was the wrost of the worst. I read Yugos were crap but never drove one.

With my limited experience, I can't think of a motorcycle that would not be fun to own and ride. Are/were there bikes sold in the US that are just bad? I'm not asking about personal preference, as in, i don't like cruizers/sportbikes/this brand/that brand, etc. I'm asking if there are poorly made motorcycles sold in the States that don't ride well, past or present, that are equivalent to Chevette/Yugo for cars.
 
From what I gathered in a thread I started, the TL1000S wasn't very good.
 
I'd be wary of some of the chinese knockoff scooters, but that's about it. With the speed at witch information travels, and the access consumers have to consumer reporting information, I just don't see how a truly terrible product can exist in the marketplace.
 
Motards. They suck. Don't even think of riding an enduro on the street with plans of making it a motard etiher. They are bad.
 
I'd avoid the chinese and korean bikes and scooters for now.

The only thing I think is "bad" are bikes w/ bad fuel maps only to pass CARB and Euro3 emmissions specs. Its asinine to have to buy a bike then fuck with it to get it to run right. The companies should get it right from the get-go.
 
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By what standard? Were shitty bikes ever sold in the US? Sure. Dangerous ones? Sure, by today's standards. Would I still enjoy riding most of them? Sure. Most of us would ride a Big Wheel with an 8 horse Tecumseh strapped to the back. It's hard to compare bikes and cars in this regard, particularly because bikes are a leisure item to many.

There were plenty of horribly unreliable bikes sold in the US over the years (many manufactured right here in the good old, northern regions of the US of A), but today, once you get past the obvious garbage made in China/Korea, the rest of it is generally decent or above.
 
There are definitely specific models with known problems, e.g. KLR650 "doohickey" issue or the smokey 2nd gen Bandits.
 
there is a generic and gender issue with a blue korean motorcycle commonly called "SV650":twofinger
 
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no bad motorcycle...

there are some ghey ones..

but so are the owners..

yes..
 
Gary856 said:
poorly made motorcycles sold in the States that don't ride well, past or present, that are equivalent to Chevette/Yugo
Click to expand...

That would pretty much describe anything made in Milwaukee over the last few decades.
Especially anything from there sold under the moniker "sport"-ster. :rofl

Oh, that and anything from Hyosung, which at least was priced correctly to match the quality.
 
a thread about bad motos and no one has mentioned buell?! :wtf barf is slacking :x
 
No

Gary856 said:
Cars were bad in the '80s in general, but I thought Chevy Chevette was the wrost of the worst. I read Yugos were crap but never drove one.
Click to expand...

Ironically, 80's vehicles are my favorite.



xgambit said:
a thread about bad motos and no one has mentioned buell?! :wtf barf is slacking :x
Click to expand...

Ran as fast as I can. Pushing a 500 pound American turd slows you down, especially after slipping in the oil slick :twofinger
 
What? The chevette was a great little car.

People called it the shit boxes, but I owned several of these cars, and loved them. Yes, they broke down, but were cheap to buy, cheap and easy to fix (VW Bug). Moreover, they had one big advantage over every other small econ box on the market, they were rear wheel drive:)
 
TheRiddler said:
From what I gathered in a thread I started, the TL1000S wasn't very good.
Click to expand...

It has issues, all fixable, especially in the 1997 year, (mine).

When fixed, (fueling, suspension), it works great.

Hell, 1/2 the reviews of current Ducatis mention crap fueling from the factory.

So no, the TL1000S is far from a Yugo/Chevette.

Maybe the Ruckus 50cc?
 
There were some real failures as bikes.

The Kawasaki KZ1300, and Suzuki RE5 come to mind. Don't forget the Victory 92SC. The Parallel Twin KZ750 was a horrible bike. I loved mine though it was an emotional thing. That thing just ate clutch cables and I prolly pushed it more miles than I rode it.

The problem identifying "Shitbox" motorcycles is that when they are failures they sell so few. This becomes misconstrued as "Exclusivity" and they develope a cult following.

Like the GL500 Interstate or the Yamaha GTS1000.
 
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