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Rank the motorcycle companies

I love my Triumph and have to do my own maintenance or get it done at indie shops. $1100 for a 12K service is painful.
 
moto-rama said:
That's a clear sign of geezerhood. What's next? ... a write up on the Zundapp K600?

:afm199
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That's Funny
And I still drag everything on the asphalt and tires still don't last very long.
Still wringing the shit out of everything I own. Out of about 60 motorcycles 58 of them survived me and made it to another owner running.
Proud to be a Geezer. :afm199

No Zundapp's same crappy transmission as the DKW
 
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1) KTM (tie) four KTM's to date (2 dirt, 2 street) and they have all been awesome in every respect.

1) Yamaha. Owned quite a few Yammies and they all kick ass. My wife just bought the FZ09 and I am so impressed with it. She loves it.

3) Suzuki. Only owned a couple but I like them. the '05 GSX-R1K was stellar. I like the DRZ400's as well.

4) Kawasaki. Probably a bit more reliable than Suzuki but they don't really impress me as much.

Not a fan of Honda. Had a few of them and they always disappoint me in some way.

I really don't like Harley's. I tried hard to like them, tried out many different models and they all blew chunks, and oil. Heavy, slow, un-reliable and butt ugly. They irritate me because they cost so much and they perform so poorly.
 
Yamaha = the best build quality for the money, period.

Honda = overly conservative, styling by committee, and their build quality isn't much better than average, unlike what Honda fanboyz say.

Suzuki = going on their 9th year of ghetto-fab, Star Trek TNG styling. Lowest build quality of the Big Four.

Kawi = Currently the best-looking Japanese bikes. Very good value as well, especially on the used market. Decent quality equal to Honda. Used to be the lowest quality of the Big Four up until about 10 yrs ago, and then Suzuki took that honor.

Aprilia = better-looking than Ducati, sound fantastic, but you better sell it before the warranty expires.
 
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Although not my tread, posting without prior ownership means squat
You have no experience with reliability, build quality, cost of ownership
JMO
 
For my money Kawasaki's are the best followed by Yamaha superb reliability easy to service and great value. I'm sure the other Japanese brands are good too though I don't have enough experience with them to say. BMW makes very interesting bikes but reliability is very spotty and dealer maintenance is very expensive.
 
Hazardous Waste said:
Although not my tread, posting without prior ownership means squat
You have no experience with reliability, build quality, cost of ownership
JMO
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Agreed. But you do gain experience with friend's bikes as well....

Here are the bikes I have owned:

1) 1983 Kawasaki GPZ550
2) 1989 Yamaha FZR600 (black/grey)
3) 1989 Yamaha FZR600 (red, white & blue)
4) 1997 Honda CBR900RR
5) 1998 Yamaha R1
6) 2002 Honda XR400R
7) 2000 Yamaha R6
8) 2001 KTM Duke II
9) 2007 Honda CBR600RR
10) 2007 KTM Super Duke
11) 2007 Yamaha FZ1 (black)
12) 2007 Yamaha FZ1 (blue)*
13) 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000
14) 2002 KTM 200EXC
15) 2003 Honda XR650L*
16) 1991 Suzuki DR350S
17) 1976 Yamaha RD400
18) 1978 Kawasaki KE175
19) 1973 Yamaha LT100
20) 2008 Yamaha R6*
21) 2009 KTM 250XC-W*
22) 2015 Yamaha FZ09 (wife's) *
23) 2007 Honda CRF150RB (wife's)*
24) 2004 Honda CRF250R Dirt (wife's)
25) 2004 Honda CRF250R Supermoto (wife's)
26) 2004 Honda CRF150F (wife's)
27) 1976 Yamaha TY80 (wife's)*
*Currently Own

I rented several Harley models to test ride. The 1st Harley I rented covered my socks with oil and it was a newer bike.
 
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Deftone said:
Agreed. But you do gain experience with friend's bikes as well....

Here are the bikes I have owned:

1) 1983 Kawasaki GPZ550
2) 1989 Yamaha FZR600 (black/grey)
3) 1989 Yamaha FZR600 (red, white & blue)
4) 1997 Honda CBR900RR
5) 1998 Yamaha R1
6) 2002 Honda XR400R
7) 2000 Yamaha R6
8) 2001 KTM Duke II
9) 2007 Honda CBR600RR
10) 2007 KTM Super Duke
11) 2007 Yamaha FZ1 (black)
12) 2007 Yamaha FZ1 (blue)*
13) 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000
14) 2002 KTM 200EXC
15) 2003 Honda XR650L*
16) 1991 Suzuki DR350S
17) 1976 Yamaha RD400
18) 1978 Kawasaki KE175
19) 1973 Yamaha LT100
20) 2008 Yamaha R6*
21) 2009 KTM 250XC-W*
22) 2015 Yamaha FZ09 (wife's) *
23) 2007 Honda CRF150RB (wife's)*
24) 2004 Honda CRF250R Dirt (wife's)
25) 2004 Honda CRF250R Supermoto (wife's)
26) 2004 Honda CRF150F (wife's)
27) 1976 Yamaha TY80 (wife's)*
*Currently Own

I rented several Harley models to test ride. The 1st Harley I rented covered my socks with oil and it was a newer bike.
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Holy sh*t, you have owned 27 bikes and 7 of which you still own at the same time. One day I'll be able to do that.
 
I've owned all Japanese motorcycles since the early 60s, mostly Honda (except for one excursion into Harley country in the late 60s).

I looked to Honda first for decades but their ship has sailed off into some goofy direction that I cannot figure out. They seem to be pandering to the non-motorcyclist wanna-be cruiser crowd and abandoning those of us that look for evolving practical technologies in the sport/touring arena. The ST1300, while heavy, is an exceptional motorcycle but it's outdated. With a techno-transfusion it would be hard to beat. Owned one Kawasaki, one Yamaha previous to my current FJR and a pre-Suzuki Suzuki (Diamond Free).

Yamaha read the tea leaves correctly and hit it out of the park with the Gen III FJR. It is better than the others in the field even though die hard brand loyalists tend to disagree. The new R1M is flat mind boggling, if I was 30 (no 40) years younger I'd be jonesing for one big time.

Not interested in European or British motorcycles but I have ridden most of them and admired them, just not ownership material.

Dan
 
I have owned Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki and they have all been great. I abused the hell out of my Yamaha FZR 600 and it just kept going. The cops took it about 60K. I suspect it is still out there somewhere on the open road with Max. :teeth I couldn't really pick a favorite at this point as I have not owned the GSXR long enough to compare it's longevity.

I have only owned one none Japanese bike and the Triumph has been OK but it did convince me that none Japanese bikes are best left to those with more time, money and patience then I posses. If it doesn't come from the Land of Rising Sun, I am not riding it.
 
moto-rama said:
Honda, even with the passing of Soichiro Honda, the company clearly has maintained a high level of quality, despite a recent decline in innovation, they are number one.

Ranking the rest is hard to do since other than the small makers, they are all corporate entities, faces with a thousand rectangles.
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Actually, I read recently someone did a study on reliability of the motorcycle brands and Honda came behind Suzuki and Kawasaki. I can't remember the exact order but all the European brands were near the bottom.:afm199
 
For me, a good marker of quality is not simply reliability, but rather, craftsmanship.

I immediately get turned off when I see cheapo cast aluminum and stamped or extruded steel parts on bikes made by Triumph, Suzuki, Kawasaki, etc.

KTM, Honda and BMW actually seem to put that extra level of polish into their design and manufacturing.
 
Corkus said:
5. Honda… big, corporate, arrogant, the best build quality, but will probably not own any more hondas, can’t stand the company or dealerships, or the wacky way they are their own worst enemy
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I'm not sure what dealers are around you, but they're all mixed around here with the exception of HD. So you're dealer experiences would be similar for multiple companies.... unless you're finding Honda exclusive dealers.
 
TM Racing

Awesomeness and character.
 
Maddevill said:
Actually, I read recently someone did a study on reliability of the motorcycle brands and Honda came behind Suzuki and Kawasaki.
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Not surprised. I'm having issues with the Honda's. I'm a Manufacturing Engineer and it looks like cost cutting measures affecting quality to me. I see the same thing in Aerospace.
 
I've only owned/ridden Honda and Suzuki. Both are reliable bikes for a good price. To my uncalibrated, tone-deaf ears the Hondas sound like a lawnmower and the Suzukis sound like a sewing machine. Take your pick, both fun to ride.
 
If anecdotal experience is considered the gold standard of what makes a motorcycle and/or it's production company great or not, then this thread is full of laughs. I've never rode a motorcycle that made me truly unhappy. I have ridden some that I wouldn't want to own, though. However, that doesn't make them bad motorcycles nor does that make their production companies bad either.

And just because you got oil on your socks one time doesn't mean that all Harleys will do that or that any of them that were properly maintained have ever done that either. But again, anecdotal evidence...I digress...
 
Kawasaki......... owned 2
Harley............. owned 6
Honda............. owned 2
Triumph.......... owned 1
Yamaha........... owned 3
BMW............... owned 1
Suzuki............. owned 1
 
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