JimVonBaden
Kool Aid!
Duh.
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What is your definitive marque/ brand of motorcycle.
- Thread starter matty
- Start date
I've owned 36 bikes since age 14 and all but 2 have been Hondas. I've had 7 new Hondas (SL175, SL350K1, CL450K4, XL250, ATC90, CB750K3, CB360G) and many Hondas bought totaled and rebuilt with my body man father's help as well, and all have been solid reliable bikes when ridden within their limits (and beyond as well for many of them). The only bad things encountered with any of them was the result of me wanting to do things the bike was not designed for nor was built strongly enough to accomplish without a major failure, like holeshots with a '75 and '76 Gold Wing. The early transmission shafts weren't strong enough and flexed enough under extreme power and load that first and second gears were forced apart enough that the teeth weren't fully engaged and it literally ripped the teeth off the gears. Did it hard clutching with revs on my first Wing while rolling along in first, had to split the cases, then later thinking first gear was the only weakness, did it again after putting a Barnett clutch in it and powershifting to second. After 2 full teardowns I got discouraged and sold the bike. Had the '76 later and did first gear again so I was done. Otherwise, all my other Hondas were practically bulletproof including both my CBXs that I blasted around Tampa mercilessly drag racing anything the same size back then and beating most of them (XS11s, KZ1000s, Z-1Rs, GS1000s and 1100s, KZ1300s, and Harley XLCRs by the time I got to 3rd gear after giving them a one bike rolling start) and regularly wheelieing them (starving the crankshaft of constant oil pressure which eventually led to wearing out the weakly oiled #5 rod requiring a rebuild). I would have bought a Rune when they came out but I couldn't afford one.
The other 2 bikes were an '85 ZL900, lots of reliable fun, and a Hodaka 125 Wombat enduro.
The other 2 bikes were an '85 ZL900, lots of reliable fun, and a Hodaka 125 Wombat enduro.
WECSOG
Dirt road denizen
Honda, especially small ones. Also Yamaha; I currently have four TW200s and have also had a YZ490 and an XS650. Longtime fan of Kawasaki large and small, and a lifelong fan of Harley Sportsters.
I'll bet that YZ490 is scary to ride full bore
WECSOG
Dirt road denizen
You got that right! It spent more time in the air than on the ground. Like a powered pogo stick!
Interesting experiences. Care to mention which models? As a lifelong Honda guy I'd be curious.
All older stuff.
CL350......cam chain broke.
CB450.....right cylinder connecting rod just decided to break in half.
MR250......flywheel was so out of balance it eventually broke the end of the crankshaft off.
CB750.......constantly chasing electrical gremlins.
XL250......intermittent starting issue that was never figured out.
Just to name a few.
All unusual problems that never seemed to happen to anybody else.
The 350 cam chain is pretty rare, they're endless (no master link) and rarely break. Cam sprocket bolts though, different story if someone rebuilt it before you. The 450 even more rare, had to have been mechanically/maintenance-wise mistreated before you got it, I've personally never seen a 450 rod break and big end rod bearings rarely go bad on them either. The MR250...? Never liked them to begin with, poor effort by Honda compared to the CR250 Elsinore. Never had the first electrical problem with any of my 4 CB750K, not even a bad coil. Ran the hell out of them too. I owned a brand new XL250 first so no issues with it despite beating on it really hard too, and later a used one in the '80s, both really durable. Sounds like 4 of those 5 were just bad luck bikes. Here's my 450, and I ride it like that even when I'm not at the track. 497cc, 11.6:1, MegaCycle cams, 36mm Mikunis, shift at 10,500 to 11,000, been together over 5 years.
Had a bunch of bikes since I was 12 , 3 major jap brands , couple harley's , but in '92 got an old /7 . Been BMW ever since. I like the old oilheads, fuel injected, simple to work on . Kinda like working on a piece of farm equipment. I love riding them but I really enjoy tinkering on them too. My wife tells me to "just buy a new one" . I say "than I couldn't work on it" , she says " you wouldn't need to" I say , "exactly"
Yamaha. but currently ride a 2014 BMW R1200LC.
Got that right! As much as I've pounded and abused (but never neglected) all of the Hondas I've owned I could be the posterboy for destructive testing. And before anyone asks if it's really me in that picture earlier, it is...
DesmoDog
Well-known member
Yes, the dog in my avatar was named Desmo. Take a guess on which brand I prefer? ;-)
It started in 1991. Since 1995 I've owned 2 bikes that weren't made in Bologna, both of them were still Italian though. And both of them are gone now, I'm back to all Ducatis. For a lot of years I kept 7 of them around, now I'm down to 5, but 3 of those are projects. My oldest are from 1966. Newest is a 2022 Streetfighter V2.
It started in 1991. Since 1995 I've owned 2 bikes that weren't made in Bologna, both of them were still Italian though. And both of them are gone now, I'm back to all Ducatis. For a lot of years I kept 7 of them around, now I'm down to 5, but 3 of those are projects. My oldest are from 1966. Newest is a 2022 Streetfighter V2.
matty
Border raider.
Actually Jim il play devils advocate here, OK you like BMWs, but we are not all lucky enough to like what we work on, But i spend a lot of my time building fixing selling Land rovers, been doing this since i got my first 1951 series 1 80 inch in 1972 i was just 14. And though i know and even earn from them, i hate them with a vengeance, worst car ever made and totally useless IMO. Just sayin.
JimVonBaden
Kool Aid!
I am a bit of an obsessive type, but I would not love and ride BMWs if they didn't fit me and my riding style. They are actually easy to work on too. I have said on many occasions, that I would dump BMW if they took the telelever away from the GS!
Just had to come back in here to admire this photo again. That is so much motorcycle to have hoisted in to the air.I've owned 36 bikes since age 14 and all but 2 have been Hondas. I've had 7 new Hondas (SL175, SL350K1, CL450K4, XL250, ATC90, CB750K3, CB360G) and many Hondas bought totaled and rebuilt with my body man father's help as well, and all have been solid reliable bikes when ridden within their limits (and beyond as well for many of them). The only bad things encountered with any of them was the result of me wanting to do things the bike was not designed for nor was built strongly enough to accomplish without a major failure, like holeshots with a '75 and '76 Gold Wing. The early transmission shafts weren't strong enough and flexed enough under extreme power and load that first and second gears were forced apart enough that the teeth weren't fully engaged and it literally ripped the teeth off the gears. Did it hard clutching with revs on my first Wing while rolling along in first, had to split the cases, then later thinking first gear was the only weakness, did it again after putting a Barnett clutch in it and powershifting to second. After 2 full teardowns I got discouraged and sold the bike. Had the '76 later and did first gear again so I was done. Otherwise, all my other Hondas were practically bulletproof including both my CBXs that I blasted around Tampa mercilessly drag racing anything the same size back then and beating most of them (XS11s, KZ1000s, Z-1Rs, GS1000s and 1100s, KZ1300s, and Harley XLCRs by the time I got to 3rd gear after giving them a one bike rolling start) and regularly wheelieing them (starving the crankshaft of constant oil pressure which eventually led to wearing out the weakly oiled #5 rod requiring a rebuild). I would have bought a Rune when they came out but I couldn't afford one.
The other 2 bikes were an '85 ZL900, lots of reliable fun, and a Hodaka 125 Wombat enduro.
Thanks. After a while I got good at dropping the front end down a little early in first and using the fork bounce to get it back up in second gear, could go about 500 feet or so and drop down at almost 80 mph with the front tire chirping when it hit. It was totally unexpected to have the parts guy at the bike salvage yard my father did work for offer to take those pictures. I stopped in there often and that day he said he had his 35mm with 200mm lens with him and did I want to make a few passes so he could take some pics. I loved doing wheelies on my CBXs, really one of the easiest bikes I've done it on, and he probably took about 15 to 20 shots zooming out as I got closer to him in first gear. He got the best picture enlarged and gave it to me, unfortunately I don't have the negative and it was before cell phones and commonly available digital cameras (and, he was an alcoholic and was dead 5 years later). He also had me sign a second one (I told him I didn't want to do it but he insisted) and he sent that one to Colorado where his brother owned a bar. Never got to see a picture of it hanging there, bar is probably gone now anyway. Fortunately the road (Linebaugh Ave in northwest Tampa) was very undeveloped at that time and didn't have near the traffic and buildings on it that it does today. Where all that brown grass is behind me is now mass numbers of apartments across a 4 lane divided road. Sometimes I'm amazed at what I used to get away with...
I love a good story, and that's a great one. I know what you mean about the stuff we used to do. Our main four wheeling spot back in high school is now a Target parking lot. It's still hard to look at. There was a beautiful mountain circled by a little creek and a bog. They rerouted the creek through concrete tubes and carved that mountain down flat. Tons of turtles lived in that bog. Another deeply wooded area we used to hang out in ( teenagers gotta be sneaky) is now a Lowe's/Walmart super compound. It was thick with wildlife.
The health of the environment don't mean shit when there's a dollar to be made 😁
Sorry for the hijack, folks! Back to my corner ...
The health of the environment don't mean shit when there's a dollar to be made 😁
Sorry for the hijack, folks! Back to my corner ...
Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure we all have tons of good stories from our wild youthful riding days, I have plenty myself. Not to prolong the highjack, but you are absolutely right about the environment vs the dollar, it's been happening around my area for decades and many fun riding spots are now housing developments, malls and other moneymakers.