Which Vintage bike was your worst nightmare?

weimedog

~SPONSOR~
Damn Yankees
Nov 21, 2000
959
2
Mine was a 1982 Kawasaki KX250. Thing was continually falling apart. Base Gaskets Blew on a regular basis. Frame slowly gained rake...as is bent..making it handle more like a wheel barrow than a motorcycle. Forks literally broke. Countless clutches. The thing was a true POS bike. But I loved that disk brake! Had to have one. A trip to the emergency room from the seat of that bike put an end to serious racing in my life. (Probably for the best)
 

spanky250

Mod Ban
Dec 10, 2000
1,490
1
Hodaka 125 Combat Wombat...hands down the worst POS I ever owned.

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1992 KDX 250-FMF porting,two-stage power reeds, Fatty pipe, Power Core silencer,titanium rod,Wiseco Ultra-lite, Pro-Action suspension...Why didn't I take the blue pill???
 

dirt bike dave

Sponsoring Member
May 3, 2000
5,349
3
Borderline nightmare but sometimes fun - a '76 YZ125X with the dual chamber air forks (no springs) and first generation monoshock. Foul handling, especially after the shock wore out.

It had no fork springs and it also had no bottom end power, but it ran like a scalded dog (or a CR) on the straight aways.

Worst bike I ever rode (but didn't own) was a friend's '74 or '75 Suzuki TM100 with the 11" travel 'skunkworks' rear suspension kit using the stock fish oil shocks! That bike was so foul handling a moped could probably beat it around most tracks.
 

jeffg

Member
Jul 5, 2000
25
0
Am I the only one out here who suffered through the pain of racing motocross on a 1975 Carabela Marquesa 125? Or just the only one to admit it? It's characteristics were slow, bad breaks, slow, no parts, slow....and did I mention it was slow? The only bikes I could count on beating were the 125 CZ's. I actually raced a Carabela 250 once that year as well. Imagine the hero I'd have been if I could have actually done well on that thing?
 

Husky Texan

Member
Oct 6, 2000
64
0
This one's easy. The absolute worst bike I ever had was an Indian SE74 minicycle. Looked great, was Carabela slow. Imagine how I felt when I entered the first Florida Mini-Olympics in 1972 and was told "sorry the Indian is not eligible for the stock classes because it comes standard with a Hooker expansion chamber" So what, it was still slow. Oh yeah, did I mention it handled like crap too. I was really excited as Jeff Ward passed me (repeatedly) on a prototype XR75 and I damn near killed everyone on the side of the track while this thing was in a CZ death hop. The final indignity is that of course the engine was Italian. That means not having parts availability. Of course I was really happy when it died and Dad brought home the magic XR75. And now the damn bikes are selling for nearly a grand on EBay! Wish I had mine back.

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Dave
1995 KDX200
81 Husky 430CR & 84 500WR
"Always looking for another Swedish wench!"
 

OnAnySunday

Big Pig
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 20, 2000
998
3
lost in the deserts of NM
The worst for me is probably one i currently own.
1979 Yamaha YZ-400f.
It runs (ran) great, plenty of power, just put all new bushings and bearings in the swingarm, new set of Boysen torque reeds, new uni-filter, new grips, new DG muffler and pipe, and jetted juuuuust right.
What's wrong with it?
Well after about 3 years it seized up.
(about 3 months ago.)
Heck, it was only on its 1st overbore and running strong!
Well it seems that Yamaha, Wiseco, and everyone else who makes a pisons, rings, and con rods has discontinued making these parts for the '79's!
U G H !!!!
It apears that 1979 is the forgotten dirtbike year. (at least for Yamahas)
Other than that, "if it's old, it's good"!
 

Jake T

Member
Mar 23, 2000
225
0
1 grand for XR75's on Ebay!?!
All I can say is wow...

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         Jake
      '75 XR-75
 Yeah, I can hit that jump. But oh look at the ant crawling on it!
You wouldn't want me to kill it would you!? 
 

KXKen

Member
Jan 6, 2001
535
0
I had a 50cc Chibbie (I think that's how they spelled it). The bike was made in Rockford IL. I have no idea how long they made them. Anyway I tor the daylights out of the gear on the clutch basket. It was the stupidist looking bike you could possibly imagine. After that I got a 76 YZ80 wich was a great bike.
 

kmccune

2-Strokes forever
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 3, 1999
2,726
1
a barrowed 197??? 360 Husky WR( I think '75?) . I was a 125 MX rider at the time, but rode the 125 off road a lot! My brother inlaw (anti MX guy to this day!) convinced me to ride my first enduro... he would even loan me a bike! Well it wouldn't start (damn points????) And I had never ridden anything bigger then a 125! Well I crashed and caught my leg under the left handlebar and still ended up infront of the bike. My leg was still under the handlebars pointing back at me!!! My brother inlaw came by (later minute) and helped me start it. I rode about 30 more miles and quit! I had dislocated my knee and torn some type of connective tissues. It was 3 months before I could run ( only 1 month to ride :^) ) Well it is now 21 years latter and this summer I will try my hand at my second ENDURO! WR 250 2s this time! And no that Husky DID NOT TURN!
Kevin




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McCune's Scottish Pub
Brews That You Can Chew!
 

osheen

Member
Feb 27, 2000
202
0
1981 KX125. Do I need to elaborate? A novice 120lb rider should not be able to break a frame and wheels to pieces. Biggest POS kaw ever built.

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osheen

BRC, AMA life member

'01 YZ250F '77 KD100m
'95 KDX200 '75 Road Toad
'79 KX250 '74 Z50A
 

weimedog

~SPONSOR~
Damn Yankees
Nov 21, 2000
959
2
I remember those years...that kx125 was fast as stink right until it put you on the ground..right? LOL guess I was not the only one!!!! But that 82 250 was deadly. LOL
 

danno.rm47

Member
Dec 4, 2000
13
0
mine was,and still is.my sons 82rm125.josh,growing faster than a weed,outgrew his 74yz80.dont laugh,that yz kept him busy for 4yrs.anyway,I was on my way to buy a new cement mixer,saw that rm,traded the yz and 200$brought the bike home,installed new clutch pack@ oil,grips,redone seat,new plastic,rebuilt rear shock,carb,@cables.he got 1 really good ride out of it before it crapped.put a used cdi in,ran great around the yard.took it to the desert,so I could strech my 250 rmx too.we were both doing good for about 10 min,the 125 crapped again.no spark.push it back to the truck.at home testing,failed cdi.tore out mag,found broken wire,fixed it,no cdi available.when this bike is running,its really responsive@good.sons smiling.Im in the dog house now. thanx,danno

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dannorm47
 

TooTall

Member
Nov 6, 2000
81
0
'75 Yamaha DT400. Yamaha painted that thing the right color.....yellow. I went through about 6 different combinations of headlight & taillight bulbs, a magneto, broke the kickstarter in half, and what finally did her in was a grenaded piston crown. Sounds like I beat the dog crap out of it but I really didn't. The motor was real strong for a dual sport, but as a package the bike was junk.

TT

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Old & slow, but still giving it the 'go'.

[This message has been edited by TooTall (edited 02-08-2001).]
 

Nevada Sixx

Member
Jan 14, 2000
1,033
0
i got you all bet,,,, 74-79? bultaco pursang 250...... all the mechanic's just make a face if i ask them to work on it.....nice looking bike though all orginal graphics,, only had about 4 years or less use on it...
I'd like to send the engine and carb off for restoring so maybe it would crank better.
 

eldrm

~SPONSOR~
Nov 3, 2000
104
0
tm 125 i got used from some guy who raced,it was wupped but i had to have an mx'r.throttle used to stick usually on the whoops which i usually found quite thrilling especially since i was used to my 125 bultaco alpina the slowest,mellowest bike i've ever ridden.i have to admit i ran that bul mercilessly and it never let me down(just had to get a good run before any steep hills!)

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alpina 125,tm125,alpina 350,rm 250c,rm 250c2,back in the day,ridin into my second childhood 20 yrs later on a 95 kdx200,thanx KTelMo(squidward?)
 

Whoops

Member
Jun 19, 2000
127
0
1973(or 1972) Monark.

It was a love hate thing. Bought it new in 11th grade, I had a night job if it matters, from House of Honda in San Diego. It was fast, european and beautiful.

It also went though motoplat ingitions like a hot knife through butter. It seemed like HoH had a special reserve for me on my weekly trips to the shop for a replacement ignitions.

The crazy thing about it is, I keep looking for another one for old time sake.

Greg
 
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