Just wondered if anyone here has ever owned a bike they both loved and hated at the same time.
This was mine.
A Moto Guzzi V7 Racer I bought new in 2011.
I loved that bike soooooooo much.
Riding it was pure joy.
Only 50bhp but it just didn't matter.
Sadly, it was a nightmare in every other way.
That lovely chrome finish on the tank peeled off, and when I got a new one under warranty (eventually), that one did the same.
Then there were the oil leaks and electrical gremlins.
All this was compounded by a dealer who didn't give a toss.
I do wish it had worked out. windows screen capture
Mine was this z900. I had always wanted one. It looked good, but never quite right. I wanted the 4 into 4 pipes, but couldn't afford them. The paint was not quite the right shade of green. The temptation to keep throwing money at it was always there. I loved the look of it and I loved the idea of owning one. The reality was a disappointment.
Oh yes, my '77 Kawasaki Z650 b1, My first big bike and very tidy looking 1 year old at the time, really quick and handled well, the problem was that the previous owner had absolutely mullered every screw head and cross threaded every nut and bolt, every time I went to do any maintenance all I would find was problems
So I traded it in for a brand new Z650C3, which was my first brand new bike and I loved it
Sorry, not got any pics available ( well, non that I'm prepared to show )
Steve
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Always wanted one but Dad said he would lend me the money for a car but not a bigger bike (I was 17 at the time) and I think I was about 30 years old before I got my dream bike.
But I soon found out that anything over about 50 miles I couldn't walk after due to it being like riding a road drill and the solid disc brakes in the wet, well there wasn't any,
but I still loved it.
Yesterday R1100S 03, today K1300s sport
Ride like they are all out to kill you and you will live to ride another day............Ned 2008
Sold my first F650 as I decided I wanted a more off road focused machine, foolishly harking back to my SP370 and how useful that had been on and off road.
The DRz400 was much better off road than the SP or the Funduro but a total REAL pain in the arse on anything more than 5 to 10 miles on the road, meaning riding to trails was agony. Once at a trail it was fine as standing on the pegs meant the backside got a bit of relief. Much better after my local upholsterer doubled the width of the original seat.
I'll stick with a Funduro and find less demanding trails
After one extended trip (of 20 plus miles) on the DRz I bruised my coccyx and found sitting on any bike painful for a month!
On the other hand it was a pretty thing, great off road and looked the part with its lofty suspension etc. I can see why they get nicked so often as they were a real magnet to teen males.
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Steve Parry
Current fleet: '14 F800GS, '87 R80RS, '03 R1100S BoxerCup, '15 R1200RT LE Dynamic, '90 K1, '05 K1200S
For love/hate it would have to be my old SP1 Honda. Engine like 2 demented lumphammers, Joey Dunlop TT dreams every ride, beautiful HRC engineering. Unfotunately the fuel injection had the sophistication of a skinhead's boot, the clutch was sudden death in town, and the bike only really 'worked' at 50mph more than my ability. On those brief, occasional moments when everything was perfect it was the best bike in the world but the other 99% of the time it was a painful pain!
No pics. But a Ducati 900 bought used in 79 and sold in 82 took patience to a whole new level.
In the wet it was just a matter of time before the front pot cried enough, I,d spent many an hour in service areas both here and abroad with a can of WD40 in hand....i still wake at night with the smell of the stuff in my nostrils. The fuses were a very active lot, they loved nothing more than dancing their way out of their respective holders, I can see them now smirking as I cursed and prised them back at the side of the road...usually at night.
But in full flow she was a dream to ride with a soundtrack through the Conti,s to match. In 81 we went to the Belgium GP at Spa ( please come back, a classic track ) and then rode down through the Alps for the following weekend GP at Imola. At the Italian border the customs people checked the other two bikes in the groups passports as I approached with my girlfriend (now wife) the guy looked at the black and gold Duke and without me even stopping waved us on, well those Conti,s never sounded so good she was home.
Wish I still had her...been worth a bob or two I,d wager.
Love hate ,( I thought it was a Tv series that I don't watch..) would have to be the F650 that I owned back in '98, must have been maintained previously by a baboon or the main dealers apprentice, sump plug and oil filter housing bolts had been over tightened , and In the space of a year and 15 k mile I replaced everything I could on that bike , head bearings , suspension bearings , wheel bearings , battery , spokes , plug caps , clutch plates and chain / sprockets . Dealer had fitted poor quality chain before I collected bike and it left me stranded 80 miles from home..
It had the usual single cylinder grunt but with a very narrow powerband.
I found it quite comfortable though and did great mpg's, within a year of selling it I was looking at another but never purchased.
_________________
Nigel
Keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you've been up to!
1999 R1100s (mandarin) '
2018 DL 250V Strom
2019 CB125F Honda.
MZ301 Saxon Fun ( currently retired)
'03 Bullet 65 project..
I hate to love any bike, they are all two timing mfb, dump you when least expected, let you down at the last moment, I have not met the most reviled one yet, but I will endeavour to find it, God willing
Fiat Panda.
Fiat Scudo (with speedblock, pipe carrier, reversing sensors, reversing camera, tow bar, some new rust and Fake Plumber logo)
started out with nothing, still have most of it left.
boxerscott wrote:I hate to love any bike, they are all two timing mfb, dump you when least expected, let you down at the last moment, I have not met the most reviled one yet, but I will endeavour to find it, God willing
She,s out there waiting patiently........ to let you down.
Yamaha xz550 circa 1981 ish. No pics, why would you want one? Except to ridicule.
Bought brand new. The only love part of the equation was foolishly believing that, on paper, it would have been everything my cx500 was and more.
It was poor. Slow (slower than the cx) and bad handling, riddled with flat spots due to over complicated down draught carbs and a "trick" airbox.
I've had lots of bikes between 1975 and now, but that one is the only one I can bring to mind which I didn't like in multiple ways. I would apply the term "hate" to the engine performance and the handling. Not a lot else left! It stopped well, but on the cx500 I had before it, I didn't need the brakes that much.
Maybe two or three in that time, including the CX, I really loved/love in every way.
Corvus wrote:Yamaha xz550 circa 1981 ish. No pics, why would you want one? Except to ridicule.
Bought brand new. The only love part of the equation was foolishly believing that, on paper, it would have been everything my cx500 was and more.
It was poor. Slow (slower than the cx) and bad handling, riddled with flat spots due to over complicated down draught carbs and a "trick" airbox.
I've had lots of bikes between 1975 and now, but that one is the only one I can bring to mind which I didn't like in multiple ways. I would apply the term "hate" to the engine performance and the handling. Not a lot else left! It stopped well, but on the cx500 I had before it, I didn't need the brakes that much.
Maybe two or three in that time, including the CX, I really loved/love in every way.
So in the context of the thread.
What did you love about it (Love Hate) ?
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