Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 851 / 888 > Most embarrassing bike - own up

[RightSaidFred]

Further to 851Neil's idea, let's have them then.

My list to get the ball rolling-

Tomos moped (15 years old so fair enough)
Vespa 50 special (seized/blew up lots)
Vespa T5 (see above)
Yamaha XS 400 twin (slower than snails/sloths)
Honda CJ 250 twin (noisy and slow but with ace bars!)
Suzuki GSX 400/4 (many, many reg/rectifiers + 3 wiring looms!!)
And yes a superdream 250 too, although it never got on the road in the end...


Cool ones though include GPZ900R at 18 years old and a brand new YZF 750 when they first came out in early '93. I was captain cool compared to me mates!

[YMFB]

Age 14- Honda C90 - no fairing, rode it back from a mates 7 miles away wearing a childs plastic policemans helmet.

Honda VT 250 - had it for three months, what a complete waste of money.

everything else has been either good , OK or a Ducati

[Mr C]

Yamaha Townmate

[phillc]

First bike was a Yamaha Virago 250 :-(

Have also owned a Yamaha XJ600. Every fuel stop also required 500mils of oil. If I was travelling out of town I always carried a spare 500mils of oil with me.

[851neil]

this is a cool thread !!
Ok here goes:
1982 - Simpson 50, dad was an MZ dealer & it was free Ok - my mates had my life...especially when I carried out the factory de-restriction which to their mirth was simply to chop 30mm off the exhaust downpipe and slide the silencer forward...my mother bought me a leather jacket with tassles !!! and my gran bought me a barber jacket aaaargh.. I had a really hard year in 82'
1983 - same bike but fitted with ETZ (MZ not yam)125 barrel, piston, head and carb - my mates still ripped the mick something rotten, but it was quick (honest) for what it was.
1984 - MZ ETZ250 - dad was still an MZ dealer - toerag made me get this for a few months, and I had to pay for it !! total embarassment
1984 - Superdream 250 - chopped the MZ at the local Honda dealer coz I just couldn't take the ribbing anymore, this really pi**ed my dad off, toured France on this bike - ultra reliable...
after that I've had a variety of jap and italian stuff, I'm currently running an RSV1000 Factory and an 851...

[stuart hill]

Some horror's and some class (in chronological order);

Yamaha RXS100 (first bike - wrote it off better than a 50cc thought when on your provisional)
Kwak KR1 (very cool when you're 18 and now if it hasn't disintegrated itself but a complete shed)
VFR400 NC30 (superb!)
Yamaha FZR600 (foxeye)
Yamaha R6 ()
Ducati 749

[phil_h]

most embarrassing bike jacket ...

Originally posted by 851neil
this is a cool thread !!
Ok here goes:
1982 - Simpson 50, dad was an MZ dealer & it was free Ok - my mates had my life...especially when I carried out the factory de-restriction which to their mirth was simply to chop 30mm off the exhaust downpipe and slide the silencer forward...my mother bought me a leather jacket with tassles !!! and my gran bought me a barber jacket aaaargh.. I had a really hard year in 82'
1983 - same bike but fitted with ETZ (MZ not yam)125 barrel, piston, head and carb - my mates still ripped the mick something rotten, but it was quick (honest) for what it was.
1984 - MZ ETZ250 - dad was still an MZ dealer - toerag made me get this for a few months, and I had to pay for it !! total embarassment
1984 - Superdream 250 - chopped the MZ at the local Honda dealer coz I just couldn't take the ribbing anymore, this really pi**ed my dad off, toured France on this bike - ultra reliable...
after that I've had a variety of jap and italian stuff, I'm currently running an RSV1000 Factory and an 851...

Respect
It takes great inner strength to admit that kind of thing


[Edited on 24-8-2005 by phil_h]

[Derek]

Back in the late seventies our club ran an RAC/ACU training scheme. We were given two brand new Raleigh mopeds which needed running in. Guess who got the job! I ran one of them everywhere for a fortnight - something like 500 miles on this bright orange thing with white legsheilds. But it cost me next to nothing in petrol so I didn't really care.

[851neil]

yeah cheers Phil, what I didn't mention was that they only stayed on a couple of weeks before the scissors came out

[paynep]

Most embarrassing bike.....

How about a Kwak Z1000 Custom ?
US-spec with fat rear and skinny front crossply tyres, bought as a box of bits and when I found the cost of replacing one warped disc it then ran as a single disc!!

But then I part exchanged it for a Laverda...