My Worst Bike

I own a lot of bikes and have owned a LOT more so this is really an insult but it must be told! The year was 1969 and the bike was but 1 year young, resplendent in blue and cream sporting the same saddle and speedometer of it's big brothers and at least half of their potent sound but alas it was a fraud, a gutless insult to it's equal displacement predecessors. It's cylinder sleeve slipped, it's crankshaft bent, it's stator fried . Years later it even made Classic Bike magazine's top ten list of the worst motorcycles of all time. I felt a tad vindicated when I read that but only a tad because I had known all along that aggravation was indicative of more than just a chance lemon. If any of you out there had the misfortune to own one you know what I am talking about, The BSA Starfire. I think the disappointment not to mention the grief and expense were made all the worse as it was such a beautiful looking job.
Fortunately my next bike , a CZ Trials was one of the best I ever owned, or at least one with which I had lots of fun and it was very reliable.

[Jerry Hatfield]

I had a BSA Starfire and loved it. But I put only 5 or 6 thousand miles on it before swapping for a 441 cc Shooting Star engine. I put 3 or 4 thousand miles on the 441 version before I had to sell the motorcycle because of an overseas assignment. So maybe I missed out on problems that were awaiting. The most exasperating -- and senseless -- attribute of the Starfire 250 was poor carburetion. On summer days in Alabama, the engine would die at every stop, unless I blipped the throttle several times. A good idle speed after startup, signalled "off to the races" once the engine got fully warmed up. I've learned since, that the Starfire's carburetion mess could've been quickly, easily, and cheaply avoided at the factory or fixed by me. A local retorer of German motorcycles, here in Texas, pointed out to me that all his Teutonic bikes -- even the cheapest 50 cc bikes -- were factory-fitted with an insulator block between the carburetor and the cylinder. For some reason, I didn't have carburetion problems with my 441 cc engine. I loved the 250 cc Starfire and it's 441 cc successor for the looks, the handling, the feel, and the sound. I worked part-time for two motorcycle shops, and the Starfire was just plain more fun to ride than any of the Honda and Yamah 250 cc bikes we sold. I did hate one BSA, though. My 1964 Lightning Rocket was terrible! More on this bike later.

[HarleyCreation]

Chopper ==> Worst Bike!

At first I thought I never had a "worst" bike, maybe because I never owned a Brit motorcycle (just kidding, but so far that's this thread's direction). But then I remembered my "curious yellow" 1941/49 spring-forked Panhead chopper "Hypnos" circa 1971-73.

I had built the thing myself following all the mantras laid down in the chopper rags of the day: Big Bike, Choppers Illustrated, etc. No front fender, short ribbed rear fender, tiny gas tank (Harley 165), Bates solo seat on 6" springs, forward pegs, etc.

That was the "righteous" or "hot" setup of the day, or so I thought until I tried using it like a REAL motorcycle.

Pretty quickly I discovered to my dismay that in the rain that fenderless front tire placed a bead of water and road grit right between the eyes that ran down my neck. To balance things the short back fender laid a skunk-like stripe of water and grit down my back. The little gas tank with hardly any reserve (a few blocks it seemed) left me stranded on the side of the highway out of gas. The forward pegs and jarring seat made crossing railroad tracks and hitting bumps all sorts of fun. Couldn't carry nothing either!

In 1974 I broke from the crowd and went back to stock and created the original "Heritage" model. I donned the footboards, the magnificant seat-post and fringed Buddy seat, the shapely '36-style gas tanks, the effective full fenders, nicely aged saggy fringed saddle-bags, center stand, the mighty Hydra-Glide, and (gasp!) a windscreen. My pals laughed at me and called it an old man's bike, but I had realized then (long before I knew their names) that the millions of hours put in by Bill Harley, Walter D., Sherbie Becker, Arthur Herrington, Ed Kieckbusch, Art Constantine, George Appel, Doerner, Kuehn, Kauper, Griff, Squibby, Freckles, and all the rest of the guys in Engineering and Experimental could NEVER be improved upon in some "LSD" chopper!

After that I had to transfer gas into their bikes and once I towed a dead Triumph home with a rope. I didn't really want to, but it didn't faze that Big Twin clutch. I always got to carry the beer tho and that was good. Railroad tracks, rain, hah! But in time I found myself riding more and more by myself beyond where they would travel and finally moted away on a REAL motorcycle to new adventures in the land of the setting sun!

[exeric]

I hate to pick on BSA too, but my first bike was a BSA 441. It was my second worst bike and to be honest, it was pre-damaged when I got it so I will not lay blame on BSA. I got about 2 weeks of shaky riding on it before second gear went south. I sold it to a fellow I worked with who was a very good mechanic and he fixed all of the problems. My worst bike was a Henderson KJ that I swear was cursed. It was a collection of problems from the get-go. Some of it was due to age and wear but there was an evil presence in almost every part. Even replacement parts would revert to the dark side upon contact with existing parts. That is the only motorcycle I have ever gladly let go. I will bet that who ever owns it now has been bit by their own dog and lost everything they owned in a nasty divorce.

[darrylri]

I showed the original posting here to a friend and BSA afficionado. Here's his reply:

Ah, yes! That was the one that Cycle published a road test of when Cook Nielson was editor, where the photo at the top of the article showed the bike with a big tom turkey standing on the seat, over the caption "What's a Nice Turkey Like You Doing on an Awful Turkey Like This?" I could have sworn that the scantily-clad BSA "ladies" on the back cover were smirking. Twenty years earlier it would have been considered adequate, but the Japanese had reset the bar, and BSA didn't notice until their market was gone.

[darrylri]

My own worst bike was a 1967 Montgomery Wards Riverside 350, built by Benelli of Italy. I got the bike nearly for free because it didn't shift. Turned out to be a bent shifter pawl, and then the bike ran ok, and it had a very authentic rattle can metallic blue paint job.

It is said that British bikes vibrate enough to lose a few parts. This single vibrated so badly that it lost a lot of parts. I quickly discovered Loctite blue, but on one trip the taillight and license bracket formed a counterweight on the end of the stamped fender and it self-bobbed itself while I was riding it on the freeway. Even Loctite couldn't keep those parts on.

One thing I noticed was the air cleaner. It looked like a tuna can with lathe turnings in it. For things pea gravel sized and bigger, no problem! I bought a nice K&N foam filter, which I oiled and mounted, and then went for a test ride. 50 miles later, I stopped to get some gas (and some feeling back in my hands). I filled the tank, and then climbed aboard and kicked the starter lever. As it was wont to do, it backfired, but then there was another sound, a sort of shhh-shhh-shhh sound. I looked down and my new K&N filter was on fire! I jumped off the bike, kicked the filter off the bike and away from the pumps, ran around and stomped it out. Now I smelled of burnt oil and rubber. I rode the bike home and put the tuna can back on it.

Eventually the vibrations tore the gas tank open at the hard front mount. Another place I needed to use Loctite was on the transmission output shaft nut, or the sprocket would come loose in just about exactly 1 mile (I walked home twice before I learned that one). I got a copy of the owners manual and it recommended demounting the cylinder every 10k miles to decoke it and the head.

Finally, I gave it to a friend who wanted a bike to teach his girlfriend how to ride. It took me a couple weeks to find the pink slip, and by that time he had already given the bike away to someone else.

[Magic]

I must of been lucky

I'm enjoying this thread with all the lifes experiences had by many as I know there were alot of poorly designed or quality motorcycles made over the years. I can't say that I disliked any that I had owned since I was a kid although one tested me with the constant vibrations. I took that as part of way it was LOL as everyone else was dealing with it too. That M/C was a 1977H-D superglide radical custom lowrider. Thank God I was a young kid at the time or I would of never enjoyed it like I did. Boy did it sure run well though :-) Keep ridin them, Merlin in Pa.

[HarleyCreation]

I hear ya Merlin.

At the time I thought my yellow chopper Hypnos (my new avatar) was the coolest thing in existence. I can even remember the very peak of our relationship. I left my pal's "crib" after a little party and was passing the McDonald's on the corner of 21st & Lathrop (in Racine, Wis.) and reached down, grasped the jockey shift lever, gave it some revs through the old Linkert carb, and felt the winding vibrations through-out my entire being (including my soul if I still have one), wound it out some more, and then shifted into 3rd. "Dem vibrations" was very cool.

It was all downhill after that ultimate sublime moment in time!

I still have that tranny lid with the jockey shift still on it. I should dig it out and hook it up so I can "shift" my Lazy Boy with it. That spells cool for a guy on the laughing side of sixty!

[Barry Brown]

In spite of their late in the game atrocities ,BSA's illustrious lineage more than compensates for those disasters. Aside from the Gold Star family, the A10 was a workhorse par excellance. I purchased a well worn 1954 model for a paltry sum in London in 1970 and mercilessly subjected it to non stop two up touring through England and France and it never missed a beat, wish I still had it.

[c.o.]

I've really gotten a kick out of this thread. I spent somewhere around a dozen years playing with later 650 twins. I've had a '69 Lightning and a '71 Firebird Scrambler chopper. They both gave me enough grief to denounce the brand forever! But alas, I still have the little chopper and it was my daily ride for nearly ten years. It gave me every possible British nightmare it could for all those years and for some reason it still is sitting in my little shop. It has definitely been my worst bike, but I could never let it go due to all the stories that revolve around it (and the ridiculous amount of money I put into it). I could write a short novel of all it's misgivings, but as much trouble as it gave me it almost always (like a good horse), brought me home. I gotta love the little beezer, but as far as British machines go I doubt I'll make another purchase.

[Paps]

I enjoyed my Beezer. My worst bike ??? The one I didn't own, when the lack of riding became a withdrawal symptom. Paps

[JohnR]

My worst bike was my 1st bike. A 49 Indian vertical twin.