The worst motorcycle money can buy

[la-motor]

It looks like some of the most intelligent people are found on this board ::022:: ::024::

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/17/is-harley-davidson-the-worst-motorcycle-money-can.aspx

 

[arjayes]

Not big news around here, but still gotta hurt if you're BMW or HD to make it semi-official.

 

[GrahamD]

They didn't include KTM or URAL in that list so the title of worst is still pending.

My hunch is that KTM will give BMW a run for their money,

Anyway this has been going on since I started looking, from about 2004, Thought it may have been just a temporary issue, as I too had drunk from the marketing and historical Kool aid fountain.

Since then I have found that the car division is average year on year, and the Australian BMW fleet can't cope with Australia at all.
http://www.canstarblue.com.au/vehicles/cars/reliability/

If BMW was charging the same as an S10, then the added features may make up for the downsides, but at 30% more Not for me.

However they continue to sell well (for BMW), so nothing will change I suspect.

Remember for the average Joe..

Cruiser = Harley
ADV= BMW (GS) Best bike in the world etc.
Sports bike = JAPAN. (probably slowly turning into Sports bike = KAWASAKI if the amount of ninja's sold is any indication.
Or DUCATI if you are older.

My guess is that they chose those brands because these guys are not bike guys and those are the ones they knew about, because they are average Joes regards bikes.

 

[cakeboy]

for me the worst bike ive owned has to be BMW ive had harleys and had little if any trouble . had lots of BMW,s had major problems and cost me a small fortune ....never again ::022::

 

[XtreemLee]

The best BMW I owned was made by Aprilia. I loved my 99 funduro...

I owned a 2000 RT and never had any trouble with other than the surging which I cured by pulling all the 50 state emissions off and learning how to balance tb's and adjust valves. I love being a beta tester. Hahahaha to all BMW owners is just a badge that ur paying extra for...

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[MensaDropout]

I wonder how Triumph would have fared on the list... If they had a dealer that was local to me, they had a few bikes that I would have considered. I've got a '01 Speed Triple that had the tar beaten out of it by more than a few airmen before I finally got my hands on it. I love the thing.

Also a little surprised Honda came in at #3. I didn't really look at a Honda this time around, but reliability wasn't a reason why.

 

[Kidder]

I also wonder why Suzuki was left off of the list.

 

[RockyDS]

The best BMW I owned was made by Aprilia. I loved my 99 funduro...

x2 Loved my Aprilia made '95 Funduro.

 

[FDhog]

I take these reports with a grain of salt. Ive owned Harleys for 15 years and haven't had any issues with them other than routine maintenance.
More problems might be reported with them because people with Harleys seem to rack up more mileage than other bikes. When Im on the road, I see more HD tourers than any other touring bike.
I've been riding for 42 years, and have had, Kaws, Zukes, Yammies, and HD, and they all have their share of issues.
BMW, just too high maintenance for me.

 

[GrahamD]

I take these reports with a grain of salt.

And so you should take 1 report with a grain of salt, and THIS report only continues a consistent theme and come in at about the same relative placings,

It does say that out of 10 BMW owners of random models about 7 will never have a problem, though. It's qhite easy to be one of the seven and have six friends the same, or be the only YAMAHA owner with a problem. It's a risk thing, not an absolute thing.

Not every Harley in a 50 strong Harley riders club would end up stopped on the side of the highway either, but a one or two did. I used to experience that a bit.

 

[GSteve]

Worst bikes...

Just passing this along.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/17/is-harley-davidson-the-worst-motorcycle-money-can.aspx

 

[BAILEY]

Re: Worst bikes...

Thanks for sharing that. I just showed my wife the article because she has been looking at getting a HD.

 

[snakebitten]

No matter what, almost all bikes are better today than when I was younger. (cars too) Materials and engineering have come so far.

The biggest negative for todays iron is they are far more sophisticated and when they do break, it can cost BIG $'s to address.

 

[tinayafatlard]

Here in Texas 9 out of 10 bikes I pass are Harleys. That's plenty of reason for me NOT to buy one! Never wanted to be one of the sheeple. After the so called "bail out" I swore I would never give GM (government motors) any more of my money, as they got a little from all of us. And Harley got a BIG bail out chunk too, 2.3 BILLION! So I guess I kind of already bought one anyways with my tax dollars. So they wont ever catch me in a dealership!

 

[FDhog]

Here in Texas 9 out of 10 bikes I pass are Harleys. That's plenty of reason for me NOT to buy one! Never wanted to be one of the sheeple. After the so called "bail out" I swore I would never give GM (government motors) any more of my money, as they got a little from all of us. And Harley got a BIG bail out chunk too, 2.3 BILLION! So I guess I kind of already bought one anyways with my tax dollars. So they wont ever catch me in a dealership!

Bought mine before the bail out, and you'll never see two Harleys that are exactly alike. You can personalize the crap out of one.

 

[FDhog]

Re: Worst bikes...

Nothing wrong with an HD.
Just don't get one of the new liquid cooled models. Haven't worked the bugs out yet. 1st model year.
If you read every motorcycle forum, you'd never buy a bike.

 

[p51super10bombay]

Re: Worst bikes...

http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=10710.0

 

[markjenn]

Suzuki and Triumph didn't make the survey because of insufficient data.

Many don't like CR, but I think they do a good job collecting and compiling reliability data and I welcome them to starting to collect this data on motorcycles so we can have some good/hard data to talk about for a change. I believe these results are probably a good representation of overall averages and mirror my own experience, at least with respect to Japanese brands and BMW.

What I don't care for is the sensationalist title of this article or the assumption it makes that the only thing that separates the best and worst is reliability. It's an important factor, but whether it is all-important is something for the individual to decide. If all that mattered is reliability, we'd all be driving Camrys and how much fun would that be?

- Mark

 

[GrahamD]

If all that mattered is reliability, we'd all be driving Camrys and how much fun would that be?

- Mark

Great!!.

There would be a HUGE aftermarket supply chain with V8 conversions, Character conversion kits, Hi Po kits, 4WD conversions, Soul injection kits, Mode Kits, Electronic suspension kits, Vehicle OS hacks, Open source EFI kits, Farkling fantastic it would be cheap cheap.

Just like the old crappy Chevy's had. No two Camry's would be the same.

 

[GrahamD]

Sell a Chinese product, you can only expect Chinese reliability.

Well at least KTM are going to end up an Indian product. Maybe better times ahead hey?

And don't be so hard on the Chinese. They're not THAT bad these days otherwise they would be charging big dollars wouldn't they?

Haven't you noticed the correlation between Price and unreliability yet?
(obviously to cover recalls, repairs, tow trucks and advertising)