Bikes with flaws you hate

a.k.a... bikes you like but would change this or that, etc...

i.e.

The previous Versys headlight



The tank ridge on the Ninja 250r, I can't get my knee under it.

Basically, share your insights, niggles, or pet peeves you have about various bikes. This is a "glass-half-empty" kind of thread

I had a 83 Yamaha Venture. It was a great bike. A full dress touring bikes that I could stay with most of my friends on their sport bikes. It also had linked brakes. They sucked. I will never buy another bike with linked brakes.

The stock seat on the Kawasaki Z750S that slides you into the tank all day.

The stock seat on a Husqvarna TE610 that is little better than a shaped 2x4.

The fake carbs on the Bonneville. They look nice... but fake is fake.

The exhaust

Z1000

Oh! ...and the rear fender/license plate holder on damn near every bike made these days!

I knd of like it.

I'd prefer this if I bought one:

Pretty much every new bike out today has a major flaw....................it's listed right on the price tag.

Yeah... if you are going to the trouble of making fake carbs, at least you could make them fake Amal concentrics or flat slide Keihins!

Complexity (often due to Govt regs) and price make most new motos unattractive to me (plus the fact that lots of them really are butt-ugly).

I'm not sure what you mean...is this just the newer Bonnevilles? I have a 77 750 Tiger (same as a Bonnie) and its carb is real. I'm guessing when they changed to fuel injection they just kept "fake carbs" in the spots of the the old real ones? If that's the case, then I definitely disapprove...

lack of a 6th gear on the DRZ.

Read the part about "Carb Foolery"
http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/triumph/2009-triumph-bonneville-review-88138.html

ditto

bikes with good ergonomics, handling but that sound like a wet fart.

Bikes that sound good, but shake like a washing machine and have no power, and feet forward

Rod

The massive heat from an earlier model Yamaha FJR. That bike did a lot of things right, but in the summer it was like riding a Franklin stove.

Please provide examples if possible.

Lack of a WIDE-RATIO 6spd on the DR-Z400S drives me bonkers. That bike could be such a nice DS for a reasonable price that it's ridiculous. My DR650SE works really well, all-around, for me, with just a wide-ratio 5spd, but it IS a bit hefty for serious dirt, and the frame isn't likely as stout.

I already have a moto with a 6spd, BTW...close-ratio. It would REALLY suck if it was on a dualsport. 'All that shifting and you still can't gear low enough for dirt while high enough for slab. The bike chugs in parking lots if I don't slip the clutch, and it revs pretty close to redline in 6th on I-95.


Lack of a DR-Z250S with a wide-ratio 6spd rubs me the wrong way too. Lack of any decently-good yet affordable 250-450cc dualsports in this country drives me nuts. Have you seen what Yamaha MSRP is on even an XT250?! They're nuts! That bike would still need a few hop up parts for much slab use too. A WRR is even more, and it weighs 300lb curb. I can be on a not-much-heavier 650 for just a little more $$. The KLX250 subframe is . KL250 SuperSherpas are scarcer than hens' teeth. We're reduced to scrounging for a '90s DR250/350 in decent shape if we want a lighter DS that can actually handle DUAL use at a decent price...or we're riding something well over 300lb just to have some highway and luggage ability.

Lack of a 350lb, 500cc, 50-60WHP, 60-70MPG, DL/Africa Twin/TDM/KLE, with adjustable suspension, sucks.

US Highland was on to something, with dirty twins that weighed what a modern overweight thumper does. I hope they find a way to overcome their troubles.

The gap between first and second gear on the XRL. First is too high and second is too low in a lot of slow situations. It can be corrected but it's not cheap!
The hole in the fuel tank. I have to keep putting gas in every 150 miles!