The toughest bike you ever owned

[sswallie]

When I was 9 or 10 I stole a 1976 Yamaha XT-100 from the police impound lot. I just cut the back fence out and rode away on it. I have NO idea how many miles I put on that bike but I rode it every day for 7 years. On weekends I was gone in the West Desert of Utah for 200+ mile dirt trips every weekend. I loved that little bike. The only repairs I ever put into it were cables, tires, and oil changes. It was old when I "aquired" it and I am convinced I put at least another 50k miles on it.

The other one I have to mention was my 1982 maxxim 750. My uncle gave it to me for my 18th birthday with just under 90,000 miles on it. During the next 6 years I put over 100,000 miles on that bike, and it was still running strong when I gave it away in 2001. It was not pretty but I rode that bike all over the Western US and it just kept kicking, with TONS of power even after nearly 200,000 miles. It was the bike that gave me my need for power and planted the VMX seed in my brain.

 

[vmax626]

Every Honda I have ever owned has been damn near bullet proof. Hondas I have owned: 50, 70, 75, 90, 100, 150, 250, 600. The max is my second Yamaha, so we will see how she holds up---so far.....so good!!

I`ll drink to that I`ve mostly owned honda 750`s and 2 900`s , one 900f and qne 900 custom and they were all bullet proof they just go & go.
It may sound funny but I`ve owned 2 750 Hondamatics great highway bikes and they run forever without major maintainance work needed.
I shoulda kept one of them .
<<Dave>>unk:

 

[MONTREALMAX]

1982 Yamaha XJ 400 Maxim

COULD NOT KILL THIS BIKE AFTER 4 YEARS OF TRYING....SOLD IT TO A GUY WHO RAN IT FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS

NEVER OPENED....NEVER BURNED OIL THE DEFINITION OF BULLETPROOF

CLOSE SECOND WAS MY YAMAHA CHAPPY'S ALL 10 OF THEM... STILL OWN ONE FOR NOSTALGIA SAKE

 

[bagherra]

The toughest bike I ever owned was my first one when I was 18. 1975 Honda CBR 200T. I drove it like I stole it, never changed the oil or did maintenance on it, crashed it a couple of times, and it drove forever. I ended up selling it for a really good price to someone. Even though it was small in CCs I still miss it. It was a great cheap starter bike.

 

[KJShover]

When I was 13 My dad took me to the honda shop and dropped $1k on a 1980 Honda XL100s enduro to reward me for doing very well through Jr. High.

I beat the piss out of the thing, on the road, off road. Dragging it under some chain link fences to get to some good mud grounds, jumping, etc.

When I turned 14, I got my M2 license on it. (back then for an M2 it was 100cc or less. now its 50cc. sucks to be a kid now) and rode it to school in the spring and fall. Changed the sprockets on it and it topped out a little over 60.

The only thing I had to do to it was bend the rear brake lever back a couple of times and fix a few flats. I ended up selling it when I got the XS750 and XS1100.

It cleaned up real nice and never missed a beat, it was basically change the oil once a season and gas her up. It sold for the same price it was bought for 3 years earlier.

 

[95spfldmax]

Toughest to ride? Hands down, Kawasaki H2.

unk:unk:unk:

 

[Roadracer]

1986 Kawasaki Concours. Put over 100,000 miles on it with out a single problem. I sure wish I hadn't sold it for $700.00.

Great shaft-drive sport-tourer. Added a seat, taller windshield & foglamps & rode it year round in PA.

RR

 

[sdt354]

1977 R100/7. Butt ugly, but reliable and kinda fun to ride, I drove that thing to 184,000 then sold it. No oil leaks or burning when I got rid of it. I did put a clutch and trans in it once due to my own fault. That's a story for another time.
Steve

 

[1967vmax]

My first bike was an Indian 50 orange with a white racing stripe (wish i still had it or could find 1)2 stroke,the worst was a 73 honda blue sl 70 in the shop more than it was on the trail, sold that and the best was a 1980 yamaha yz 125 got it when i was 14 had to use a milk crate to get on it but what memorys i had on that bike.

 

[one2dmax]

Still got my first bike and will say it has taken a severe beating over it's life span. A 1983 Seca Turbo. I've been through 3 or 4 engines. The first one was heavily damaged in a car accident in 1991 and may have still worked but not really sure (still have it around though). The engines were primarily giving up transmissions. They all ran fine but smoked. Something about sticking a normal 750 engine with the higher compression in the chassis and still running approx 15 psi of boost to them! I've even got a seca 900 engine I will eventually shove into the chassis. It should be good for an honest 150rwhp on boost which will be very fast for an old dinosaur!

Sean

 

[1967vmax]

Sean that reminds me of my 2nd streetbike it was a1982 yamaha 650 silver turbo ugly now that i think about it .lol JIM

 

[one2dmax]

Wonder if it had the power up factory kit installed. In 82 Yamaha was getting it's ass handed to it by the other turbo companies. So in 83 the Seca Turbo boost was increased from 7psi to 14psi. They offered the power up kit for the 82 customers but who knows who all got it. That extra boost made all the difference. Mine (when it's on boost) is as fast as the Vmax is but with much crapier brakes and handling!

Sean

 

[1967vmax]

The guy i bought it off of said it had the turbo reworked,This was in the early 90s he knew his turbo bikes he had a 88 zx10 turbo bike he sent all his stuff to Mr Turbo, He had 2 turbo bikes at his dealership a kaw 750 turbo and the 650 seca which i bought for $1650 what a deal only had 8k. JIM

 

[Rusty McNeil]

My other bike, an 04 XR650L.

Running at redline for miles on end, I'm talking hundred in a day at 85-95mph when it had stock gearing, without coming apart sold me. And that's just the engine.

The bike itself has survived a dozen spills riding offroad, a couple of them involving highsides at 40 or better, with the only losses being the rear taillight and the shift lever which got hung on a 3" diameter tree..Which I bent back in shape and it's still on there so I guess that's not really a loss...

Streetbikes?

My 85 V65 Magna made a serious effort to murder me with a full blown tank slapper/wobble which pitched me off at 140mph, the bike did a couple of dead fish flip-flops and then slid about 80 yards with the only causualties being pretty much all the replaceable, bolt on parts on the left side of the bike. I still rememebr hobbling around the salvage yard on crutches and a bunch of bandages (I got nothing but a lot of road rash and a sprained knee, no surgery, which was a miracle in itself) looking for replacement stuff like pegs, lever, pipes, mirrors, blinkers etc......Rode the same bike for another 3 years before selling it....

 

[naughtyG]

my old ('80 I think) Honda CX500. That thing was just simply bulletproof, no idea how many miles it actually had on it!

 

[MeanMax]

Toughest bike i ever owned was my second one, A 1976 Honda CB750K. Bought it from a friend who hadn't started it in 5 years. Cleaned the carbs, changed the oil and it started and never stoped. Never left me stranded, Started when it was 20 degrees out, put up with me treating it like a sport bike and never so much as missfired even once. Only problem was the cam chain sounded like it was going to blow out the block but i guess that was normal.

 

[desert_max]

My youngest son still rides the '71 Suzuki G5 I had as a kid. I got that bike when I was 15. He is 16 now! On probably its 3rd piston and (I think) 2nd jug, the bottom end has NEVER BEEN APART!

He rides it to school.

 

[RaWarrior]

I ran into a guy at a gas station not too long ago that had a late seventies Suzuki GS850 with 147,000 miles on it. Engine had never been opened, carbs never taken apart, it ran great and didn't smoke. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The owner(an older gentleman) said he had bought it brand new and doesn't see a reason to replace something that still works fine. Now that's what I call a real biker. Not these tough-guy badass wannabe's that buy a $20k Harley and put 500 miles a year on it.

 

[sAlMan]

This is easy I also had an XR75 mine I think was a 78 awesome bike! Also had a Honda 110 3 wheeler that was insane nvr gave up. But the best had to be my SOHC 1976 CB750 absolute one of the best engines/bikes evermade. I just sold that one and miss it dearly.

 

[sAlMan]

This is easy I also had an XR75 mine I think was a 78 awesome bike! Also had a Honda 110 3 wheeler that was insane nvr gave up. But the best had to be my SOHC 1976 CB750 absolute one of the best engines/bikes evermade. I just sold that one and miss it dearly.

Here is an early pick of the CB750