Practically Classics Forum

Triumph Tiger Cub. My cousin brought a new one in 1962. It continually broke down. The last breakdown was the big end at 6 months old. The dealer swapped it for a 175 BSA Bantam of the same age.

Heres a quote from the boss of Norton Villiers Truimph.
Motorcyclists like spending weekends repairing their machines.

You meet the nicest people on a Honda.


Bob

They weren't all that bad. The big end problem was known on early bikes, but Triumph modified the engine to stop the trouble.

As regards being the worst bike, they could not have been so bad, as they have a good competition history.

Worst bike in the world according to whos opinion?

The Tiger Cub was, and still is, a great bike is when sorted properly.

Kev

Norton Jubilee.

The O/P's question has a definitive answer, in my opinion. Brace yourselves, take a seat and do your breathing exercises if necessary!
The worst motorcycle in the world, ever, without question, beyond the smallest doubt is..









The one that doesn't work on the one day when the owner/rider absolutely, definitely and without exception must travel from A to B, a distance of a mere thirteen miles, in order to pick his other half up from her work at a time that was set in stone and could not be changed for fear of male wedding tackle damage, probably in the pub later that same day.

It was a CX500 as it happens, but had that evil, conniving, thoroughly twisted and sadistic pile of pooh been a 1939 Sunbeam high cam single, it would still have stuck in my mind as the worst thing ever.

After giving this a bit of thought, and only including bikes that I have ridden, I'm going to suggest the 1973 Yamaha TX750 as being the worst ever.

Even if I do agree with JPB's post also.

john you read my mind... another awful bike is one that lands on top of you when you have come off

rich. wrote:john you read my mind... another awful bike is one that lands on top of you when you have come off

That being the case, I would have to say my father's Sun that he bought (new) in the early 50s. He kept coming off the damned thing!

There were two faults: the suspension and the fouling of plugs. Actually, it was one fault - the supplier was old school and didn't believe in self-mixing oil (hence the second fault) and reckoned Father didn't know about "modern" suspension - Father's previous bikes being pre-war!

The bloke who bought the bike from Father wasn't too pleased - he discovered that it was a twisted frame that caused the handling problem!

The reason Father sold it was because he was riding past the "posh" hotel in Carlisle when it decided to throw him off. The posh folk were having afternoon tea and saw him from the large roadside window, which was the final straw as far as Father was concerned!

It must be something about Father - he didn't get another bike until 1975/6, when he bought a new Honda 175 Benley (Benly?) - he had problems with that too. The same dealer said much the same thing - "it's a modern suspension and you aren't used to it!". The next service after the warranty ran out was done by a relief mechanic as the dealer's man was on holiday. Father went to collect it after the service and was asked "Do you know the frame is twisted sir?"

Honda paid for a new frame even though it was out of warranty (and had 14k miles on the clock), so Father bought a new Honda 185 a year later - and had no problems with that!

I never quite understood why the Tizer Plug had big end trouble because the design was so similar to a BSA 250 C15 and the 440 victor. Both were OK and didn't blow the end. I know that with mods to the oil feed to the crankshaft that T20 Tizer Plugs doesn't blow big ends. And even the lights carry on working.
But my cousin brought a new one and it was awful. If the bike had been built by Triumph like the way they are being rebuilt now then it would maybe have been a good bike.
But Triumph didn't.

A lot of old British bikes had problems, oil leaks being par for the course. Nowadays enthusiasts have largely sorted the problems out over the last 50 years.

Honda made a range of twins sub 250cc. These were quite good. The best one was the CB 160. IMO.

Bob